Sibilance in Voice Over

[mark adams]

I'm using an AT 4053b hyper w/ball gag, on a boom about 12 inches above the talent's mouth. The mic is about 6 inches in front of the talent and pointed between the mouth and chest. The room is very live with tile floors so I've placed a dozen moving blankets on the floor and hung from light stands 5 feet surrounding the talent (it sounds pretty dead now).

I'm recording from the mic to a SD 302 mixer and out to a Marantz 671. This set up sounds pretty good with my voice when testing but with women or some men with higher voices I'm getting sibilance.

Is there a way I can improve my set up to get rid of all those hissing ssss's?

Mark Adams

 

[Alex H.]

Sibilance often has to do with the frequency response of the mic, and the voice speaking into it. A de-esser in post can be your best friend.

As for mic placement, you can try to aim slightly off-axis to lower the higher-frequency response. The problem there is that you can affect more than just the sibilance.