would like your input for effects for strumming/acoustic guitar

damianhk

Member
I'd be interested in how you approach adding effects to an acoustic or an electric guitar that is strumming. I'm just learning about the dotted eighth, etc. If you have a starting point or something you try first, that would be good info. I know the options are infinite, just hoping to stumble on helpful tips.
 
It kinda depends how busy the mix is. In a busy mix with bass you'll have to HP and/or cut the bottom end a lot more than you think. A little compression/limiting to tame uneven peaks can help if you have a vocal over it. Acoustic guitar is pretty dynamic is strummed with any passion.
 
yes Nola, cutting the lows helped alot. So far, a touch of reverb (same as vocal) seems to sound the best. But i really would like to understand delay better.
 
What's your goal with FX on your acoustic?

I feel like acoustic instruments especially require a lot more effort in the tracking stage to get right. If your guitar doesn't sound good in the room, and you haven't placed your mics correctly, fixing it with FX will be an exercise in frustration.

But if you've tracked it well, a little compression and EQ can probably help it sit in the mix better.
 
these are old tracks; it's actually a clean electric, straight in. Just trying to make the tracks sound less flat. and more level. I did eq and compress. Originally, I had the compressor in the wrong place. I think i will get into delay on later tunes. You are so right about getting it right while tracking. In the old days, I really wasn't paying attention. So far, the input here has helped tremendously. Changing the position of the compressor, and cutting the lows. The good part is that i have one left guitar and one right, so i can pan them wide and maybe get a natural chorus. Not sure if i should add chorus on top of that. I'll probably stick to what i have, and track better in the future.
 
If it's a DI electric guitar, I'd treat it like an electric guitar. Mostly that means an amp sim. Ultimately that's just a more or less complex set of EQ, compression and/or saturation stages, but it's just quicker and easier to set up. Like a preset FX chain with only a few of the myriad parameters exposed to the user.

Or are you really wanting to try to make that DI sound more or less like an authentic acoustic guitar? For that you might try to find an impulse response made for that purpose. That again isn't much more than a complex set of filters, and you still may need compression and/or EQ, but they can go a long way.
 
I'm using Reaper. Here's my chain > EQ, compression, distortion, AMP (Mesa Boogie Black Face Twin), a little reverb. I listened to all those amps extensively, took a break and came back many times to The Mesa Boogie, it's just very transparent. To my surprise the distortion helped it sit better in the mix, even with the strumming. It's half clean/half dirty. Too much distortion sounds nasty, and too little sounds weak. I think i learned a ton with this process, but will probably not record direct guitar in the future. It's a weird arrangement, and an acoustic simulator probably would sound weak. I go from strumming to holding out chords for the chorus. The half clean/half dirty sound seems to cover it. I could make myself crazy by cutting up the guitar tracks to separate the verse guitar from chorus guitar and processing them separately:) Not sure if i want to venture down that road.
 
I'd be interested in how you approach adding effects to an acoustic or an electric guitar that is strumming. I'm just learning about the dotted eighth, etc. If you have a starting point or something you try first, that would be good info. I know the options are infinite, just hoping to stumble on helpful tips.

Dude. Parallel harmonic saturation. Right here:

Kush Audio Clariphonic MS 2-Ch Parallel Equalizer | Sweetwater

If you can't afford one, google a demo then try the plugin.

I'll be finishing up some tracks with Elton John/Paul McCartney's acoustic player over the next few weeks. We tracked him with a Collings dreadnaught...just strait rhythmic strumming stuff. Right now I have him in a UA-610 strip for saturation. I keep going back and forth between the Helios channel strip and a vintage Universal Audio 610b for some heat and saturation. Compressor is currently a 33699 and then the Kush Clariphonic I mentioned above.

One unique thing I found worked with one his tracks was to run a parallel bus to a sound shifter set at +12 at 100% wet. Then I chased it with that Eventide Space verb/mod pedal. It gave a little bit of shine as if it was a 12 string, but really different than running double take using the Nashville tuning system.

Another effect on acoustic guitar that I'm really digging is Vari-Speed modulation for width. Its sort of like doubling, but there's a plugin that simulates the Voltage Controller that the Abbey Road guys hardwired into the J37 tape machine that allows manual control over what we know as the wow and flutter. This gives some similar properties to the Eventide H3000, Waves Doubler, and SoundToys Microshifter but without all those fucking annoying chorusy type effects. I've never heard a chorus on an acoustic guitar that I liked. The only way I know how to do this with a normal tape delay plugin inside the box is to create an automation lane for whatever your vari-speed control would be then go scribble happy with your mouse.

Just some ideas.
 
good info! definitely can't afford it, but i agree about chorus. I gave up on it for this one. Thanks for chiming in.
 
Back
Top