automated eq for acoustic in a song

[KonradG]

I'm offering this advice to someone and i want to know if this would be a bad idea to do this before i do, because im relatively new to recording and this guy has been doing it since i was playing duckhunt on my new nintendo.

a singer/songwriter friend of mine (long-time regionally successful musician) gave me a 5 track demo of his (sorry, cant post a track yet), recorded by a guy he used to play in a successful band with.the acoustic sounds way to high in treble, no low.

im keeping in mind this song is very full, electric guitar, violin, drums, bass, piano, the works. BUT, this is still a song originated from the acoustic, and the guy figured the acoustic didnt have room in the mix to sound rich and full, so he lowered the volume and took out the low of the acoustic.

In my opinion as a fan of music and as a musician, i believe this is a BIG no-no. but i also believe that if the acoustic sounded really rich, it would throw off the balance of the song alot.

SO, my question to you is, since the song starts and ends with acoustic/vocal only, should the guy have automated the acoustic eq to sound full and rich (my opinion of what an acoustic should sound like: When the man comes around, Johnny Cash) then back off the low when the full band comes in? would this be a good idea?

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

SO, my question to you is, since the song starts and ends with acoustic/vocal only, should the guy have automated the acoustic eq to sound full and rich (my opinion of what an acoustic should sound like: When the man comes around, Johnny Cash) then back off the low when the full band comes in? would this be a good idea?

It's a valid option to consider.

Is it a good idea in the case of that particular song? Impossible to say without hearing the song, and even then it's open to creative subjectivity.

G.

 

[Robert D]

It's worth trying, but the possible problem is that the changing EQ on the acoustic may become apparent and sound un-natural. The best approach may turn out to be to bring back some of the full bandwidth of the guitar all the time, and automate a smaller amount of EQ change on it. As always, experiment and see what works best.

 

[Halion]

I don't see why this is a bad idea. It's all about maximizing that outcome (note: not necesarilly the volume) at any given point. If a really full, lush guitar sound helps in the beginning but gets in the way later on, by all means automate what ever you feel will help. I sometimes go as far as automating the volume, compression, EQ and reverb all on the same track.