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Old 06-19-2019, 02:26 PM   #1
swinternc
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Default Problems with deep plosives in voice recordings.

New to Reaper still trying to get good sounding single track mono voice recordings for future You Tube history presentations. Get deep plosives in words that cannot be faded in or out without near or total silencing total word. Using "gaming quality" PC motherboard. Focusrite solo gen two and AKG condenser mic. Have gone through most tutorials for beginners. Set up a bed comforter on the wall in a clothes closet in front of work station, no improvement. Can anyone suggest Windows 10, Reaper and Project settings that may reduce these plosives.
Thank you for any response.
Steve Winter, Winston Salem
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Old 06-19-2019, 03:13 PM   #2
dug dog
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Are you using a pop filter on your mic?
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Old 06-19-2019, 04:23 PM   #3
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Are they repeated words or syllables and is there one or two you could
sub after taking the sick ones out?
Or can you copy troubled sections make track below main vocal track paste sections and use an eq to massage the utterances into submission
on that track?

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Old 06-19-2019, 05:23 PM   #4
bjohn
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Here's the thing about plosives: they're not just about volume, they're about frequency. I never use volume to control plosives, always EQ -- a low cut works really well. But if you apply the low cut to your entire region the voice will be thin; you have to apply it just to the plosive. I do that with a saved EQ automation I call "plosive killer," and it's quite effective. Plosives have a distinctive shape in the waveform and once you recognize them it's easy to spot them and apply the automation there.

Kenny Gioia has a good video on controlling plosives in Reaper; this is only one of many techniques for attenuating plosives but it works well for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqB1pFkEPKE
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Old 06-20-2019, 08:11 AM   #5
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if you aren't using a pop filter, use one
if you ARE using a pop filter, position it further away from the mic and or move further away from the pop filter

or apply bjohn's method, it makes perfect sense to me, of course, that may not be a good thing hehe
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Old 06-20-2019, 08:31 AM   #6
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I think we're talking about two issues here:

1. Prevention of plosives in the first place, and
2. Fixing plosives in recordings.

I agree that a pop filter is good for avoiding them in the first place, and will make life easier overall. You can also experiment with microphone placement; ignore advice to "eat the mic" and when doing voiceover you can position the mic below or above the mouth, pointing toward it but not directly in front of it, so breath isn't hitting the mic directly. And you can back off from the mic a bit, at the risk of picking up more room noise. Much depends on the mic you're using, too, of course, but I find even with a dynamic mic I can get good voiceovers by backing off a bit.

As for fixing plosives in recording, the EQ automation technique that Kenny explains in the video is the best of all the methods I've tried. Another good approach is to use spectral editing, which Reaper can do (one of its killer features in my opinion), but plosives are so easy to spot in the waveform that I prefer the EQ automation method instead.
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Old 06-20-2019, 12:31 PM   #7
swinternc
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Default swnternc does use a metal pop filter

Should have mentioned that I do use a pop filter.
Thank to all who replied to post. Will try all
suggestions.
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Old 06-20-2019, 12:41 PM   #8
grinder
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There is a big world out there in Reaper Kenny land
saves a lot of work...
Impressive
Blown away

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Old 06-21-2019, 04:39 AM   #9
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our singer is particularly plosive,and I am a learning recordist (did I make up a word?)
I put the pop filter on it's own mic stand so I could get it further away from the mic, it worked for us
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Old 06-21-2019, 02:05 PM   #10
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Take a look at the offending syllable. It probably has a big blob of pop, easy to see, that is only on the attack of the word. The offensive frequencies are all way down there, and usually you can fix a bad plosive by eq'ing it out, dropping everything below 120hz or whatever, either gently or with a sledgehammer, depending on what you need.

This is a great job for "take fx". You don't even need to highlight the pop too carefully because you can eq the whole word and then pull the item edge back so that only the pop gets the eq. It's sometimes easier and faster than carefully making an item out of the pop and then massaging the two parts together.

Make a new item to be eq'd and click on it to bring up media item properties, then click on the take fx button on the bottom. Choose ReaEQ and create an eq that ramps out the lows fairly sharply below 100hz so that what's above it isn't touched. Save this setting. Now the fx is on that item. You can leave it like that but I go ahead and glue it, which burns the eq into a new item. Then I drag the left edge of the un eq'd item to its right so that it goes right up to it, and let it crossfade. Done.

Now you can return to this next time you need it by bringing up the ReaEQ setting again. The best way to do this is to save the eq as a chain. Then you can call it up and eq a plosive with one keystroke.

But for now, make the pop its own item, eq it using take fx, and drag the edges to make it work.

BUT.... : )

You really do want to cut down on the amount of plosives that happen as the first order of business. Which AKG mic? Some mics are just crazy sensitive to plosives if you get close enough to get a good sound out of them, and others won't pop if you try : )

A pop filter is a given. But you just might have a mic that's a pop factory unless you get far enough back until your voice sounds too roomy and you want the closer, present sound and can't have it be a roomy sound. Try staying fairly close but not speaking directly into the mic, talk across it, so wind doesn't go directly into it but misses it. Point the mic at an angle to you and speak towards it but at a slight angle.
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Last edited by vdubreeze; 06-21-2019 at 02:12 PM.
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Old 06-22-2019, 02:50 PM   #11
Don Schenk
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Even a strong enough plosive can get through a pop filter, as you have discovered.

Here is something to try.

Think about professional radio folks and V/O actors. YouTube Videos you can find of talk-radio discussions will often show the morning on-air people using RE20 or RE27 mics, without a pop filter. Why no pop filter? Because they, the folks talking, have learned to hold back the air from plosives, and they can do so without affecting the sound of their words. It all in "Radio DJ Class 101". I believe the course is called something like Voice and Diction 101.

Try this: Place your hand about 1/2-inch in front of your mouth as you say, "Peter Piper Picked A Pretty Peck of Pickled Peppers." You will feel the plosives. Now start trying to not have the plosives push air against your hand. Yes, it can be done by cutting down the amount of air with words that begin with the letter p. Yes it does take a bit of practice, but so does playing music.

As others have mentioned, you can also place the mic farther from your mouth - easier to do with a condenser mic.

HTH

:-Don
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