Hi friends
I have just recently begun a new project. I have begun to read files to make them to MP3.
The thing is that in the beginning I believe I had the microphone to close to the moth. This gave the first files a lisp. I don’t lisp in real life and I don’t want it in my files. It draws focus from what I am saying. I have tried to fix this by rendering the files I low quality, but that did not work.
Is there a good way to get rid of this or at least tone the high “S”-sound down?
Any tips?
Yes, what’s needed is de-essing. The question is how to do it in Audacity.
Have a look here:
http://wiki.audacityteam.org/index.php?title=VST_Plug-ins
There appear to be a few de-essing VST plugins that will work on Windows. None for Mac. But if you’re on a Mac you could try the AUMultiBandCompressor.
– Bill
Okej
I have installed Spittfish I Audascity and tried to follow the manual, but spittfish takes away all sounds BUT the “S”-sound. I can’t understand what I am doing wrong.
Ether everything but the “S”-sound disappears or everything is as it was before I started Spitfisk. There is noting in between. How do I work with this?
I would be inclined to go back to the beginning.
Spend some time experimenting with the microhone position until you get a good sound without the esses.
You have a much better chance of getting a good result that way than trying to fix the existing recording, particularly when you’re recording your own voice. You will probably spend less time re-recording than fixing.
PO’L
By the way, you were not “lisping” you were experiencing plosives which produce a sudden outrush of air which drives microphones crazy. Do you have a little foam cover for the mic element?
http://www.supremeaudio.com/foams.htm
Also, place the mic element about an inch away and off to one side so it’s not in direct line of fire.
It’s the identical problem of people trying to get a microphone to work on a windy beach.
Getting rid of this in post is not trivial and even getting rid of it in real life during the capture takes some doing.
I agree you should record that over. You will be here for weeks trying to rescue the show.
Koz
So why do they have plugins that say they can do it?
Or recommend it in this forum, if it can’t be done?
It’s going to take way to long time to rerecord it, I’m talking six-eight weeks here.
Hmm… (If it isn’t misusage of the Spittfish plug-in in question then,) just prepare another track which holds plain “S” sounds … invert phase for the “S”-sound track (is this possible to do in Audacity?) … when you then play both tracks simultaneously, all those “S” sounds should have been gone … (though, not if you can’t keep files in sync exactly).
Juha
<<<I’m talking six-eight weeks here.>>>
Six to eight weeks and you never stopped to see if you have a damaged recording?
<<<So why do they have plugins that say they can do it?
Or recommend it in this forum, if it can’t be done?>>>
We also say everybody’s show is different. There is a YouTube video showing somebody taking the main vocal performer out of a song to create a Karaoke track. For him it worked perfectly. That’s burned thousands of people all over the world because there is a very thin list of songs that lend themselves to the process. He happened to pick one of them. Nobody else did.
Some of the tools were designed to do a theoretical job. Audacity 1.2 has a couple of those. Given an ideal, perfect, crystal clear show with one problem, how would I get rid of the problem? No show ever has only one problem. They all have multiple problems and some of them are exclusive. Because you have clipping, the noise reduction isn’t going to work.
We also say that by the time you realize you need rescue tools, it’s too late. That’s a law, not a theory.
Keep plugging away at the rescue tools and we’ll help where can, but testing the production process ahead of time is a big deal. We have a really bad joke in Hollywood about shooting a movie. “Don’t worry about that problem, we’ll fix it in post.” I work for a company that fixes things in post production. We’re never out of work.
Koz
There is a very common problem with Audacity. People Save Project at the end of a performance assuming they’re getting a sound file. They’re not. Audacity does not Save sound files and Audacity Projects are brittle, easily damaged and do not move well. Export As WAV at the end of a performance and then make safety backup copies of the WAV files onto removable media.
I’ve been known to lock up the backup media.
Koz
JTP_60:
I tried to invert the “S”-track but it made no difference, but I could not find “Invert Phrase”, just “Invert”. I don’t know the difference. What program do you use?
Kozikowski:
I recorded in a very low sound setting. It just a couple of days ago that we realized this and raised the volume.
Thank you for the comment on exporting as Wav. I will do that.
Attached an overly de-essed “before & after”. Audacity, Spitfish, Windows.
What values did you putt in to Spittfish? My result always becomes the opposite, everything but the “S”-sound disappears. I’m following the manual to the dot, as far as I can understand, but it always becomes wrong.