Achieve a Clear Acoustic Guitar Sound
Jeff Sandstrom dives into the art of mixing an acoustic guitar within a complex live band setup. He emphasizes the need to create space and clarity amidst various instruments. He also covers techniques for enhancing the acoustic guitar’s sound. It’s important to consider the interaction it has with other elements in the mix including the snare, hi-hats, and tambourines. This approach aims to bring life and energy to the acoustic guitar. It also ensures it doesn’t compete with similar frequency ranges of other instruments.
Key Points:
- The acoustic guitar is mixed to stand out distinctly, especially in a busy mix. It includes elements like bell synth pads, track information, and hi-hats.
- The initial steps involve applying a high-pass filter to protect against room noise. Use a channel strip plugin for pre-saturation, compression, and EQ.
- A custom preset is used to add a bit of saturation and compression to the guitar, enhancing its liveliness.
- EQ adjustments focus on adding sparkle to the top end (around 6K and up) and reducing boxiness in the low-mid range. Typically, this is around 800 Hz, but it can vary depending on the guitar.
- Compression smooths out the guitar's dynamics. It is particularly useful when the player is also singing and may not focus solely on their guitar technique.
- The acoustic guitar is positioned centrally in the mix. Careful consideration is given to the tambourine and hi-hat placement to avoid frequency clashes. The tambourine is panned slightly to the left from the audience perspective. The hi-hat is to the right. This allows the acoustic guitar to sit comfortably in the middle.
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