Is there a way to remove "Popping 'P's'" and "Hissing 'S's'"?

Question

Level 1

9 points

Is there a way to remove "Popping 'P's'" and "Hissing 'S's'"?

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has had this problem. You are in the studio or wherever, and you need to record something with a microphone. Sometimes though, your talent gets too close to the microphone and produces a "Popping P" sound like in rePublic or aPPle, or the "Hissing S" like in sssound or etc. Is there a way in GarageBand for me to remove a "Popping P" or a "Hissing S" w/o having to re-record anything again?

MacBook Pro 15-inch, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Oct 13, 2009 7:14 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Nov 17, 2010 2:35 PM in response to MattiMattMatt

If you have no chance to record the take again, I found that plosives can often be cut out by magnifying the audio waveform and removing just the big spike.

For hissing s's (called sibilance), GB's Visual EQ has a preset "Reduce 'S'", but it's not as good as the dedicated de-essers which apply a mixture of EQing and compression.

Reply

Answer 2

HangTime

Level 9

53,853 points

Nov 17, 2010 2:35 PM in response to mcfischer

you can try to de-emphasize plosives and sibilance with volume curves and EQs, but they can not be removed. getting a diffuser (pop filter) can do a world of good during recording:

http://www.bulletsandbones.com/GB/MiscGear.html

Reply

Answer 3

Nov 17, 2010 2:35 PM in response to mcfischer

mcfischer wrote:
I'm sure I'm not the only one who has had this problem. You are in the studio or wherever, and you need to record something with a microphone. Sometimes though, your talent gets too close to the microphone and produces a "Popping P" sound like in rePublic or aPPle, or the "Hissing S" like in sssound or etc. Is there a way in GarageBand for me to remove a "Popping P" or a "Hissing S" w/o having to re-record anything again?

I agree with Hangtime. The best thing to do is use a pop filter, which are inexpensive and effective.

There is also something called a de-esser, which is software that "surgically" removes the hissing Ssss, but first I'd try a pop filter and see if that clears up most of your problems.

Reply