The Journal
Notes on clarity.
Field notes on de-essing, vocal clarity, and the craft of adaptive audio, from the team building Sound. Practical, measured, and honest about the tradeoffs.
50 entriesRSS
The complete guide to de-essing
What sibilance actually is, how de-essers work, how to de-ess vocals without dulling them, and when the tool you need isn't a de-esser at all. A measured, honest guide from the team that builds one.
The archive
How to reduce background noise in Audacity
Audacity's built-in Noise Reduction cleans steady hiss and hum well — if you don't overdo it. Step by step: get a noise profile from a silent moment, apply it gently, and avoid the watery over-scrubbed artifact.
· 6 min
How to de-ess dialogue for video and YouTube
Video dialogue shows sibilance badly — harsh lav and camera mics, and viewers on tiny exaggerating speakers. How to de-ess dialogue in your editor or DAW so talking-head content sounds professional, without a lisp.
· 6 min
How to treat a room for vocals (cheaply)
An untreated room bakes reflections into your vocal that are hard to remove later. How to treat a recording space for vocals cheaply — blankets, a clothes-filled closet, recording into a soft pocket — and what actually matters.
· 6 min
How to remove mic bleed from vocals
Mic bleed is unwanted sound recorded alongside the vocal — headphones, other instruments, room. Why it steals clarity and control, why a gate only fixes the gaps, and how separating the voice from simultaneous bleed is the real job.
· 5 min
How to fix a dull or muffled vocal
A dull, muffled vocal is missing presence and air. How to fix it: a presence lift and a little air with EQ, a low-mid cut if it's muddy — plus the honest limit of what EQ can recover when the top end was never recorded.
· 6 min
How to make vocals cut through the mix
A buried vocal is a space problem, not a volume problem. How to make a vocal sit on top of a mix: carve room in the competing instruments, add presence, keep the level steady, and control the esses so it cuts without spitting.
· 6 min
How to add warmth to vocals (saturation, done right)
Warmth on a vocal comes from saturation — harmonics that add richness and body. How to add warmth without harshness or mud: pick a flavour, use a little, blend it in parallel, and watch that it doesn't worsen sibilance.
· 6 min
Parallel compression on vocals, explained
Parallel compression makes a vocal dense and consistent without squashing its life — you blend a heavily compressed copy under the natural one. How it works, how to set it up, and why you must clean the vocal first.
· 6 min
How to tune vocals (pitch correction basics)
Pitch correction ranges from invisible touch-ups to the hard robotic effect — both from the same tools, set differently. How to tune vocals: automatic vs graphical, why retune speed decides the sound, and how to keep it natural.
· 6 min
How to add reverb to vocals (without drowning them)
Reverb gives a vocal space and depth — done badly it turns the voice washy and distant. How to add reverb to vocals: use a send, set pre-delay to keep words clear, match type and decay to the song, and clean the vocal first.
· 6 min
How to use delay on vocals
Delay adds rhythm, depth, and drama to a vocal — slapback, timed repeats, throws, ducking delay. How to use delay on vocals: set it on a send, sync it to tempo, filter the return, and keep the words clear.
· 6 min
How to double vocals (the right way)
Doubling makes a lead vocal wide and thick — but copying one take to both sides does nothing. How to double vocals properly with real re-performed takes, panning, when to use it, and how to keep the stack from turning harsh.
· 6 min
How to de-ess cymbals and overheads
De-essing isn't only for voices. Harsh, splashy cymbals and drum overheads carry sibilance-like energy a de-esser tames better than EQ — ducking the harsh spikes only when they happen so the cymbals keep their shimmer.
· 5 min
How to de-ess an acoustic guitar
Close-miked acoustic guitar has its own sibilance: harsh pick attack and finger-squeak. How to de-ess an acoustic guitar to tame pick and string noise dynamically, without dulling the instrument's natural sparkle.
· 5 min
How to choose a de-esser (what actually matters)
Dozens of de-essers, all claiming to be transparent and musical. What actually separates one you'll trust from one you'll fight: how it detects the ess, published transparency, latency, CPU, and whether there's a real free tier.
· 6 min
What does a de-esser do?
A de-esser removes the harsh, hissy 's' sounds from a vocal without dulling the rest of the voice. What a de-esser actually does, how it works dynamically, and when you need one — the plain-English explanation.
· 5 min
De-esser settings explained (threshold, frequency, range)
Every de-esser control explained: frequency (where it listens), threshold (how loud an ess must be to trigger it), range (how much it reduces), listen mode, attack/release, and wideband vs split-band — plus the order to set them.
· 6 min
How to make vocals sound professional
The gap between a home vocal and a pro one isn't one plugin — it's five steps in the right order. Clean it up, control the level, de-ess, EQ, then add character. The honest order of operations, with where each piece fits.
· 7 min
How to de-ess a podcast or spoken voice
Spoken word shows sibilance more than singing — bright mics, close miking, no music to hide it. How to de-ess a podcast or voiceover so speech stays crisp and comfortable to listen to for a full episode.
· 5 min
How to de-ess backing vocals and vocal stacks
A stack of backing vocals has many near-simultaneous esses that compound into harshness far worse than any single track. How to de-ess vocal stacks on a bus, why you can push them harder than a lead, and how to keep the air that makes stacks lush.
· 5 min
How to add air and brightness to vocals (without harshness)
Air is the open, expensive sheen on a pro vocal — but boosting the top end amplifies sibilance right along with it. Why air and de-essing overlap, and the order that adds sparkle without spit: de-ess first, then add air.
· 5 min
Why does my vocal sound harsh? (and how to fix each cause)
'Harsh' isn't one problem — it's usually sibilance, a presence buildup, a resonance, or over-processing, and each has a different fix. How to diagnose why a vocal sounds harsh and reach for the right tool instead of dulling the whole voice.
· 6 min
How much de-essing is too much?
De-essing is easy to overdo. The signs you've gone too far — a lisp, a dull top end, mushy consonants — why it happens, and how much reduction is actually right: tame the harshness, don't erase the esses.
· 5 min
How to de-ess a full mix or master bus
Sometimes sibilance survives to the master, made worse by bus compression and limiting. When and how to de-ess a full mix or master bus — gently, narrowly, and only after fixing it on the vocal first.
· 5 min
How to de-ess vocals in Reaper
Reaper has no plugin called 'De-Esser', but ReaXComp does the job. How to de-ess in Reaper step by step with the stock multiband compressor: make a high band over the sibilance, compress only the top, and protect the vowels.
· 5 min
How to remove background noise from vocals
Hiss, hum, and fan noise are the most common thing between a home recording and a pro vocal. How to remove background noise cleanly: learn a noise profile, subtract it, use the least reduction that works, and do it first in the chain.
· 5 min
How to remove plosives (pops) from vocals
That low thump when a singer hits a 'p' or 'b' is a plosive. How to remove plosives from a recorded vocal with a fast high-pass or a quick volume dip aimed only at the pop — and how a pop filter prevents them at the source.
· 5 min
How to de-ess vocals in FL Studio
FL Studio has no plugin called 'De-Esser' — but Fruity Multiband Compressor does the job. How to de-ess in FL Studio step by step: set the high band over the sibilance, compress only the top, and protect the vowels.
· 5 min
How to de-ess vocals in Pro Tools
Pro Tools ships a stock De-Esser, so de-essing here is direct. How to de-ess in Pro Tools step by step: set the frequency over the esses, use Key Listen to confirm it, tune on the worst word, and where the stock tool runs out.
· 5 min
What frequency is sibilance? The sibilant range explained
Sibilance lives roughly between 5 kHz and 10 kHz — a range, not a single frequency. Where deeper vs brighter voices sit, why 'male vs female' is only a proxy, and how to find the exact spot on the voice in front of you.
· 5 min
How transparent is your de-esser? Here's how to test it
Every de-esser claims to be transparent; almost none publishes a number. How to measure a de-esser's transparency yourself — how much it disturbs the non-sibilant vocal while it works — and what a good result looks like.
· 5 min
The best free de-essers (and when free is enough)
An honest look at free de-essing: what separates a good free de-esser from a frustrating one, the free options worth knowing, where Sibilance Open fits, and when free stops being enough.
· 6 min
What actually causes sibilance (mic, voice, room)
If the harshness keeps coming back, the fix might be upstream of the de-esser. Where harsh esses really come from — the voice, the mic, the chain, the room — and what to do at each stage.
· 6 min
De-esser latency: what 5 ms of look-ahead actually buys you
Look-ahead lets a de-esser catch an ess before it peaks — but every millisecond is latency you pay everywhere. Why Sibilance runs 5 ms in the studio and ~1 ms live, and why longer isn't better.
· 6 min
De-esser vs dynamic EQ: when to use which
A de-esser and a dynamic EQ overlap enough to confuse and differ enough to matter. The honest distinction, and a simple rule for picking the right one for harsh esses vs a specific resonance.
· 5 min
How to de-ess vocals in Logic Pro
How to de-ess cleanly in Logic Pro with the stock DeEsser 2, step by step: find the sibilant band with the Detector, set the amount on the worst word, protect the vowels, and where the stock tool runs out.
· 5 min
How to de-ess vocals without dulling them
The usual de-esser dulls the whole top end to tame a few harsh esses. Here's how to remove only the sibilance — the phonemes, the frequencies, and the settings that keep the air intact.
· 7 min
How to de-ess vocals in Ableton Live
Ableton has no dedicated de-esser, but Multiband Dynamics does the job. How to tame harsh esses in Live step by step, where the stock approach runs out, and the phoneme-aware alternative.
· 5 min
Split-band vs single-band de-essing
The most important architectural choice a de-esser makes. Why split-band preserves the air that single-band dulls, how many bands you actually need, and how to tell which one you have.
· 5 min
De-essing rap & fast vocals without lisping
Rap is consonant-dense and fast, so de-essing it like a slow sung vocal makes it lisp. How to tame the harshness while keeping the crispness that makes the words land.
· 5 min
How to mix vocals: the complete guide
A vocal mix is a short chain of honest decisions in the right order: clean up, de-ess, EQ, compress, colour, space, automate. What each stage is for, why order matters, and how to keep a vocal sounding like a person.
· 8 min
The correct vocal chain order (and why it matters)
The order of your vocal plugins decides whether each one solves a problem or creates one. The default order that works, why de-essing goes early, EQ before or after compression, and when to break the rules.
· 5 min
How to EQ vocals (cut before you boost)
EQ places a vocal in the mix, and it's where a lot of vocals get harsher. How to EQ so a vocal sits clear and present without turning brittle: cut first, a practical frequency map, and why esses are a de-esser's job.
· 5 min
How to compress vocals (control, not crush)
Compression makes a vocal sit steady, and it's the effect most people overdo. How to compress for control instead of crush: starting settings, why two gentle passes beat one hard one, and de-essing before you compress.
· 5 min
How to get a clean, clear vocal
Clarity is the foundation a vocal mix is built on. The five obstacles between the listener and the voice — room, noise, plosives, harsh esses, mud — and how to clear each one, in the right order.
· 7 min
How to remove reverb from vocals
Recorded reverb is baked in — you can't turn it down. How de-reverb tools separate the direct voice from its reflections, how to avoid the watery artifact, and why prevention beats cure.
· 5 min
How to record vocals at home
The best plugin can't undo a bad recording, and a cheap setup can capture a great one. How to record a clean vocal at home: the room, the mic, placement, and levels, so mixing starts from something worth mixing.
· 6 min
The best microphone for vocals (is the wrong question)
There's no single best vocal mic; the best one matches your voice and your room. Condenser vs dynamic, matching mic brightness to the voice to avoid baked-in harshness, and why the room beats the mic.
· 5 min
How to reduce sibilance while recording
The cleanest de-essing is the sibilance you never record. Angle the mic off-axis, back off the distance, match the mic to the voice — capture it smaller so de-essing stays gentle and natural.
· 4 min
Written by the team building Sibilance. Measured, never faked.