De-esser on rock guitars

I wrote a couple of day ago about pushing frequencies into dynamic processes.

And, in that spirit, here’s a version of that idea that I love and use a lot: pushing distorted guitars into a de-esser!

If you think about what a de-esser is, it’s basically a frequency-conscious compressor, targeted at high frequencies. There’s an internal threshold, and when high frequencies go above the threshold, the de-esser attenuates them.

Here’s how I like to hijack this process for guitars:

• Boost the presence/bite frequencies in the guitar sound (i.e., the frequencies that are the most aggressive / painful). This is often somewhere between 2,500 and 5,500 Hz. I usually use a pretty wide Q for this, perhaps 1 or even 0.8, so it’s a smooth boost as opposed to a targeted “peaky” boost.

• Put a de-esser after the EQ boost, with the lower end of the active range set about the same as the center of the boost — i.e., somewhere between 2,500 and 5,500 Hz.

• And then I go back and forth between the de-esser threshold and the amount of EQ boost until the top end of the guitar locks in the way I’m looking for.

The trick is that you want to boost the top end of the guitar a bit more than sounds good, and then use the de-esser to rein it back in.

By overboosting, you’re ensuring that all of the notes will have presence and bite, even after they’ve hit the de-esser; by setting the de-esser threshold right where you want it, you’re ensuring that the amount of presence and bite is never over the line into painful or unpleasant.

You can really use the de-esser threshold to set the top end of the guitar exactly where you want it in context of your mix.

Pushing and pulling — jamie