De-Essing the 2Buss

[HakimCallier]

Anybody De-Essing their two buss?

I was mixing a track not long ago that had some pretty harsh mids. It was a rock tune and had a nice edge to it. I pushed the female vocal pretty hard but the overall mids on the mix exposed a harshness in her vocal and the snare that was unpleasant and fatiguing.

I spoke to a few mix engineers about this. One suggested using a de-esser on the stereo buss. Now at the time and for the past 10 years I've been strictly against 2 buss compression. I just didn't think it was necessary. So I did not apply the de-esser on the 2 buss.

Instead I fixed the problem with automation and filters. It worked out quite nicely. I was able to really smooth out the harshness problem areas and deal with them in a much more intimate way with fader rides.

But I'm still curious... anybody de-essing the stereo buss?

[Astar]

I usually apply a de-esser to the track that needs it. If the entire group of vocals need it, then applying it to the stereo aux is just fine.

What do you mean by

"for the past 10 years I've been strictly against 2 buss compression"

Isn't that one of the best ways to "glue together" background vox for example?

[Morning_Star]

I would have tried scoping out the snare at 1-2kHz.

I'm against a ton of compression on single tracks. I like to do most of my compression to sub mixes and busses. It's like gluing it all together a little at a time until it's as steady as a rock.

I only use compression on individual tracks when it's something that needs to be tamed like vocals or live recorded guitar. Maybe a little on the snare or a limiter on a kick. But most of the compression I do is on groups.

[Kno1ills]

Interesting tech. Gonna have to try this. Thanks Hakim

[HakimCallier]

"for the past 10 years I've been strictly against 2 buss compression"

Isn't that one of the best ways to "glue together" background vox for example?

There are a few schools of thought concerning the stereo buss. One is to keep the stereo buss as clean as possible. A traditional mix style to keep the mix dynamic and punchy and to enable last minute adjustments when finalizing your mix. Compression and dynamic adjustments are made in a submix prior to the stereo buss. I think(?) Chris Carter is an FP mix engineer who I think follows this school more or less.

Another is to compress the stereo buss. A technique made popular by SSL. Some like to mix through stereo buss compression at the beginning and some like to slap it on top of their mix 3/4 of the way through their mix. Morning_Star is an FP mix engineer who practices one or both of these methods more or less.

2-Buss compression (stereo compression) doesn't have as much to do with "gluing background vox" as it does gluing the bottom end and the top end, ending smoothing punchy mids.

"Gluing" background vox should be done prior to the stereo buss in a mult or submix arrangement.

[T Prod.]

I wouldn't do that. A deesser is just a dynamic EQ. It'll affect everything that goes above the treshold in that SH,SS area.

[HakimCallier]

I wouldn't do that. A deesser is just a dynamic EQ. It'll affect everything that goes above the treshold in that SH,SS area.

Yeah, that was my thinking. But the mix engineer who told me the technique has a healthy client list and has been working in NYC recording studios since we graduated IAR more than 10 years ago. It's obviously something he has developed some skill at.

I just didn't have a strong enough conviction to use it. Plus I always prefer fader rides for dynamic touch ups when possible. They are smoother and more controllable in my opinion.