Sibilants very loud in last project

[Jack Hawk 1]

I began our latest Project last summer, and not long after starting Melodyne 5 was released. I know it handles sibilant detection differently and wonder if it may be causing loud sibilants on project vocals. I cannot seem to make them go away. De-essing has no effect with half a dozen different De-essing plug ins. adding compression during mastering seems to make the problem much worse. I never had the issue before using Melodyne 4, though I am not sure that is the problem. Looking for anyone having similar issues that may have found a solution? Does anyone have any suggestions to help.

Thank You

Jackson

[Bruno de Souza Lino 272]

Maybe bring the issue to Celemony?

[John Vere 488]

Melodyne 5 introduced a sibilant detection that I'm not sure was in 4 or before. I haven't really used Melodyne much until after the last upgrade I figured it now costing me $100 more,  I'd better dive in and get it working for me. 

I watched a release video which clearly shows the ability to detect all sibilants in a clip , highlight and delete. So I'm not sure what your issue is because it would seem the opposite should be happening if you used the tool correctly. For me I have deleted a bunch and without Melodyne I would have not been aware they were even present. 

[Salvatore Monella 74]

 

 

[Jack Hawk 1]

I'm thinking perhaps Melodyne is highlighting and accentuating them John, so yes, I need to better understand what's happening. Thanks for the video Salvatore, I'll check it out later today. Part of the issue is I don't want to delete them all as the words will still need s's and t's.  Thanks for the replies everyone!!!

 

Jackson

[Salvatore Monella 74]

3 hours ago, Jack Hawk said:

Part of the issue is I don't want to delete them all as the words will still need s's and t's

That's the beauty of the sibilant tool. You don't delete them you just lower them to taste. You'll see it in the video. You can individually lower each sibilant blob, or you can highlight everything and just use the sibilant tool to lower them all.

[Salvatore Monella 74]

3 hours ago, Jack Hawk said:

Part of the issue is I don't want to delete them all as the words will still need s's and t's

That's the beauty of the sibilant tool. You don't delete them you just lower them to taste. You'll see it in the video. You can individually lower each sibilant blob, or you can highlight everything and just use the sibilant tool to lower them all.

Also, if the project you're working on was started in melodyne 4, the sibilant tool won't be active. Here's some info from Celemony:

Important: Old Melodyne 4 projects are opened in Melodyne 5 with Sibilant Detection turned off, so initially everything sounds exactly as before. If you want to take advantage of the new functions, check “Sibilant Handling” in the Algorithm Inspector.

[John Vere 488]

Possibly your moving the tool the wrong way.. Up makes them louder, down softer.  

[Bill Ruys 29]

As others have mentioned, the new features in Melodyne should help.  But the other tool I have used successfully for troublesome sibilants is a multi-band compressor.  You set the upper and lower sides of just one band so that it just covers the frequencies where the sibilants are and set your threshold on that band so that it starts kicking in only when the sibilant is present.  Set the ratio so that it cuts just the right amount to bring it under control.  It's like a De-essing tool on steroids, as you have far more granular control of the parameters.

I guess I would also add that this is a case where microphone selection is pretty important.  Some bright condenser mics can really emphasise sibilants with certain vocalists, but if you've already laid down all your vocals and can't redo them, I guess you'll have to fix it in the mix.

[Jack Hawk 1]

Gentlemen, Thank you so much for the replies. I think I have a handle on it now. The tutorial is excellent.  I was able to pull up one of my songs and edit so I'm all set. I appreciate all your help and assistance, as this has been driving me crazy.

Jackson