Really struggling with acoustic guitar mixing

witm8

witm8

Member
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 :unsure:

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
 
I don't think you need to redo the guitar part.

How do you have the guitar channels panned? I might try making it either fully mono, or just a very slight pan left right. It might also help to have a bit of the reverb that is used on the voice to make the guitar sit in the roughly the same space. It may not need as much, but to me it sounds too dry and "up front" compared to the vocal. Drop the level a bit as well, maybe a bit of a high shelf of perhaps -2dB. That can take a bit of the edge off.

Anyway, that's where I would start.

I like the M5s for recording my Taylor acoustic. A couple of my other SDCs seem to get too much bloom on the bottom end. Set right, they do a really nice job. You might also try moving the mics back another 6-12 inches next time you record. I sometimes do the same thing, get the mics too close and then that's all you hear. Backed off, they pick up the guitar more evenly. Then I don't have to "fix it" as much with EQ and reverb.
 
I don't have any comments on mixing the guitar as I am a big time know-nothing novice. But I do really like your song. What you're doing here is good, and worthwhile. Keep it up.:thumbs up:
 
I'm also liking this tune, especially the vocal. My first impression is the strings sound old enough to have lost that new string sparkle. Not totally flat, just slightly. I also would try some slight panning of the guitars.
 
To my ear, the guitar is a bit forward in the mix compared to the vocal. I'd look at doing a bit of EQ carve out for the vocal space, and with that vocal (doubled? chorus? echo?) kind of pushed back, you might look at ways to pull it forward, e.g., try giving the vocal an almost noticeable pre-delay on reverb, while moving the guitar pre-delay to near zero. Since you recorded the guitar in stereo, I'd probably bus those together, then apply FX there (maybe try an M-S plugin if your DAW has one), as well as sending that to a[nother] stereo aux with the reverb so you keep the spread. There's probably plenty to work with in the tracks, though I don't know what sound you have in your head, so hesitant to give you a lot of specifics. I do think it's always better to give it your best shot, learn what you can, but then move on to something else, and learn more, rather that spend too much time on something, at least until you've got some more experience, and can identify (or articulate) more clearly where you want to go vs. where it's at.

p.s. And, my crutch for recordings like this is a little bit of ducking for the guitar (aux) against the vocal. I mean *little*.
 
I think the guitar sounds good but my own personal preference would be to remove just a bit of the low mids. The vocals also sound good.

What does not sound good (to me) is how the vocal has delay and reverb but the guitar sounds much drier. When I listen I hear the guitar in the middle and the vocal more right and left which is backwards to how I expect to hear it. Love the song BTW.
 
I really like that vocal sound - and the guitar just sounds a bit dull, dry and lifeless. If you could apply the same kind of EQ you used on the vocal and a similar EQ so they sound like they're in the same room, it would be better.
 
Mixing advise, none....with what you currently have. Production advice, this could be really good, but every producer is different. I would treat the song a bit differently.
Vox sound nice.
Cheers
 
You have to pan the guitars. Take one at least 60% right and the other 60% left (although personally I'd go even further than that). I think that alone will clean this up quite a bit.
 
I just listened to it, and will comment without reading other people's comments first.
The song is great. Vocal is great.
The guitar, I think was too loud, and perhaps miced too closely.
Some, or more reverb on the guitar would give it space.
Generally liked it.
 
I agree with all above.

My favorite goto plugin for acoustic guitars is Soundtoys Microshift. But it is $99 and requires an Ilok...
 
keith.rogers said:
To my ear, the guitar is a bit forward in the mix compared to the vocal.
Click to expand...
^^
I thought so too. Plus, the vocal's got a lot of reverb on it compared to the guitar, which makes them sound like they're in different spaces, which is weird because the tune's just guitar and voice. So: guitar wetter or vocal drier, or both. And guitar level down. Really easy to try out, and no need to re-track.

The guitar sound's good to my ears. I record acoustic the way you did - I think it's fine.
 
You should just play around with the microphones - get a stereo bar and work with the microphone placement.
This is an On-Stage MY700 Deluxe Stereo Microphone Bar - but you could use any one that fits what you want to do.
You can also cross point them towards the neck and body - but not at the hole - you can put them straight on and
move them till you hear the sweet spot.


51TjZa+hSHL._AC_SL1500_.jpg
 
Sounds okay to me. Lower the guitar in the mix. Let the vocal come up. Do a high pass on the guitar at 100Hz. Great performance and tune!
 
On headphones this sounds fine to me, I can't point out any obvious flaws like too muddy etc. If it doesn't sound right to you, it's probably what your hearing while playing and recording is not what's being recorded. You can experiment with mic placement - closer, further away, room mic etc. You can also try try some compression if you're missing lower level detail and/or eq to adjust the tone. Also consider how the vocal is interacting in the mix. I would try high passing both guitar and vocal as a first step
 
I think it sounds really good, wish I could get my acoustic recordings to sound like that! Your vocal sounds really great ! Maybe have the guitar a little less mids? Thats really nitpicking, I would be thrilled to record something like this :>)
 
All Good advice above ! With only 3 tracks there's a ton of stuff you could try without much effort . I think everyone has agreed the guitars need to be spread out and mover further back in the mix but in the same room reverb wise. Personally I liked the vocal and reverb treatment , but I would try a "dry" copy of it "way" below the wet copy. After EQ and panning the guitars further out you could also try "sends" from them to a reverb bus and send their verbs "way out" or even to opposing sides. You could bus them and use a bright chorus effect that will widen and spread them out . Try enough stuff and you'll eventually hit on something you Love. I Really liked the song. mark
 
Enjoyed your track. I've read that adding compression will set the instrument back in the mix. Don't go too far.
~Bob
 
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