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Excessive Ess-es. What causes them


Henchman

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I always try to to call the post team at some point to find out how they are doing with my work. Helps me a lot, and them as well. Invariably they'll invite me to stop by their studio and when I can, I will

 

Best way! It's something different to hear your work in a proper studio and something different in headphones. This opportunity can change everything (in your approach and style).

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I was told once that if a 416 is dropped or is exposed to extreme loudness, the damage can show up as it sounding very sibilant. Maybe that was the problem?

Therefore if its sibilant on the boom, and the lav's are normal, it points to a faulty mic. If both boom and lav is sibilant, its something else.

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To the OP: Lots of tips posted here in how to deal with sibilants , but there's one other thing you can pass on to your location mixers/recordists and that would be an awareness of How bad is bad? Invite your location sound people into your studio and play examples of the problem and also solutions. (I'd love to get an invite to this kind of session.)

A lot of location sound people don't really have any post experience, or if they do, like me , it was years ago. There's nothing like hearing it in the studio to create awareness of the problem.

I'm always happy to let people come in. Be it other re-recording mixers or location sound guys.

Just drop mea message anyone that's interested. We have shows where we are by ourselves the first day, so its easy for someone to come in on these days.

I was told once that if a 416 is dropped or is exposed to extreme loudness, the damage can show up as it sounding very sibilant. Maybe that was the problem?

Therefore if its sibilant on the boom, and the lav's are normal, it points to a faulty mic. If both boom and lav is sibilant, its something else.

THats really good to know.

Thanks.

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+1 on David's comment. I think a lot of mixers may not even be aware of the problem. I was fortunate to spend time as a re-recording mixer early in my career, at a time when optical tracks were the standard release format. Any excess sibilance would become instantly apparent, especially if the track negative or print densities were wrong! De-eesing compressors were our friends.

The tools we had back then were rather crude compared to what's available now, and I remember at least two occasions where the dialogue editor painstakingly razored the ss's on some nasty tracks. What a way to spend the day!

-Scott

To the OP: Lots of tips posted here in how to deal with sibilants , but there's one other thing you can pass on to your location mixers/recordists and that would be an awareness of How bad is bad? Invite your location sound people into your studio and play examples of the problem and also solutions. (I'd love to get an invite to this kind of session.)

A lot of location sound people don't really have any post experience, or if they do, like me , it was years ago. There's nothing like hearing it in the studio to create awareness of the problem.

"I don't care what they're talking about, all I want is a nice fat recording".

Harry Caul "The Conversation"

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  • 1 month later...

Having worked post a lot, and developed my own way of dealing with this in post,  and now primarily doing location sound work. 

 

What I have found personally is,  and of course quite obvious,  some peoples SS's are just louder than others.  

 

But the one that trips me the most is positioning, especially with Cos11d's,  and why I switched to dpa 4063s as they have a gentler way of picking up SS's.

 

But positioning of lavalier mics,  each actor has a sweet spot and depending on the job is not always possible to make the adjustments.   I noticed moving up or down an inch can increase or decrease SS's by at least 4 or 5 db... try it (if ever possible)  

 

The boom I came to the same conclusion as a previous post,  forehead of below the mouth to miss the direct hit from the mouth definately improves the SS's on actors that have excessive SS's 

 

In my music studio, it's why I love my M49,  the SS's are always beautiful.   

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