1. Mixing the Acoustic Guitar
[Acoustic Guitars Part 4]
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acoustic-guitars-part-4/

2. When it comes to mixing acoustic guitar with a complement of other
instruments and voices, there are some specific strategies to achieve
the best results.
Getting your acoustic guitar tracks to play nicely in the mix is much
easier than you might think! Here are some tips.
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3. What’s It Doing, Anyway?
Consider what the acoustic is doing for the song. If the guitar is a
prominent instrument, feel free to make it as big and wide as the mix
will tolerate.
Pay special attention to the transients, or the attack of the sound, as
well as the relationship of the transients to the decay of the guitar. The
other crucial ingredient to consider is the recording technique.
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4. No More Rumble
High pass filters are critical for getting rid of errant noises and clearing
up the headroom of the entire mix. The cutoff frequency is the first
place where you can start refining the presence of the guitar.
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5. No More Rumble
High pass filters are critical for getting rid of errant noises and clearing
up the headroom of the entire mix. The cutoff frequency is the first
place where you can start refining the
presence of the guitar.
http://homerecordinghome.com

6. Capitalize on the Transients
Acoustic guitars respond really well to transient designers since they
allow you to narrow your dynamic processing to a very specific part of
the waveform. Add some punch or mellow out the attack with a
transient designer. It could work better than a compressor.
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7. http://homerecordinghome.com
Carve It Up
Think of EQing as trimming your signal to fit into the big sandbox of
the mix with all the other children – the vocals, the drums, bass, and
so on. You need to slim down the signal just enough to make it fit.

8. First, let’s talk about subtractive EQ. Don’t follow these guidelines
strictly. However, these are just some common frequencies to tend to:
Boom! – Somewhere between 150 and 350 Hz
Plink – Cutting a bit around 800 Hz can make any guitar sound a little
less like a plastic toy and more like a professional instrument
Upper Mids of Destiny – a cut somewhere between 2-8 kHz with a
broad Q
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Magic Air
Just like voices, adding a little high end to guitars can create a lovely
sparkle that makes them perk up in a mix and leave space for other
instruments.

10. http://homerecordinghome.com
Reverb?
Applying reverb to acoustic guitars is a personal pursuit but it is one
way to thicken the sound or push it back in the mix. How much or
what kind of reverb is track dependent.
Consider some slap back to thicken it up as well. Some considerate
EQing of the reverb can help glue the sound to the guitar track and
keep it classy.

11. Moving Targets
You can make the acoustic a little more distinctive
in a dense mix by adding judicious quantities of
modulation effects.
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Doubling
A classic doubling effect utilizes a hard panned
track with a short delay of the original in the
opposite channel.
Image © Maggie Osterberg via Compfight

12. Mixing the Acoustic Guitar
[Acoustic Guitars Part 4]
http://homerecordinghome.com/mixing-the-acoustic-guitar-
http://homerecordinghome.com
acoustic-guitars-part-4/