Are you using anything like

raxxess.com/image_detail.asp?ID=1035

to tame the air produced by the S sounds? - or any other windscreen?

yeah im using a pop filter.

Your cut sounds great. The gate on your vocal, is a little disconcerting sounding. Hearing those cutoffs is not normal I tell you, not normal. So what you want is just 15 DB of downward expansion as opposed to gatting. Don't have that capability? Then just insert a small amount of room sound from that microphone. It'll be more consistent that way. Nice acoustics on the vocal. Not so dead as to be boring sounding.

The one thing that you are complaining about is sibelance. You've used compression & limiting with fast release times. This accentuates that even more and so, at the end of your processing, you insert a "De-Esser" which is a dynamic limiter, expressly affecting those frequencies. If you add too much of that, it'll make you sound like you have a speech impediment. And somehow, I don't think you're that way? Certainly not by your vocals? And such expressive lyrics. You don't mince words do you? Come on now. Tell us how you really feel?

You're doing it right. I guess that's up to interpretation?
Ms. Remy Ann David

I didn't think it was a gate, it sounded like editing to me. Since you don't hear it at the beginning of every phrase, and when you hear it it sounds like the words overlap or speed up slightly, as if he just started singing that line as another take then edited it there later...But Remy you are much more experienced than I.

thanks for your praise, the cutoff sounds are because I silenced my breaths in between each line. i'm still learning about release times and all that fancy stuff but im glad to know that my vox don't sound that bad. I'm gonna try to make a special eq preset for the sibelance what specific frequency range do the "shh" sounds sit in? and what about tilting the mic off axis does that work or..

Ahhh..

EQ will fix sibilance but isn't ideal.
What you really want is a multi-band compressor, or perhaps a compressor with a filter set to about 5-7KHz.

so now one knows about how to tilt the mic?

comet1440 wrote: so now one knows about how to tilt the mic?

There is only so much you can do with off axis micing. I doubt that it will fix your sibilance problem. How does the vocal sound in the mix? That has to be considered as well. Not everything is cut and dry. Sometimes that sibilance is what brings your vocals out of the mix. Sometimes that's what keeps the lyrics intelligible.

Otherwise all you can do is use a de-esser or make shift de-esser as it has been pointed out.

Comet,

I've listened to the vocal track through my computer speakers and don't find the Ss annoying. It sounds reasonably natural to me. Closer examination with reference monitors and/or headphones might show otherwise, but it doesn't sound that bad to me. You're using a pop filter, which is good - it doesn't sound like the air is coming straight into (and overloading) the mic capsule. A tiny amount of De Essing wouldn't hurt, but I wouldn't overdo it. I agree with hueseph, in that you don't want to go too far off the mic's center axis - it can cause more tonal problems than it cures. Maybe just back off the mic an inch or two. Move the pop filter a little further away from the mic and do what you been doing. What you've got sounds pretty good, so don't do anything drastic. And backing off the mic might lose some of that in-your-face presence you're getting now. I can almost guarantee that going off-axis will lose some that presence. Feel free to experiment, but I don't think there is any magic angle.

You say the most noticeable problems are words that start with the letter S.

As an experiment try holding your hand in front of your face and saying the word "Sibilance". For me, the S at the beginning comes pretty straight out the front. But the s sound made by the c at the end of the word, comes out much lower. They're 2 different "S" sounds. Knowing how the air exits your mouth might help you with your angle(s).

That's another reason nobody can give you a specific angle for the mic is this; How a person makes the S sound is very unique to them and it depends on the shape of their mouth and teeth. Some people (like myself) make most of that hard S sound with a soft bit of air coming straight out the front. Others (depending on overbite / underbite and other tooth related issues) will blow the air up or down to make that sound. Hockey players, Daffy Ducks, and 7 year olds who don't have any front teeth have to use their tongues to try to make the S sound - but it usually comes out more like a 'th'.

Any professional Speech Pathologists, feel free to correct me.

Good luck comet.

These guys have pretty much nailed it down...one thing I would suggest is doubling your pop filters. For some wack-a** reason my studio was in the forefront of gangsta rap a few years ago(for reasons of self- preservation we opted to quit recording that genre of music)...we/I came up with a cheap fix for the sibilance/plotives issues that you're dealing with. I now use a fabric mesh pop filter in front of a steadman metal mesh filter rotated 25 dergrees(roughly...there is no exact formula...play with it until it works for you) it reduced my problem, which was the same as you described, into non-existence! Rotating mics introduces more phasing issues an opens a whole new "can-of-worms"!

No it doesn't! If you turn the mic around within the bounds of the mic clip then it's fine. Upside down is the same as rightside up (for a SM58-esque mic anyway).

I'm sure someone said this allready but you need a pop filter or a de esser. believe it or not you can make a pop filter, out of a panty hose and a wire coat hanger. Just wrap the panty hose around the end of the coat hanger, and wrap the hanger around your mic stand. Now you have a pop filter it dosen't look great, but it works.

C'mon bro'(Codemonkey)...even with my limited # of posts...you should know me better than that by now! Of course I didn't mean "turn the mic around within the bounds of the mic clip" I meant rotating the mic off axis introduces all kinds of new "ISSUES"!!! And dude...no...pantyhose do "NOT" make a good pop filter. It will help keep spit/food/beer...etc off of your mics...but they just don't have the necessary materials to do much as far as de'essing/plotives removal. A solid material pop filter such as a Steadman or any of the type one often receives free with their boutique mics will get the job done by redirecting the airflow exiting the mouth downwards away from the mic diaphragm. "In conjunction"with using the filter try rotating it at diff angles until you get the results you want. Dudes, this isn't science it's art...don't be afraid to experiment. My way is my way, not "THE WRITTEN IN STONE" method...it may or may not work as well for you! However, it may work even better for you! Wanna here some experimentation with a pop filter checkout my girl Heidi Bethune's tunes at her my space site.myspace.com/heidibethune We were really just learning the "ART" part of pop filter placement as she recorded her demo. Yeah she got a lot of free hours from us as we "learned"!

some singers of old were also microphone artists, waving their hands to block the plosives and moving on the mic to do their own 'compression'. i think it might be a lost art...
anyway, i would leave in the breaths, but lower their volume. i think breaths give life, and not just for survival. and they add rhythm. and romance, though perhaps not in a rap with the word 'penis' in it...

BDM you are certainly correct in that. I've found that the more studio experience the person singing has, the more they know the subtle things like slightly backing off the mic during louder vocal passages, or turning their heads slightly if singing a harmony(makes the voice fit tighter into the harmony)...there are certainly a great many things that(used to be taught by good producers) have been lost in the modern era of"buy a cheap daw"and "record it yourself"/"then call your creation a studio"/"call yourself a producer"!

BDM wrote: some singers of old were also microphone artists, waving their hands to block the plosives and moving on the mic to do their own 'compression'. i think it might be a lost art...

Yeah, it was known as "Flashing" the esses. John Lennon was very good at it.

***Update***

whats up guys, I read all your suggestions thanks for the help. Today I recorded new vocals for a new song and I tried your suggestions plus my own newly developed recording techniques/engineering tricks. Sadly I STILL think the "shh" in my new vocals is bad/annoying even though I worked hard to fix it, I've concluded its probably because im using a cheap condenser (Mxl 909). But anyways I don't have money for new equipment yet so it will have to do. The reason why I care so much is because I want my tracks to sound as good as possible and im taking every step to make sure that happens so im posting the link to the new cut I did today let me know what you think about it overall and if the "shh" sounds would be too annoying to the average listener because if so im gonna just have to record in a pro studio or something.

http://www.stevie-e.net/mp3download/stevencut2.mp3

oh yeah and the cutoff sounds are cuz i silenced my breaths. But listen when I say "n*ggas know im the sh*t over here" I think the shh sounds TERRIBLE =(

I hear it, but it's not horrible. Maybe whatever you are using to monitor is accentuating it. When you put this to a beat it should be less noticeable.

That sounds fine to me.

If it's really bad to you, you should get some studio monitors.

If it's still awful, I think adding some multiband compression around 2 to 3KHz should fix it.

Try playing the mix in your car stereo, that's usually a good way to get an idea of what's going on. For the record, what are you using to monitor?

3, 2, 1 Creative speakers!

Don't tell me you monitor with these?

[youtube:26efc6a15f]http://www.youtube…]

Hey,
I'm a little late, but I think you should recut the track totally live. Just because. See how it works, then maybe comp in some spots.

Also, mix it with the beat and then bring it back to us, it's difficult for me personally to make a judgment without the whole song.

Eric

Im using these monitors, samson resolve A8's

http://www.samsontech.com/images/productimages/Resolv_A8-web.jpg

And I finished the whole song here it is:
http://www.stevie-e.net/mp3download/Stevie-E-getoverhere.mp3

For more of my music please visit http://www.stevie-e.net

It sounds good, I think the vocals are up a bit high, actually a lot. Also the high frequency artifacts could be caused by pushing a preamp/interface too hard.

yeah the vocals are a bit too loud its because I want them to cut through and stand out in the mix I might turn them down though.

Hello I just completed a new song, I have learned alot since my last post.
I want to know if the vocal quality/overall mix of this song sounds professional and correct :D

http://www.stevie-e.net/welcometomylife.mp3

a de-esser will solve the sibilance problem. don't go crazy though or you'll sound like you just drank a fifth of vodka

Guitarfreak wrote: It sounds good, I think the vocals are up a bit high, actually a lot. Also the high frequency artifacts could be caused by pushing a preamp/interface too hard.

this is true too

Try using de-esser as an insert real time. You may change your pop-up filter with other brands which are more thicker. Try also adding an analog configured compressor like the bomb factory in real time as an insert. You may tilt the pop screen but not the condenser microphone.

Hope this one helps!