Welcome to Sage Audio. Today we’re covering how to mix acoustic guitar.
But first, If you have a mix that you need mastered, send it to us to receive
a free mastered sample of it with the link in the description.
High-pass, and 2nd Harmonic Dip
How you mix your acoustic will vary depending on the sound you’re trying to achieve,
so instead of giving you a signal chain, let’s cover the multiple options you have.
Let’s start with EQ, with which you’ll most likely want to attenuate the guitar up top
right before it’s fundamental using a high pass. Then, if your acoustic sounds too boomy,
let’s find the second harmonic, create a bell, and attenuate it, or amplify it if it sounds too thin.
For our demonstrations let’s listen to a double-tracked acoustic that’s a little too boomy.
Optional: Emulate a Pre
If you recorded your acoustic with a Focusrite or Presonus interface,
that’s totally fine but it may sound a little too clean for what you’re trying to achieve. If that
is the case, try a pre emulation and increase the input gain to cause some mild harmonic distortion.
Depending on the one you choose, you may also have an EQ section,
with which you can make the changes we performed in the previous chapter.
Let’s listen to the guitars run through this preamp, and with the EQ enabled.
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For Percussive Sound, use 1176
The compressor you choose when mixing an acoustic has a huge
impact on its timbre - if you want a percussive, more rock-inspired sound,
try an 1176 emulation and utilize faster attack and release times. This creates
distinctly percussive sound and even some transient expansion due to added distortion.
Let’s listen and notice how this makes the acoustics sound more in line with a rock mix.
For Retro Sound, use Retro STA
If you want your acoustic to sound more like it belongs on a Beatles record or other pop record
from the 60s, an STA emulation will work well. Its long release, along with distinct tube saturation
creates a really full and warm sound, as well as a very dynamically controlled one.
I found this is a great way to create a full and warm sound,
without losing high-frequency detail. Let’s take a listen to it.
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For Smooth Sound, use LA2A
An LA2A or other optical compressor is going to smooth out the sound with its program-dependent
release, and higher rate of compression on high frequencies. I’ll emulate it with the Pro-C2 by
selecting Opto, changing the attack to 10ms, the release to auto, and using a soft knee.
For an even smoother sound,
use lookahead to ensure the compressor captures the acoustic’s transient.
Let’s take a listen and notice how we lose some detail be create a pleasantly smooth sound.
Transient Acoustic with Tube Saturation
An alternative to compression is saturation,
with which we will both compress and distort the signal. Tube saturation
is going to add a strong second-order harmonic, meaning our acoustic will sound warm and full,
but the transients will retain if not gain some amplitude, creating a percussive sound.
This should sound somewhat similar to the Retro STA compression
we used earlier, but with distinct characteristics. Let’s take a listen.
Compressed Acoustic with Tape Saturation
Tape saturation is going to create a second and third-order harmonic, as well as compress the
overall signal more while reducing the high frequencies of the acoustic. As a result,
the acoustic will sound more complex and lose some of its transient and high-frequency detail.
This should sound a little similar to optical compression,
but again, it’ll have a distinct tone. Let’s listen and consider how tape saturation could
be used inc combination with, or as an alternative to typical compression.
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Early Reflection, 1 Second Reverb
This is a general reverb sound that works really well for most acoustic guitars - typically it’s a
room or studio emulation with about a 1 second decay time, with most reflections being on the
shorter side. Typically the pre-delay is low, and little to no modulation is added.
Optionally, you can amplify some of the highs of the reverb to make the
acoustic have a subtle shimmer to it.
Let’s listen to it at a higher level, but then blend it in
and notice how it works both as an aggressive and a subtle effect.
Mid-Side Acoustic Bus
For convenience I’ve been sending my 2 acoustic takes to a bus,
on which I performed the processing. If you also use this setup, then the bus is a great
place for a mid-side EQ with which you can affect the mono and side images separately.
For this session, I’ll attenuate the side’s lows, amplify the mid image’s mid frequencies,
and boost the highs of the side image with a shelf.
Let’s listen and notice how the acoustic signal becomes more focused in certain
areas but more airy and spacious in others.
Stereo vs. Binaural Panning
For this session, I’ve panned my 2 acoustic takes left and right using typical panning - this will
cause natural stereo expansion due to the phase cancellation between the 2.
That said, you can also try binaural panning which
uses psychoacoustic effects to place the signal in a space.
Typical panning will be more mono-compatible,
but binaural panning can be very convenient when trying to place an instrument in a complex mix.
Let’s listen to both and note their differences.
Unique Mid-Side Trick
If you have 2 takes or a stereo recording of your acoustic you can use this trick.
Keep the original 2 takes centered or un-panned, duplicate both of them, pan the duplicates hard
left and right, and then change the output of the originals and duplicates to 2 busses.
On the duplicate bus, use the free Voxengo plugin
MSED and mute the mid. Now you have an isolated side image channel,
and an isolated mid image channel, on which you can add whatever processing you’d like.
I like to use a transient expander on the acoustic’s side image since
it gives it a really enjoyable dynamic sound. Let’s take a listen.
If you have a mix that you need mastered, send it to us to receive a free mastered sample of it
with the link in the description. Thank you so much for watching.