How many of y'all have actually tried singing through a Reflexion filter and taken a listen to the results.

Kills plosives dead.


Just saying.


Those things are expensive so it may be worth while to suggest to the singer that they stop making the mic go splat and just do it that way.

>>>>The sound off axis is not as good as the on axis sound.<<<< Quoted upabove in a post. I don't think it sounds any different. Just don't want your jaw in the recording, jawing the mic. And yes, they make metal pop filters now, I guess they work I have one, so I guess it works.

"Singing off axis is not a good strategy either. Vocalists find it hard for a start, they tend to want to sing on axis which sounds better usually and is the more correct thing to do. Also if you are off axis you only have to move slightly and the plosive might harm you again. The sound off axis is not as good as the on axis sound."


All the great singers know to turn their head.

It's instinctive and born from their inherent knowledge of what sounds good and what sounds horrible*

I rarely find a need for a pop filter.


*If a singer isn't self correcting their plosives then they must not have much interest in what their singing sounds like.

Obviously, it's best to avoid plosives when recording - but if some got into your recording, then there is a simple way to get rid of them. Use a high pass filter on the Plosive. Play around with the low cut frequency and see the results.

I use a pop filter, and sing off axis on the plosive. You have to be paying attention to the words to be able to get the plosives off axis while singing the rest on axis.  Then, it might be a case of not being into the song as much as one would like to be to capture the emotion. 

Singing techniques and a good pop filter go a long way toward eliminating them.  

As has been said though, even a pop filter won't stop them all 100% of the time. 

Case in point: I recorded a female vocalist and we ended up with a few plosives in the final takes. 

I realized this after the session was done. To get her back to fix the few plosives was not too likely any time soon so I had to play with the tracks and see what I could figure out. 

Here was the solution:  I stopped the time line right before the plosive. I zoomed in close enough to see where it was.  I dragged across the timeline in the precise area of the plosive and used the audio effect to reduce the volume by 2 db.  I applied the effect and played it back...... still too prominent, so I repeated the process until the plosive sounded normal and natural.  Then I backed the time line up a few measures so I could hear it in context.  If it sounded good I saved the project and moved to the next one. 

This process worked well for me.  When I was done the vocal track sounded fine. 

Come & Go updated version on my sound click site:  the words:  "compromise &  pushed", were the worst offenders. 

I do agree that you can certainly control plosives with off axis singing etc and I don't disagree with Mike on this one. What I was saying is that the pop filter in a good way is a safety net and if a singer can control their plosives with careful head placement who am I to tell them otherwise. And the sound slightly off axis is not that different either so it is very workable. But should they not quite contain it then I like having the pop filter there to stop it and it usually does.

If you record say 4 vocalists at once and you don't have that many pop filters then it can become an issue.

It is interesting reading how others deal with it. I find that using a fairly steep HP filter in an editor is very effective. I think it is important indentifying the exact area that needs to be treated with the HP filter and putting the sound back to normal as quickly as you can. The plosive is pretty short lived in most situations.

I've got good results with pop filters and vocal placement myself...that and enunciation helps...don't need to emphasize that much when singing...

Pop filter + don't sing directly into the mic. Position the mic a little higher (or lower) or else sing slightly off to one side.

popper stoppers , positioning and proper mic techniques are the answer for everything EXCEPT those who have to hold the mic in their hands (screamo metal singers)or on-stage live use (the op didn't specify). The garden variety commercial pop filters aren't expensive and I've got a couple here going on 15 years old. Even a simple foam wind screen is better than nothing. That stupid pencil trick I've seen people recommend is a waste of time. And stupid. ha ha. After all that, the only thing left to do is to roll up your sleeves and get in there and surgically remove the annoyances.