Introduction

The Harrison De-Esser is the latest implementation of Harrison’s renowned De-Esser algorithm, used worldwide in high-end post-production facilities for eliminating harsh sibilance in film dialogue. Now in the fourth generation, the Harrison De-Esser algorithm can extend its usefulness to the world of music recording as well as film and broadcast. 

 

Features:

• 2 bands for filtering out harsh frequencies
• RTA (real-time analyzer) to help spot sibilant frequencies along the spectrum
• Individual band soloing options for identifying sibilant frequency ranges
• Capable of up to 12dB reduction in sibilance
• Adjustable threshold & depth allow fine control over the processor’s onset and strength
• Zero-latency processing, suitable for “live” use

 

Controls

Graph

The main display graph provides control over the De-Esser band frequencies and depths.

Drag the “S” or “H” band controls to adjust the Ess or Hi band frequency and depth.

Note that in order to control the depth of the Hi band, it must be enabled by toggling the small circular button to the right of the Hi Depth knob.

TIP: Click anywhere on the graph to drag the depth and center frequencies of both bands simultaneously. You can also scroll the mouse wheel to adjust the bandwidth. 

 

Threshold and Level Meter

The Threshold slider is overlaid on the Level Meter located on the left side of the plugin window. Lowering the threshold will increase the sensitivity of the de-esser effect.

The Level Meter displays 2 signal levels: the level of the input signal (dark green) and the Ess signal (light green). The Ess signal is the level of signal present within the frequency range of the Ess band. If the Ess band is set correctly for the source material, then this meter will peak when sibilant frequencies are present.

 

Band Controls

Ess Freq and Ess Depth Control

This section allows you to set the low frequency cutoff for the Ess band (200 Hz - 8kHz), and the max attenuation for the Ess signal.

 

Hi Freq and Hi Depth Control

This section controls the Hi band, which is a shelving unit for taming some of the higher frequency content above the Ess range (2 kHz - 12 kHz). In order to adjust the depth of the Hi band, you must enable the Hi Depth control via the circular button to the right of the Hi Depth knob. 

 

Ess Center and Ess Width Control

The Ess Center control allows you to adjust both the Ess Freq and Hi Freq controls together allowing you move the entire Ess band in unison. The Ess Width control allows you to control how wide or narrow the Ess bandwidth is.

 

Attack

The Attack knob controls how long it takes the signal to get to from zero to full attenuation.

 

Auto Solo

Enabling Auto Solo allows you to automatically audition your Ess band as you change the parameters to help dial-in the exact frequency and bandwidth of the Ess signal. Auto Solo also works for auditioning the Hi band when adjusting the Hi Freq control.

 

RTA Controls

An RTA (real-time-analyzer)  is provided to help users visually recognize any objective “Ess” sounds in the material.

NOTE:  the RTA requires considerable CPU resources and should be disabled when not in use.

The small circular button on the top left enables the RTA analyzer.

Decay determines how long RTA measurements are displayed before they ramp back down to zero. If the RTA display is changing too rapidly to be useful, you should increase the Decay value. Likewise, if the display appears to be “frozen”, try decreasing the Decay as this might be the result of an excessively high Decay value.

Length is only available in Scroll mode and essentially controls the scroll speed of the spectrum data. If the display is scrolling too quickly or if you would like to see more of the spectrum’s history, you should increase the Length value.  

Type selects between the 2 modes of operation:  Bar or Scroll.

The gain Trim of the RTA’s input signal can be adjusted by clicking the ruler on the right side of the graph display and dragging it up or down. This can be used to increase or decrease the RTA’s sensitivity to the signal being fed to it.

When the RTA is activated, the ruler will display the levels of brightness that correspond to each intensity value along the vertical axis. The levels of brightness displayed on the ruler will change accordingly when the Trim is adjusted.  

The RTA Trim can be reset to its default state by alt-clicking or double-clicking this ruler. 

 

RTA Bar Mode

In Bar mode,  the spectrum of the input signal is displayed in bright bands which represent the energy in the signal. Position the “S” and “H” frequency controls to encompass the objectionable sibilant material when it occurs.

 

RTA Scroll Mode

In Scroll mode, the RTA is displayed as a vertically-scrolling spectrogram, providing you with additional time to recognize and target the offensive sibilance.

 

Additional Features

At the top-right corner of the plugin window are the Momentary Bypass and Settings buttons.

Momentary Bypass

The Momentary Bypass button bypasses the plugin for as long as it's held. This is useful for auditioning A/B comparisons quickly. 

 

Settings

The Settings button reveals a pop-up menu where the window size can be adjusted. It also contains a link to the plugin manual and version info at the bottom.

 

Control Behaviors & Shortcuts

Various mouse & keyboard shortcuts can be used to perform certain actions on the following controls:

Sliders/Knobs

 

Labels

 

Combo Boxes (Drop-down menus)

 

Band Controls

 

Graph Rulers

 

System Requirements

Your system must meet the following requirements in order to run Harrison plugins:

• Windows 7 or higher
• Mac OS 10.9 or higher
• Linux GCC 5 compatible systems
• OpenGL 3.2 or higher
• libcurl-gnutls on Linux

macOS M1/ARM Support: This plug-in is provided as a universal binary for macOS and features native M1 support.

Note for Pro Tools users: Pro Tools 11 or higher is required on Mac, 10.3.5 or higher is required on Windows.

Additional requirements on Windows

Harrison plugins require the “Windows C++ Universal Runtime” to be installed on your computer.  Universal runtime is part of the system’s core libraries on Windows 10. On Windows versions Vista to 8.1,  it will be automatically installed via Windows Update. It is also possible to install the runtime manually, but that is outside the scope of this manual.

Note for Linux Users

If you’re experiencing issues with the plugin’s graphics or the GUI isn’t showing up correctly on Linux, make sure your system’s graphics driver supports the minimum required OpenGL version of 3.2 or higher. To check this, run glxinfo | grep Max in a terminal window and make sure that the value listed for the OpenGL core profile version string is at least 3.2 or greater.

If your core profile version meets this requirement but you are still experiencing graphics issues like the ones mentioned above, it is likely that your system is reporting an OpenGL version lower than 3.2 to ensure backwards compatibility with deprecated OpenGL functions. To work around this, you can force the system to report an OpenGL version of 3.2 or higher by setting this environment variable: MESA_GL_VERSION_OVERRIDE=3.2

You can use this as a prefix when opening your DAW from a terminal command like so:

MESA_GL_VERSION_OVERRIDE=3.2 {command_to_launch_program}

This will set the environment variable for that particular terminal session only, so it will be reset once the session is ended. If you don’t want to run this command every time you launch your DAW, you can set the environment variable in your profile script so that it automatically gets set every time you login.

 

Installation & Licensing

Licensing on macOS & Windows

This plugin is licensed through iLok on macOS and Windows. Visit iLok, Licensing and Activation for guidance on activating your Harrison plug-in. 

 

Licensing on Linux

This product includes software developed by the OpenSSL Project for use in the OpenSSL Toolkit (http://www.openssl.org/)

In DEMO mode, after using the plugin for a certain amount of time, it will display a message:

This message will come up periodically unless a license is provided. You can purchase a license directly from Harrison’s web store or from an authorized plugin reseller. Once you’ve purchased a license, install it by entering your license key into the designated field on this screen. Continue to the next section for detailed instructions on how to obtain your license key. 

Obtaining your License Key

After you purchase a license, you will receive a license key that will look something like this:

{your  name}*AVA-BF*DC-138971-151520-1|gGLbnvCZJe386ULohzfQN6cIsoZ71n7c+AUg==|

This license key is required to install your license and activate the full version of the plugin. The way to obtain your license key varies depending on where you purchased the license from.

If you purchased the license from Harrison’s web store, you will receive an email with a link to download a text file containing your license key. If you purchased the license from a reseller, you will receive an email containing the license key text.

 

Licensing your Plugin

When prompted by the plugin, copy and paste your license key into the designated text input field. This will automatically install your license and register it with the plugin.

Once installed, Harrison’s license files are simple text (.txt) files which are stored in the user’s HOME folder. The HOME folder is the folder that contains your Desktop, Downloads and other folders. The location of your HOME folder is different for each operating system:

• Linux: /home/{your username}

You may keep a copy of this file for your own use. The license is a per-user license and you may install the license file on all of your computers. To install the file on a new computer, simply save the file to a USB key or other transferable disk; then transfer the license file to the new computer’s HOME folder. The license file has your name encrypted in it, so you should not share it with other people. Your name will appear on the top of the plugin’s control panel to indicate that it is licensed to you.

The plugin will automatically detect your license key as long as the license file is stored in the HOME folder of the computer you are using. After transferring the license file to a new computer, it may be necessary to close and re-open your DAW in order for the plugin to detect the license.

If you don’t want to keep your license in your HOME folder for whatever reason, you may also store it in the following alternative location:  ~/.config/harrisonconsoles

 

Finding the plugin in your DAW 

DAW operations vary tremendously. Generally speaking, to use the plugin you must follow these steps:

1. Install the plugins, using the provided plugin installer application.
2. Follow your DAW’s instructions to “scan” for new plugins.

Please refer to your DAW manual to see which plugin formats (AAX, AU, VST, or VST3) are supported by your workstation.

Most plugin formats require that plugins are installed to a specific location on the system. In these cases, the installer will place the plugins in the default locations.

For VST format, on Windows, it is normally expected that the user defines the location of VST plugins, and tells the workstation where to find the plugins. The default location for VST plugins is C:\Program Files\Steinberg\VST.  The plugin installer will save the VST (.dll) files to that location if a custom VST path is not provided by the OS.  If you are having trouble, you should verify that the path is included in your DAW VST scan paths.

 

Thank you for purchasing this Harrison plugin!

Harrison has been making products for the audio engineering industry since 1975. We continue to make these products, with intense dedication, from our Nashville, Tennessee factory.  

As the audio industry has changed through the decades, Harrison has too. Originally launched to provide mixing consoles for music recording studios, the Harrison brand has extended to provide products for live broadcast, live sound, theater installations, post-production, film dubbing stages, and bedroom studios. We’ve lived through the launch of the commercial music industry, the maturation of analog, the digital revolution, the establishment of the internet, and now the acceptance of computers as the de-facto platform for the audio industry. In our pursuit of audio excellence, we’ve developed our own analog circuits, digital I/O solutions, digital DSP engines, control surfaces, audio workstations, and nearly every aspect of pro-audio technology.

“If you asked a hundred engineers, mixers and producers to define the “perfect console” you would probably get a hundred answers. The answers, however, would all contain the same salient points.”
“The “perfect console” would have totally transparent sound, capturing the true musical quality of all performances. It would have unlimited features, facilities, and functions. It would perform all required tasks with a minimum of operator effort. It would be totally reliable and require no preventive or corrective maintenance…
You can spend the rest of your life looking for the “perfect console”. You’ll never find it. You will find, however, that we have what you need.”- quote attributed to Dave Harrison;  Harrison MR20 brochure; circa 1982

True-er words were never spoken; indeed every year there are many products and technologies that seem tantalizingly necessary for audio excellence. Our lasting experience has proven that simple, straightforward, well-engineered, and great-sounding tools are the only necessity.

These plugins represent the pinnacle of Harrison’s engineering practices for digital audio sound & workflow. We sincerely hope that you enjoy using these tools as much as we enjoyed creating them. Your continued support is greatly appreciated!