Mouth Noises when recording....what do I gotta do?

Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 10:53 pm

Hey I have a particular artist that I record (rap) that has a deeper voice with a lip smacking problem. My setup includes a focusrite platinum pro preamp with a Blue Baby Bottle mic, we have a standard black nylon wind filter on the mic and have not had problems with plosives just lip smacks. Is there some particular mic placement strategies I can implement to reduce this? Is there something the vocalist can do to reduce this? Is there a way to edit lip smacks out in editing? I tried silencing the lip smacks while mixing but some of them were in the middle of words and couldn't be edited out. If you have any suggestions to reduce or eliminate my problem I would appreciate any input.

Thanks
C

Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2005 9:04 am

I had a similar issue with a female vocalist.
Our best solution was a bit of baby oil on the lips.

Oh how I miss those glissening lips.

Give it a try.

Chris

Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2005 12:57 pm

also have your talent drink plenty of water so the saliva does not thicken up- that is often the case when this problem occurs

Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 2:21 pm

if he already has a deep voice maybe you can try a high pad on his vocals, cut out that lip-smacking frequency, you might even be able to acheive it with a filter after having recorded, or a heavy compression...other than that i cant think of anything, i guess a pop filter wouldnt work sense its not an anunciation problem...you might even be able to get rid of the smacking with a de-esser, i know Steinberg and Antares make some decent plugins for that.

Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2005 12:57 pm

Indeed, Chapstick or Lipgloss(Comes in "clear", for the less adventurous male - I use Burt's Bee's Cherry.). Mineral oil may have slightly less "flavor" and scent, even salad oil(NO motor oil!).

At least rinse out the mouth well with water and brush teeth - well - including tongue and gums.

Try a dynamic mic! RE-20/Sennheiser 421, Shure SM-58, etc. Doesn't seem to pick up as much of this stuff. May not pick up as much of the "good stuff" either?

Work the mic you have from the side a little. Back up from the mic, also just a little - don't want to lose the presence.

TG

Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2005 1:18 pm

Extra-virgin olive oil on the ...lips, especially in the corners
of the mouth. No garlic.

Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2005 4:10 pm

hummm- extra virgin on the lips sounds good...

Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2005 6:47 pm

Apple juice has enough pectin to clear the bubbles and saliva. Also, my favorite trick... it works for me... is to use a gate set with an attack around 120-180ms, hold time 80ms, and 110 relase time, and a depth of perhaps -8 dB. the slow attack is just enough to chop off the opening of the lips.
SG

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