Sibilance occurs – to one degree or another – in just about every vocal track you’ll ever record, and it’s something you should be on the lookout for as too much sibilance in a track can be extremely distracting to a listeners. Here we’ll look at exactly what sibilance is, and also at a couple of methods of getting rid of it.
What is Sibilance?
In its simplest terms, sibilance is the harsh sounds produced by certain consonants; the most common perpetrators are S, T and Z sounds. Technically speaking, the sounds associated with these letters produce disproportionate dynamics in certain upper midrange frequencies. Put another way, these sounds “pop” (and sometimes hiss) by being much louder at higher frequencies, which become very noticeable in recordings.
What It is Not
First, it should be noted that the appearance of sibilance will be negligible in many singers. The typical line of advice is that if it’s not distracting from the overall vocal track, you likely want to avoid doing anything to the track as it might harm the rest of the track. It should also be noted that the extent that this particular advice should be adhered to changes slightly as your mixing expertise grows.
Additionally, this is not something that you should try to control from the standpoint of having the vocalist sing differently. Sibilance is not a vocal problem, it is a natural part of human speech and therefore human singing.
There are basically two ways to control sibilance:
- Get Rid of It at the Source
Again, this doesn’t mean telling your singers to change the way he or she forms words. However there are a few things you can do, including moving the vocalist away from the mic. Close-miking techniques on vocalists have produced some great records (see pretty much the entirety of the Elliot Smith discography), but it just doesn’t work for everyone’s style. Obviously, the cure for this is to move the microphone back a bit to cut down on sibilance.
Another note is that pop filters, while great for stopping those “P” and “B” sounds (among others), don’t typically help with sibilance. So while you should still (almost) always use one, don’t use it for the purposes of helping with sibilance.
- Get Rid of It in the Mix
Because sibilance is so prevalent, many techniques have been developed in the mixing phase to cut down on it. A de-esser is an audio processor developed purely to get rid of sibilance.
A de-esser essentially works by applying certain compression, gain reduction and EQ settings to a very narrow frequency band designed to eliminate sibilance. Many of today’s DAW software packages have a de-esser or a compressor with specific de-esser settings. Just be sure to play around with the settings until you discover what will best help you on your specific track, since all problems will be different.
A final note: be sure not to over-compress tracks with sibilance problems. This can lead to making the problem even worse by accentuating it. Because of this, you’ll typically want to take any de-essing steps before you begin compressing the track.
So, Why A Membership?
Let’s face it — trying to create professional mixes without the correct knowledge, tools, services, community, and network is like playing a concert with a broken instrument to an audience of no one.
That’s where the Sage Audio membership comes in — the membership gives you everything you need to create professional mixes consistently.
The membership is the secret to your success — it’s the difference between the 1,929,999,999 of poor-sounding mixes and the .00000002% of mixes that make people say 'WOW!"
There are 4 unique value-points and 5 additional bonuses included with your Sage Audio membership.
Let’s go over each one so you can decide if the membership is right for you.
1. Sage Audio University
- SAU Flagship Mixing Course: 23-video in-depth mixing course that reveals the little-known secrets that match the needs of the new music industry.
- SAU Flagship Mastering Course: 19-video modern in-depth mastering course that dives into every secret nuance of making chart-topping masters.
- SAU Pre-Mastering Course: Concise pre-mastering course that details the latest industry standards for preparing your mixes for modern mastering.
- SAU is designed for every experience level, ranging from first-time mixing engineers to advanced engineers. The techniques and concepts taught can be applied to any DAW to create industry-leading mixes without expensive software or plugins - and free plugin alternatives are suggested throughout every course.
- SAU courses include Start-to-Finish session walkthrough lessons for multiple genres so you can follow along with your preferred genre.
- SAU Weekly Quizzes to continually test your knowledge and grow your audio engineering skills.
- SAU Certification Document, which can be downloaded and showcased on your website, and social channels.
- New course lessons are added every week with the latest knowledge and techniques so you can continually build and refine your skills as the industry evolves.
Yes! I Want To Join The Membership Now
2. Private 1-on-1 Mentorship
- The Sage Audio private 1-on-1 Mentorship gives you direct access to us for advanced mixing feedback, in-depth discussions, and customized guidance that's tailored to your specific needs.
- Unlimited private access to us for advanced mixing feedback, where we provide detailed suggestions for improvement.
- Unlimited private access to us for in-depth discussions to help you improve every aspect of your mixes and masters.
- Customized guidance that’s tailored specifically to your needs.
- Fast communication so you can improve your skills quickly.
Yes! I Want To Join The Membership Now >
3. Unlimited Mixing Feedback
- Unlimited professional mixing feedback directly from us so you can consistently improve and produce professional mixes.
- Mixing feedback is highly valuable - giving you continual direct access to us for real-world suggestions so you can improve every aspect of each of your mixes while you're in the process of mixing.
Yes! I Want To Join The Membership Now >
4. 50 Free Mastered Songs Per Year
- 50 free mastered songs per year with your own dedicated professional mastering engineer so you can get all your mixes sounding like professional songs.
- You get your own dedicated Sage Audio mastering engineer to create custom masters that are specific to you and sound exactly how you want.
- Unlimited revisions with your dedicated Sage Audio mastering engineer. As a standard of our service, we are not happy until you are happy with the sound of your masters.
- All masters are delivered as commercial, industry-standard high-resolution 24-bit HD WAV masters so they will sound clean and clear on every platform.
Yes! I Want To Join The Membership Now >
Bonus #1: Weekly Live Chats
- Live chats are held every Thursday.
- Join us for fun group chats about mixing, mastering, and more!
Yes! I Want To Join The Membership Now >
Bonus #2: Community
- The Sage Audio community is a tight-knit community of passionate audio engineers who can provide you with additional real-world mixing feedback, meaningful discussions, networking, collaborations, and more.
Yes! I Want To Join The Membership Now >
Bonus #3: Mixing and Mastering Competitions
- Compete in Weekly Mixing and Mastering Competitions to win prizes, connect with friends, and have fun!
- Competitions are a great collaborative way to improve your skills alongside other producers and engineers in a professional environment.
Yes! I Want To Join The Membership Now >
Bonus #4: 70+ GB of Curated Sage Audio Downloadable Content
- 36 multitrack sessions spanning multiple genres for mixing practice.
- 57 un-mastered mixes spanning multiple genres for mastering practice.
- 62 Recommended Free Plugins List (vetted, tested, and approved, so you don’t have to).
- 39 Recommended Paid Plugins List (vetted, tested, and approved, so you don’t have to).
- 71 Sage Audio custom plugin presets to improve your mixes and masters.
- Sage Audio Membership Badge to showcase on your website, social channels, and portfolio.
Yes! I Want To Join The Membership Now >
Bonus #5: 700+ Video Catalog
- Access 700+ in-depth Sage Audio mixing and mastering videos - curated and organized into categories so you can easily take a deep dive into all aspects of audio engineering with thousands of hours of concise, expertly crafted Sage Audio videos to continually improve your skills at your own pace.
Yes! I Want To Join The Membership Now >
