Holger Lagerfeldt Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 (edited) Using the Logic Compressor as a De-Esser What and why The bundled de-esser in Logic Pro is not that good for vocals. Since it can't function in wideband mode it tends to make the vocal lisp very quickly. This preset does a much better job in my opinion though it's built on a very simple technique: using a resonant high pass filter in the internal sidechain of the Logic compressor. NEW - Tutorial video http://www.popmusic.dk/download/logic/de-esser/video/compressor-de-esser-tutorial.mov How to use the preset during mixing 1) Solo the vocal track and loop a couple of bars. Find a part that contains lots of sibilance ("s" and "t" sounds). 2) Switch the Activity parameter from "On" to "Listen", and tune the Frequency parameter until the sibilance is worst. Switch Activity back to "On". 3) Lower the threshold parameter until the compressor ducks on sibilance but not during the rest of the vocal. This is very important to avoid overdoing it. 4) Adjust the ratio if necessary to make the ducking less (lower ratio) or more agressive (higher ratio). The default ratio of 10:1 is fairly aggressive but sounds great. How to counter a wide sibilance area Normally a sibilance problem occurs within a specific area, e.g. around 7 kHz. If you're having problems with both "sss" and the lower frequency "chh" sounds then try lowering the Q value. Go from the preset default of Q=5 to around 2 or even lower. Do this while in the "Listen" mode in step 2 above. You need to re-adjust your threshold after doing this. Where to insert a de-esser Insert a de-esser early or first in the vocal chain, before equalizing or regular compression. This will give you the most natural sounding result. However, if you're boosting lots of highs in your vocal eq then you may get better results by inserting the de-esser after the equalizer but still before regular compression. You need to re-adjust your de-esser threshold when doing this, and you could possibly be getting a few more "false positives", i.e. ducking on normal parts of the vocal. Nerdy stuff you can skip I've chosen a high pass filter and not a parametric eq in order to detect from the specified frequency and upwards, though it focuses on the specified frequency due to the resonance caused by the high Q value in the filter. The best of both worlds then. Since the compressor works in wideband during the actual ducking you won't get the lisping artifacts associated with many splitband de-essers. But it also means this de-esser preset is most useful on vocals. If you're trying to remove a fret noise in a guitar recording you may want to use Logic's own de-esser plug-in. Download and install Download the preset, screenshot and audio examples (3 Mb ZIP file) Move the de-esser preset (.pst file) to this location: Mac HD > Users > YourUserName > Library > Application Support > Logic > Plug-in Settings > Compressor Audio examples Original vocal without de-essing Same vocal with de-essing preset Notice how the "s" and "t" sounds are more controlled and lower in a pleasant way without lisping, and the rest of the vocal is untouched. Using the original vocal WAV file clip you can experiment with the preset yourself. The WAV files are included in the above ZIP download. Screenshot http://www.popmusic.dk/download/logic/de-esser/screenshot/recall-screenshot.png Lagerfeldt De-Esser.pst.zip Edited August 12, 2010 by lagerfeldt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowdon Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 Thanks heaps you guys. Cheers. Snow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChicoSatis Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 Sweet. Thanks Lagerfeldt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8E8s Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 Sounds very good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zepsun Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 This looks great. I have a question about this. What if I already have a compressor on the same track for regular compressing, will it override the effect? This also applies to EQ. If I have 2 EQs on the same track with different settings, do the EQs cancel the changes out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fader8 Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 What if I already have a compressor on the same track for regular compressing, will it override the effect? No. Sometimes that can help, actually. This also applies to EQ. If I have 2 EQs on the same track with different settings, do the EQs cancel the changes out? No. For example having two 5 band EQ's in series is like having a 10 band EQ. One interaction to be aware of though, if you have 2 low pass filters in series, each 12dB/oct slope at the same frequency, then you've just constructed a 24dB/oct filter. You're just adding more poles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holger Lagerfeldt Posted April 12, 2009 Author Share Posted April 12, 2009 What if I already have a compressor on the same track for regular compressing, will it override the effect? Try using this preset early in your chain for the most natural effect. Sometimes it can work after equalizing too, but rarely after compression. I'm going to make a detailed step-by-step guide on how to use this preset very soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zepsun Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 What if I already have a compressor on the same track for regular compressing, will it override the effect? Try using this preset early in your chain for the most natural effect. Sometimes it can work after equalizing too, but rarely after compression. I'm going to make a detailed step-by-step guide on how to use this preset very soon. dude, u f'n' rock! ;O) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holger Lagerfeldt Posted April 12, 2009 Author Share Posted April 12, 2009 Thanks, updated with a step-by-step guide now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fader8 Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 Here's a plot demonstrating the resonant overshoot and rolloff of the Compressor's sidechain filter as lagerfeldt was describing. Response shown at various Q settings. (Note: the Gain parameter has no effect on the HP filter response.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holger Lagerfeldt Posted April 13, 2009 Author Share Posted April 13, 2009 Thanks! Is that a 12 dB/Oct at Q=0.7? How to counter a wide sibilance area Normally a sibilance problem occurs within a specific area, e.g. around 7 kHz. If you're having problems with both "sss" and the lower frequency "chh" sounds then try lowering the Q value. Go from the preset default of Q=5 to around 2 or even lower. Do this while in the "Listen" mode in step 2 above. You need to re-adjust your threshold after doing this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fader8 Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Thanks! Is that a 12 dB/Oct at Q=0.7 Yup! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ld_neil Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Here's a plot demonstrating the resonant overshoot and rolloff of the Compressor's sidechain filter as lagerfeldt was describing. Response shown at various Q settings. (Note: the Gain parameter has no effect on the HP filter response.) Hey Fader8, could you tell us what program you used to generate the frequency response curves in Logic here ? many thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fader8 Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Hey Fader8, could you tell us what program you used to generate the frequency response curves in Logic here ? Spectrafoo Complete: http://www.mhlabs.com/metric_halo/products/foo/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dansantner Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Just wanted to say thanks for posting this. I tried the de-esser that comes with logic, and it's basically worthless. Was about to spend 150 bucks on the waves de esser, but this option is worth a try before spending my money! Thanks, I'll give it a try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wip Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 how did i miss this thread?!? shouldnt it be put in the Tricks and tips section? k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Nahmani Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 how did i miss this thread?!? shouldnt it be put in the Tricks and tips section? Definitely. Not sure how I missed it either! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OtherJesus Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 Epic! Can't wait to use this tonight! I have the perfect project in mind Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holger Lagerfeldt Posted August 12, 2010 Author Share Posted August 12, 2010 So I finally finished the tutorial video for this preset: Logic Pro Compressor De-Esser tutorial video http://www.popmusic.dk/download/logic/de-esser/video/compressor-de-esser-tutorial.mov and while I was at it: Waves Renaissance De-Esser tutorial video http://www.popmusic.dk/download/waves/renaissance-de-esser-tutorial.mov Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordi Torres Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 So I finally finished the tutorial video for this preset: Logic Pro Compressor De-Esser tutorial video http://www.popmusic.dk/download/logic/de-esser/video/compressor-de-esser-tutorial.mov Loved it!....perfect tutorial. Thanks lagerfeldt! J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midischool Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 Hi this is great tutorial, i will use this as an example for the students at the college! thanks Lagerfeldt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayGee Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 A year later... Revisited this and re-discovered just how powerful Logic is out of the box! Thanks again, Lagerfeldt! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madgear Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 Great and...............thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhino Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 I've never enjoyed the de-essing process until downloading this preset. A huge thanks, Lagerfeldt! Such a better result than I was getting with the built in de-esser. Is there a way to fine tune the frequency steps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oafashow Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 How to counter a wide sibilance area Normally a sibilance problem occurs within a specific area, e.g. around 7 kHz. If you're having problems with both "sss" and the lower frequency "chh" sounds then try lowering the Q value. Go from the preset default of Q=5 to around 2 or even lower. Do this while in the "Listen" mode in step 2 above. You need to re-adjust your threshold after doing this. is the "chh" frequency range inherently wider than the "sss" range or is this recommended as a way to counter both frequencies at once? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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