This technique can work from multiple genres. Give it a shot the next time you feel limited by the loop production that you’re working with.
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Hey David,
I watched your tutorial on acoustic guitar mixing and wanted to ask you a couple of other things if I may.
This is for strummy performances -I have a decent acoustic guitar, I’m a decent player and I captured a decent recording, mixing I do all the things that make sense, hi pass filter - maybe some low mid cut, light compression, then a little reverb for dimension…it should work…it kind of does work.
What I find I don’t like though is that the high end feels too pokey. I certainly have an aversion to boosting anything in the high end and if anything I want to cut, but I don’t because it seems so counter intuitive. I noticed in your tutorial you were cutting something - looks like around 8k. What’s your thoughts on treating the high end in acoustic?
What I like in recordings I listen to featuring acoustic is that they have a lot of tight low mid - without sounding thin, the upper mids are punchy without being harsh and the top end has shimmer, without sounding scratchy and busy.
Any suggestions would be great,
Best Regards
Jon
Hi Jon,
Acoustics can be tough. Great question.
I’d do something similar to what you’ve mentioned in your question by taking a tight bell and searching for annoying frequencies in the high end. Once I pull those down (anywhere from 3-20 db) I will then boost with a shelf to taste.
Something you may consider also is using multiband compression to boost that high end shelf. By both boosting and compressing against it you will be able to control it better.
I hope that helps some! Thanks for asking.
-David