Alloy’s De-Esser is a powerful tool for controlling sibilance on vocal takes as well as other high frequency problems such as harsh cymbals and clanging guitars.
Key Features:
Select range to de-ess with spectrum display
Solo the de-ess band to hear the frequencies affected by the de-essing process
Broadband or Multiband operation.
Traditionally, De-Essing is used to dynamically reduce loud sibilant noise particular from vocal takes, either spoken or sung. This technique can also be extended to other audio material containing large amounts of high frequency information, such as cymbals, distorted guitars, or other percussive elements.
Alloy’s De-Esser however provides a completely customizable De-Essing bandwidth range, allowing it not only to excel in traditional circumstances but also provides for other unique uses.
Placing your mouse into the De-Essing bandwidth range will allow you to click and hold to drag your frequency boundaries left and right, as shown below.
Note: With your mouse in this frequency range, you can use your mousewheel to make your range either narrower or broader
By setting De-Esser’s frequency range in lower mid-range frequencies and adjusting our settings, this module can also become a powerful tool for controlling build up of mud or other problematic audio at any frequency. As another unique effect and alternative to standard dynamics processing, using De-Esser’s Broadband mode can serve to control overall volume of your signal, triggered by whatever frequency area you select. Depending on Attack and Release times, this volume control can range from a thick and heavy pumping effect to a subtle dropping of volume whenever the De-Esser is triggered.
Multiband/Broadband: Multiband mode will affect only the frequency range selected whenever a sibilant signal passes above the specified threshold. Broadband mode will reduce gain on the entire audio signal when De-Esser is triggered by loud sibilance in the selected frequency range.
Threshold – The threshold control affects the point at which the de-esser is engaged.
Attack: This is the amount of time the De-Esser will wait once any audio sibilant passes the threshold to apply its gain reduction algorithm.
Release: The amount of time that the De-Esser will take to reduce its gain reduction to zero once the sibilant audio has passed below the threshold.
Band Solo:
Engaging this solo button allows you to preview only the audio material that De-Esser’s triggering circuit will be listening to, allowing you to better train the processing on your troubled audio.