How to remove harshness?

Hello guys!

I recorded a meditation technique using Boya lavaliere mic, Audacity 2.3.3, window 10. I applied:

Noise Reduction
Amplify
Compression
Bass and treble
Normalize
Limiter

And all in defult setting. The result was good but there’s some kind of sharp harshness. I re-edit the recording using premiere pro using different method and effects but also the result was not satisfactory. Please help me to find the right setting for my voice because my job depends on good quality recordings. Here are the links:

The recording without editing:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NvgzoXYahF4kKBBKd_22Ju4pD5Lw2he5/view?usp=drivesdk

The recording after editing:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TmuRb7cvMg7qz3XJw9LBBsY1fW6ZQrTe/view?usp=drivesdk

The quality that I want (this youtuber uses the same lavaliere I’m using):
https://youtu.be/slCWH9oV1no

Thank you very much!

That’s sibilance. Your SS sounds are boosted, harsh, and gritty. We have tools for that, but we may need to hear your raw voice without the music and all the processing.

DeSibilator needs an accurate measurement of the SS sound boost range.

Koz

Don’t double post. A forum elf has to read your message before it becomes visible. Too many people trying to sell us stuff.

This is a post about how to prepare a short sound sample.

https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/how-to-post-an-audio-sample/29851/1

Koz

IMO the harshness is excessive sibilance,
The cure is de-essing, e.g. using the desibilator plugin.


There is also a deep reveb(eration) from the space you are recording in, which is not fixable in Audacity.

Thank you so much for your kind reply,
I attached a sample as per instructions that you provided.
Your help is really appreciated.

Thank you so much for your kind reply,
I have attached unedited sample as per the instructions you provided,
I really appreciate your help.

Thank you for your reply,

I watched videos talking about ERA De-Esser which seems to be effective, but the thing is that I live in Syria, we can’t make online purchases due to economic sanctions, so I need to fix things using the built in tools.

I appreciate your help thank you.

Desibilator is a free plugin.

desibilator.ny (56 KB)
I applied it to your sample voice (thank you for that) and all the harsh SS sounds vanished.


These are the settings I used.

DeSibSettings.png
Enjoy,

Koz

DeSibilator is a modification to an existing DeEsser tool. DeEsser and DeClicker were offered as free plugins, but DeEsser could have odd tonal problems and didn’t always sound right. Once the design problems were identified, they were cured with DeSibilator.

https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/updated-de-clicker-and-new-de-esser-for-speech/34283/199

Koz

I REALLY can’t thank you enough, for helping, for quick replies, and for kindness above all.

I will adopt the settings for my prospective audios, and once we can pay online in Syria again, this website will be the first to donate to.

One last enquiry please, can I reach the quality of the voice in this video:

As this man uses the same mic I’m using and he’s shooting outside (there must be some noises), I also saw many youtubers with lavaliere mics and their voice-over is of the same amazing quality.

Many thanks.

That you are indoors, in what sounds like a small reflective room, is why your sound is different from the video, (reverberation).

If you are going to be talking softly, (whispering), then an expander is worth having to attenuate the audio when you are not speaking.

Most lavaliere microphones are non-directional. They depend on closeness to the performer to do their tricks. This works on large news sets or other acoustically dead or controlled environments. If you record in a bathroom, it’s going to sound exactly like recording in a bathroom.

I made really good use of furniture moving blankets for two projects: The kitchen table studio…

https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/too-compressed-rejection/52825/22

…and a portable studio.

https://www.kozco.com/pictures/boothFinished/laptop-mic.jpg

“Heavy” is good. Each blanket is 7-8 pounds (3.5kg) each.

Libraries full of books work well. I made good use of a storage closet full of paper accounting records.

Lots of bare walls, ceiling and floor are not good. This room would be a nightmare to record in.

This room would also have a different problem. If two people talked to each other across that room, they would be perfectly loud but would not be able to understand each other.

There are more exotic solutions, too. Flynwill, one of the helpers on the forum once designed a sound studio without parallel walls. It had normal acoustic ceiling tiles and a little carpeting, but was amazingly dead for sound recording. Only if you were paying attention did you know that the north wall was slightly bigger than the south, east and west walls didn’t line up and the ceiling wasn’t level.

I sent a lot of sound jobs through that room.

Koz

Thank you so much, I will consider that.
Lots of gratitude.