Hey everyone,
I was wondering if mic cables can effect the amount of sibilance that comes through a mic. I recorded vocals for a song a few years back and the sibilance was pretty well controlled. The past two days I recorded the same vocal parts(re-doing a song) using the same mic, mixer, and interface. When comparing the two, the most recent takes have very strong sibilance that can't be found on the original takes. The only difference in my setup is the room I'm recording in(and I'm confident the room wouldn't cause such a drastic change in this area), the cable I'm using, and I have a sock over the mic this time(lol, I know. I need to just spend the few bucks to get a pop filter but I didn't order one yet and needed a quick solution. Doesn't seem to change the tone as far as I can tell). The only other possibilities I can think of is that I may be singing closer to the mic this go round, not sure though. How far away I sang from the mic 3 years ago isn't very fresh in my memory. ;) Also, I guess my singing could have changed and I'm stressing my consonants more these days but I hardly think that I'm stressing them as much as I've heard in the recording if at all. So, I was just curious if the XLR cable could make that kind of difference? Just going through the possibilities.
Thanks in advance for your input! :)
Comments
Jeremy Dean, post: 445962, member: 49624 wrote: ...I guess my si
Jeremy Dean, post: 445962, member: 49624 wrote: ...I guess my singing could have changed and I'm stressing my consonants more these days...
Sibilance is a performance issue, including vocal technique and mic technique. People who sing or speak to an audience without amplification tend to emphasize their consonants. When they are using a mic their voice is lower but their consonants stay loud. It takes conscious adjustment to balance them for a mic.
paulears, post: 445963, member: 47782 wrote: Sibilance comes fro
paulears, post: 445963, member: 47782 wrote: Sibilance comes from your mouth and your mic positioning - so could just be that you now sing differently, have had dental work, have the mic in a bit closer, or angled differently - that's pretty well it!
That was my thought. Other than that, the place in the room could play a role. Also, the temperature and humidity could very slightly change how the mic capture the source but drastic changes; no
bouldersound, post: 445973, member: 38959 wrote: Sibilance is a
bouldersound, post: 445973, member: 38959 wrote: Sibilance is a performance issue, including vocal technique and mic technique. People who sing or speak to an audience without amplification tend to emphasize their consonants. When they are using a mic their voice is lower but their consonants stay loud. It takes conscious adjustment to balance them for a mic.
I agree but >
Can such consonants produce hissing sounds be inheritance in cheap converters, tin rooms, bad acoustics, certain headphone bleed, drum hi-hats, clanging cymbals > “shhhhhhhhhhh” sound, which adds a very harsh form of sibilance throughout a mix. Sometimes its hard to tell if the sss aren't actually the singers mic picking up all the crap from all the rest of the 5k going on from a bad case of the sibilant mix from hell.
Thoughts?
I have a perfect example of a mix I did, happening from a cabassa/ hi hat section conflicting badly with the vocals. My ears were so conditioned from that area that I missed it during the mixdown. It sounds like its the vocals, when in fact it is the hats and cabassa. I could have easily fixed it by using a sidechain duck on them.
Cheap converters may add to the problem, but I see the earlier l
Cheap converters may add to the problem, but I see the earlier links in the chain having a greater impact. The performance is the main influence followed by the acoustics, the mic, the pre and then the converter. That's a generalization and any of those can have a bigger impact in certain cases.
This reminds me that I have to notch a little out of the cymbals on a mix in progress. The vocal is getting sibilant and it's because I'm trying to get it on top of the cymbals. A little cut at 6-8k would probably let the vocal be heard more clearly.
Mic cables have three properties impedance, resistance and capac
Mic cables have three properties impedance, resistance and capacitance that can interact to change the characteristics of the cable. So using a long cable on a guitar, with it's high impedance pickups means you lose HF. Microphones, using lower impedance would only suffer from noticeable HF drop off if you had HUGE lengths. On a typical mic cable this means that swapping A for B is indistinguishable. Unscrupulous sellers prey on the gullible and sell them mega expensive cable that does nothing extra at all. If a cable removes the top end from your mic, then it is faulty. Drastic changes are nothing to do with cable. The sock would reduce sibilance. Sibilance comes from your mouth and your mic positioning - so could just be that you now sing differently, have had dental work, have the mic in a bit closer, or angled differently - that's pretty well it!