help, mixmasters.

[jon sutton]

*link*

i've taken a couple year hiatus from the duc and recording. i've been writing songs (with varied regularity) all the while.

this time i set out record 10 songs in an acoustic format (mostly acc guitars, no drums). why? at this point, i'm really not sure. i think i thought i could make less sound better.

so much for that thought. i'm really struggling to get good sounds. i think i have quality sounds recorded but i'm struggling with mix, placement and eq-ing. i've amassed quite an assortment of plugs over the years but am so far only using compression and mild verb.

please take a listen to the songs and hit me with any mix/eq/treatment ideas you may have. i don't think i ever understood iq'ing and am ready to learn.

thanks and..... hello again,
jon

[jon sutton]

oh, and i know what some of the problems are.... boomy guitars, mushy quitar mix, etc.... i just don't know how to fix 'em.

[Bender]

Nice songs
First of make sure your room is set up for mixing.
Listen to some similar recordings and try to get those results
Maybe carve a spot in your guitar track and boost the same frequency in the vocal to bring to the front a little more. Maybe some panning on the guitar.
Good start though.

[jon sutton]

bender, thanks for the words....

to the rest of you,
c'mon bro-heems.... i'm in serious need of audio shaping advice.

[xx1messxx]

I just worked on a remix acoustic project (guitar, vocal) and here's what I ended up doing. Take the original guitar track and send a signal out to an aux track pre-fader. Add a short stereo delay to it, one side 0% of the mix, the other side 100%. Set the delay time somewhere between 8 and 12ms. EQ the original guitar part, Compress and bring the fader down so the sound is off. You should hear the acoustic guitar as a stereo track through the aux track you created. Bring up the main (mono) guitar and keep it under the outer guitar tracks. This will leave a nice space for your vocal, since the main guitar signal will be from the sides. Add in the vocal, EQ and compress (I suggest Smack! for vocals) and bring the vocal up from 0 until it balances in the mix. That should get you going.

R

[Naagzh]

bender, thanks for the words....

to the rest of you,
c'mon bro-heems.... i'm in serious need of audio shaping advice.

Here's some research to get you started:

Check out the album "Skittish" by Mike Doughty (formerly of Soul Coughing). It's a warm, tastefully sparse recording, and stylistically similar.

Also, Joey Cape (of Lagwagon) did an acoustic record a couple years ago, and it sounds fantastic.

Lose the reverb on the vocal, or pick a setting that isn't so grainy. Maybe use the pre-delay and the LPF. Hit it a bit harder with the backup vocal, to put it, well, in the back. If that doesn't do it, try 1/4 note and 1/8 note (or 1/2 note) delays, and send the delays to the reverb. Subtle feedback, use those LPFs. Same could go for the guitars. Do a search on the Eventide 910 doubling, thickening trick for a cool yet subtle stereo chorus effect for the guitars (and/or the vocals). The Waves Doubler plug has it as a preset, in case you have Waves plugs.

If you've got two guitar tracks, get 'em off to the sides, and maybe pan their respective reverbs/delays/etc. to the opposite side. Nothing too severe, maybe start at +/- 75 (I wouldn't pan all the way out to 100 in this case).

Just my opinion here, but very seldom does a tambourine or shaker deserve to be panned up the middle. It's auxiliary; save the focal point for the lyrics If you absolutely must balance the percussion out, add similar (but not identical) percussion to the other side.

EQ some oomph into the lead vocal (maybe a broad boost around 250?). Lead vocal could use a bit more compression, IMO.

The Chicago song could really use more of the "pad" througout the stronger sections, as in the break (that was a cello, right?). It might be cool to try a B3 organ, too.