Have you ever listened to a great sounding record and marveled at how the high-end sounds open, sparkly and engaging, while still being smooth and well balanced?
There are several methods that you can use when mastering to enhance the high-end. These methods can also be used while mixing, so they are well worth learning even if you are mainly focused on producing and mixing. It’s actually a very good idea to get that high-end smooth and sparkling already in the mix!
In professional mastering studios you will often find certain types of equipment that are useful for this area. One particular piece of analog equipment that is a favorite among many engineers is the Maselec MDS-2. This is a stereo deesser that is used for reducing sibilance on a full stereo mix.
This particular unit is popular for several reasons and there is nothing else that sounds quite like it. But there is one aspect of how it works that we can borrow and apply for ourselves using a common dynamic EQ plugin. This method is really useful for controlling harsh and uneven high-end in a transparent way! Let’s have a look!
The main part of this strategy is to compress the upper part of the frequency range using a dynamic EQ. We will do this by compressing the high-end together with the upper mids using a high shelving filter going all the way from 2 kHz and up. That’s the idea that we are borrowing from the MDS-2!
Many times when reducing sibilance we want to focus on the actual s-sounds and find a narrow setting on the deesser that affects the s-sounds but not too much of the surroundings. The strategy described in this article on the other hand works by compressing not only all of the high-end, but also all of the upper mids.
Why is this a good idea? Isn’t it better to do as little processing as possible? Yes it is, and in some ways, this is actually less processing than using narrow filtering. Think of it this way. We have talked about tonal balance and the importance of getting the balance between lows, mids and highs right.
If the problem is that the whole high-end is uneven, then there is often no specific frequency to target with a more narrow deesser. If we then target the whole sibilant area from, say, 6 kHz and up, then we might be able to get the high-end in control and sounding more even. But now the balance between the upper mids and the high-end has been changed. This often leads to the upper mids being perceived as louder, while the high-end gets softer. The overall sound will get less open and more harsh.
By compressing the upper mids and the high-end together, then we also keep the balance within the whole upper region of the mix. The high-end will tend to stay clear and open, while also being more controlled. The trick to making this sound good is to get the timings and amount of compression right.
One good plugin for this strategy is TDR Nova. This is a free dynamic equalizer, and the high shelving band is perfect for this.
- Set one of the bands to high shelving
- Set the q-value to 0.7
- Set the frequency to 2 kHz.
- Enable the dynamic section by pressing the “Threshold” button.
- Set the ratio to 3:1
- Set the attack to 10 ms
- Set the release to 20 ms.
The fairly long attack time (in the context of deessing at least) will make the compressor less sensitive to very short transients and more sensitive to sustained sibilance. The very short release time will avoid pumping and minimize the loss of overall energy in the area. It might also add some slight crunch, which in many cases will be perceived as extra clarity and excitement.
Now listen to the master and adjust the threshold control so that you get 1-2 dB of gain reduction. Listen for how the high-end calms down and sounds more even.
If the sound gets too dark, then you can try to add some high-end in an equalizer placed before the Nova instance. This is a trick that we often use on mixes with uneven high-end – add too much high-end up front, and then polish off the excess using a deesser or high-end compression. This is one of the things that tend to make the mix sound more like a record.
Compressing the high-end in this way is not something that works all the time though. You will often need to use more specific strategies for dealing with things like resonances, build-ups and loud sibilance in order to get the high-end nice and polished. But the strategy described here can be a good starting point.
💚 Sofia & Thomas