Really struggling with acoustic guitar mixing
- Thread starter witm8
- Start date
gecko zzed
Grumpy Mod
Interesting vocal effect. Guitar sounds fine. It could be a little brighter. What strikes me is the difference in the quality of sound between guitar and vocal.
One way to make make the overall sound more cohesive is to drop the effect on the voice and give it a simpler, more natural sound like the guitar has. Or you can lopwer the level of the guitar so that the listener focuses more on the voice, with the guitar sitting more in the background.
One way to make make the overall sound more cohesive is to drop the effect on the voice and give it a simpler, more natural sound like the guitar has. Or you can lopwer the level of the guitar so that the listener focuses more on the voice, with the guitar sitting more in the background.
Hi, I'm trying to do a super simple 2 track song, vox & acoustic guitar, but I'll be damned if I can get the guitar to sound 'correct'. I've recorded the guitar best that I can - 2 seperate tracks, 2 Rode M5 Cardioid Condenser mics (one aimed at the neck, the other at the body) etc, but it just doesn't sound 'right'.
I made an attempt to mix it last night - which can be found here
What's wrong
Should I re-record ? If I were then should I, for example, try an X-Y set-up (if i were to use the XY should I do it as two separate inputs, or a single input)
......... or does it actually sound acceptable and I'm just searching for the holy-grail. Please bare in mind that I have absolutely no intention of marketing this, or getting any money from it, it's purely something for me to do of an evening.
Many thanks
Hey nice song! I've read a few coments here and agree that the guitar seems dominant up the center of the mix. You might try double tracking and paning L & R slightly to acheive some more spatial dimension. A bit of EQ cut in the lower mids and fresh strings might help it sparkle.
PorterhouseMusic
Mitakuye Oyasin
The guy never came back. But.... that happens.
I've been experimenting with recording acoustic gtr in a semi serious way for several years. And I've got my go-to single-mic approach pretty well down considering my room, mics, preamps, etc.
I've played with and experimented with all sorts of two-mic "stereo" approaches - x/y, mid-side, 12th fret and over-shoulder, etc, etc. I've tried all kinds of stuff with varying degrees of "success" and/or satisfaction. But more recently I've settled on something fairly simple. I simply take two mics - in this case it happens to be a WA14 and a WA87 - and I put them as close together as I can get them and set the depth of the capsules for near perfect phase alignment - both pointed roughly at the 12th fret/neck-body joint - approx 10-12 inches away. Needs minimal EQing if any - and little-to-no compression - depending on what you're trying to do. Pan to taste. Max wide split sounds great, 9 and 3 sounds great, 10 and 2 sounds great. Very happy with this so far. YMMV.
The moral of this story is.... tons of experimentation with your setup and your gear is worth it.
I've been experimenting with recording acoustic gtr in a semi serious way for several years. And I've got my go-to single-mic approach pretty well down considering my room, mics, preamps, etc.
I've played with and experimented with all sorts of two-mic "stereo" approaches - x/y, mid-side, 12th fret and over-shoulder, etc, etc. I've tried all kinds of stuff with varying degrees of "success" and/or satisfaction. But more recently I've settled on something fairly simple. I simply take two mics - in this case it happens to be a WA14 and a WA87 - and I put them as close together as I can get them and set the depth of the capsules for near perfect phase alignment - both pointed roughly at the 12th fret/neck-body joint - approx 10-12 inches away. Needs minimal EQing if any - and little-to-no compression - depending on what you're trying to do. Pan to taste. Max wide split sounds great, 9 and 3 sounds great, 10 and 2 sounds great. Very happy with this so far. YMMV.
The moral of this story is.... tons of experimentation with your setup and your gear is worth it.
It is essential to know how your equipment sounds.