- Izotope Rx 5 Dialogue De-noise
- Izotope Rx 5 Dialogue De Noise Sounds
- Izotope Rx 5 Dialogue De Noise Reduction
In our blog articles “5 Tips for Mixing High End” and “8 Tips for Taming Harsh Treble in the Mix” we provided some general tips for managing high end in a mix. Today, we’re diving into a specific sound that occupies the top end of the frequency spectrum: hi-hats.
When mixing drums, the hi-hat typically doesn’t get as much consideration as low end elements. But this sound is vital to an overall great drum mix. Here are eight tips for mixing hi-hats, including remedies for harsh cymbals and rides.
1. Tuck things in first by removing low frequencies
If there are too many hi-hats, cymbals, and rides clanging around—or if they are not processed properly—the mix can become sharp enough to take an ear off. To save your ears and ensure vocals, guitars, and synths shine through, managing the high frequencies produced by hats is vital.
Pan for feel and space for a vibrant hi-hat sound. In pursuit of a vibrant hi-hat sound, many new producers (and even engineers) can get stuck in a loop of auditioning new samples, adding processing, and adjusting levels in the hopes of making the right combination of decisions. ギター録音に潜む問題を解決する「Guitar De-noise」の使い方 RX 8 は音楽系のノイズ処理に対して更に強化されました。 新機能である「Guitar De-noise」ではアンプのハムやバズ、弦と指が擦れる音、耳に刺さるピッキングのアタック音を正確に特定し、減衰させ. Restore problematic vocal or production recordings in real time with iZotope RX's Voice De-noise audio plug-in and module. Improving on the earlier Dialogue De-noise, the zero-latency Voice De-noise is the most powerful de-noiser focused on dialogue and sung vocal treatment.
But before shaping the high end, it will serve you well to remove any low frequencies tacked onto hi-hats during the recording process. By rolling off the lows, the natural brightness of the drum kit will come through and you’ll be less inclined to boost needlessly later on.
To do this efficiently, organize your hi-hats within a submix and set a high-pass filter to 100 Hz. Move the cutoff upward until you begin to hear the sonic character change, then back off slightly to ensure the signal sounds clean but not thin. You will usually end up somewhere around 300 Hz.
2. It’s easy to go overboard with hi-hat processing
Since hi-hats occupy a small frequency range, they experience the effects of processing much faster than other drum hits. This makes it easy to go overboard with saturation, EQ, and compression.
The best defense against this mixing mistake is to work with good quality recordings. This way, you won’t feel the need to overcompensate with effects. If you are working with cheap-sounding audio, consider re-recording the track or heading to a sample platform like Splice to download a replacement. It's pretty hard to fix a damaged hi-hat, and starting from scratch might actually save you some time.
Izotope Rx 5 Dialogue De-noise
Otherwise, be sure to take breaks to keep your ears fresh. 10 minutes away from the mix makes it easier to catch ringing and harshness produced by over-processing upon returning.
3. Try these two transient shaping tricks for added flair or clarity
Neutron’s Transient Shaper is my not-so-secret “secret weapon” for all manner of drums. Here are two ways to use the plug-in with hi-hats, based on my own experience.
Approach #1
When a hi-hat mix is lacking flair, reach for the transient attack dial and turn it up until you hear it cut through the mix more. Err on the side of caution here—hats only need a small push to sound lively. That being said, if your client expects an in-your-face EDM or trap sound, going beyond normal bounds might be the ticket. Conversely, reducing the attack will tame hats with hard transients.
Approach #2
Izotope Rx 5 Dialogue De Noise Sounds
This approach has a corrective purpose. Some recordings and samples include too much room tone or bleed from other instruments. While you don’t want to rob these sounds of their character, making strategic adjustments, like trimming the tail of an open hat to separate it from the snare will result in a more balanced mix. To do this, reduce the sustain on Transient Shaper, which will shorten the length of a hat. If you want to add length to hi-hats, increase the sustain.
4. Too sibilant? Try a de-esser on your hi-hat
Though we regularly discuss de-essers within the context of vocal mixing, they are equally useful to remedy problematic high-frequency instruments.
Izotope Rx 5 Dialogue De Noise Reduction
Here’s when to use them: say you’re mixing a particularly sibilant hi-hat track, but filtering with EQ colors the signal or removes parts of the sound you want to keep. For a more precise solution, instantiate a de-esser and pull the cutoff somewhere around 10–12 kHz. Then, adjust the cutoff dial accordingly until you’ve identified the offenders—you may find this trick corrects signals with more transparency than a static EQ.
To ensure you’ve grabbed the problematic frequencies, use a plug-in like RX, which allows you to output just the ess sounds. When you do this, you should hear only the unpleasant sharp frequencies and not the “body” of the hats.
Pro-tip: remember that some resonances exist in a lower part of the spectrum, between 4–8 kHz. It's worth exploring this frequency band too.