The human voice is a complex instrument. The sound of the voice is composed of several components. Some may be generated in the lungs and chest cavity, others a result of the resonance of the larynx, or something that occur higher up in the anatomy such as lips and tongue.
Esses can be generated by a human voice when the tongue is placed on the upper palate, directly behind the top teeth. Different voices have different tendencies, and combining a vocalist who generates an abundance of high frequencies with a microphone that was designed with an emphasis on capturing these same frequencies can result in a displeasing sound.
Read more about this here: https://theproaudiofiles.com/de-esser-plugins/
Audio editing
Why Do My Mixes Sound Bad? 8 Tips to Douse the Flames
How many times have you experienced when nothing good comes out of your system after you created a mix? You check your monitors, your headphones, your ears and yet it still sounds terrible. So here’s a list of ways to overcome that moment.
First and foremost, make sure your gear isn’t faulty. Power issues could also affect the sonic quality of your rig. Next, make sure nothing has changed in the physical space. The size and contents of the room have a huge effect on what you hear coming out of the speakers. Thus, if things sound off, it’s possible something in the room is significantly out of place.
Read more about this here: https://www.izotope.com/content/izotope/en/learn/why-do-my-mixes-sound-bad-8-tips-to-douse-the-flames.html
What is Dithering in Audio & What Does it Do? (An Easy Explanation!)
We can never blast out the highest quality versions of audio, video, or images because it is unnecessary and it’s too much data for normal consumer equipment to process live. Hence, data produced must be simpler and take up less bandwidth. However, when we down-convert, we lose details as well as introduce errors. Dithering is a process to smooth out those errors.
Dither is an intentionally applied form of noise used to randomize quantization error. The errors we get when converting our recordings to lower quality bit rates causes the waveform to shiver, and the algorithms used to do the conversion can be indecisive.
Read more about this here: https://ledgernote.com/columns/mixing-mastering/dithering/
What is Sidechain Compression? (+ 5 Ways to Use It)
Sidechaining is when a signal processor is controlled by a signal that’s different than the one it’s effecting. An example would be the compressor on a bass reacting to the kick drum. This is done in order to create a tone curve that would cause the compressor to act very specifically.
A compressor has two circuits that work in conjunction. One is the signal path itself which is the signal from input to attenuation to output. While the other is the detector circuit which controls the attenuator. Another name for the detector circuit is the “sidechain” because it’s a chain of components that happens on the side of the primary signal chain.
Read more about this here: https://theproaudiofiles.com/sidechain-compression/
3 Ways to Reduce Harshness in Your Vocals
What should you do if there is harshness in the vocals? Let’s say the vocals were harsh in the 9 – 10 kHz area and you want it to sound a bit smoother? Note that harshness is generally found in the 2.5 kHz area. However, you have to consider the harmonic multiples as well, so it’s not surprising that the 10 kHz area (2.5 kHz * 4) will add its own harshness.
You may use a multi-band compressor with only the top-band activated. This way the compressor leaves the entire signal alone, except for region above 9 kHz.
Read more about this here: https://www.audio-issues.com/music-mixing/3-ways-to-reduce-harshness-in-your-vocals/