Shotgun sibilance?!

P

PaulWM

Active member
Hi

I am aware that in say voice over situations where you get an actor with sibilance you can overcome this to a certain extent by using a 'pop' shield.

However what if you are in a situation with that same person outside and you are recording dialogue with a shotgun (or indoors using a hyper)? Would a furry wind gag be as effective at reducing the sibilance as a pop shield would in the studio?

Regards
 
Can be a problem, must be strong if you get it via your shotgun, is it to close? What type are you referring to .. thuffering thuckatash or a whistle through his teeth?

I wouldn't put any windjammer on expecting it to reduce sibilance.

Pop filters don't reduce it either, but I keep one on studio v/o mics to stop spittle eventually eating out the mic grills.

Some NLEs have a deesser module and there are addons and standalone versions. If you haven't got access to those take a v/o sample from him and experiment narrowly dipping the EQ around 5-6Khz. Keep a note of his settings for the future. Don't overdo it.

Always best to stop it at the source though. Get your boy to gargle, suck a lemon prior and swallow a lot .. or suggest nicely he get his teeth fixed. Careful he doesn't walk off or threaten action.

Cheers.
 
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Try a different mic would generally be the way to go imho, but also consider that you're not in a calibrated, treated studio when doing location sound. Sometimes you just have to capture what's there to the best of your ability, and let post see what's needed.
 
The mic is causing most of it, use a De-Esser in post. try a ribbon mic for voice overs or a mic without a presence peak if ssss is a problem Usually the consonants aid in intelligibility, however.
 
I once had to deal with a powerful political commentator for a Murdock newspaper who moved to network radio. Nice guy with a dreadful lisp which caused major headaches.

A combination of an AKG D12 plus deesser sorta worked but the answer was some dental work. Cheers.
 
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