Bringing Down a De-esser’s Lower Range To Start Around 3-4 kHz if Necessary

De-essers are used to reduce sibilance, usually in the 5-8 kHz range where sibilance is typically most prevalent. But sometimes a recording will contain harsh, irritating frequencies starting around the 3-4 kHz range and from there extend up to the common range stated above, 5-8 kHz. In cases like these it helps to de-ess the entire range from around 3-4 kHz all the way up to 7-8 kHz or higher if needed.

If you’ve ever applied a de-esser and still thought the audio sounded harsh, it’s probably due to harsh frequencies in that 3-4-5 kHz range.

*Be careful, though — if you remove too much information in the 3-4 kHz range the audio can start to sound a bit dull, unclear or muffled. (not crisp) …and that’s not good either. As always, you have to find that happy medium 😉

Have you de-essed audio down that low? (3-4 kHz)

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