12-string Acoustics in the mix?

[Gear_Junky]

I was wondering how much sense 12-string acoustics make in a mix with many instruments (an electric band for instance) vs. a regular 6-string acoustic.

I mean: does it take up too much spectrum, making things muddy, or does it enrich things?

I do like them by themselves, or as rhythm layer with other acoustics.

 

[Jouni]

Haven't done it....
But I have mixed doubled tracks of acoustics, which, IMHO should be close??...

That's all about the EQ, to remove the mud.. surprisingly plenty of bass in mic'd acoustics... very enriching, even mixed with high-gain metalguitars.

 

[lpdeluxe]

Twelve strings are great solo, but get mushy pretty fast in a mix with other instruments. I have a friend who came up playing bass, and he plays very spare single-line patterns with the 12, and it sounds good.

Remember the Rolling Stone's Wild Horses? That was two guitars, panned hard left and right. Both were six strings, but one was strung standard and the other with "Nashville" tunning, which is using the high octave strings from a 12 for D and G. It SOUNDS like a 12 string, but has a definition that you don't get with a single guitar.

That said, if you can fit a 12 string into a mix and make it sound good, go for it!

 

[Gear_Junky]

That's kinda what I thought. It also makes sense to me why 2 guitars panned opposite sides would sound more defined than 1 12-str. Sure.

 

[mikeh]

Most of the time when I've tracked 12 string it was a sparse acoustic guitar intro that featured only the 12 string or maybe the 12 string & bass guitar, or whatever.

We almost always bring the fader down, switch to a 6 string of simply don't track the 12 string once the other melodic instruments kick in.

 

[Supercreep]

It depends on the song. A musically dense song has to be arranged to make room for the 12. I usually do roll off LF on acoustics in a mix where electric guitar and bass are present. I don't see a problem with using a 12-string this way, so long as the arrangement calls for that sound.

 

[Gorty]

I was wondering how much sense 12-string acoustics make in a mix with many instruments (an electric band for instance) vs. a regular 6-string acoustic.

I mean: does it take up too much spectrum, making things muddy, or does it enrich things?

I do like them by themselves, or as rhythm layer with other acoustics.

The technique in the playing of the 12 string can make a difference when it comes to maintaining clarity. If the chords are arpeggiated on the 12 string and the 6 string is used to strum chords you can achieve a sweet full sounding mix or vice versa especially with the guitars panned hard left and hard right.

 

[Track Rat]

If someone wants a 12 string added to a dense mix (drums, bass, electric guitar, keys, etc.) I usually mic it with a dynamic mic rather than a condensor. It seems to naturally EQ it so it sits in a mix easier. Either a Unidyne 545 or an MD-441 does it for me.