Thanks for linking the stems. I downloaded the archive and inserted each take onto its own channel. Without processing, it sounded like this:


There's hardly anything untoward, or unfixable in the stems. I hear some crosstalk, which I couldn't repair. But, in the main, the stems are ok.

Looking at the frequency spectrum of each strumming sample, I noticed resonances at 140Hz and a "zing" up around 5-6kHz. I inserted a simple EQ vst on those channels and applied a fairly tight and steep bell curve attenuation to get rid of the boominess and cut out the "zing".

The slides samples have very little bass. Those channels also received some EQ treatment, mainly HP filter to to leave space for the strumming tracks' low ends but, also, a little fine fettling to give each slides track a character of its own; e.g. HP and LP pass on one of the slides tracks to soften the sound and make it a bit Ry Cooder-ish.

Finally some plate reverb was added to all but one of the tracks. Each of the reverbs has its own pre-delay. diffusion and reverberation time. The intention of adding plate reverb was to make layers of sound that seem to be closer or further away from the listener. Purely a matter of taste. You'd most likely prefer a different layering than mine - and quite rightly so.

There's no compression on the tweaked tracks. I preferred to leave the energy exactly "as is". Levelling the tracks would, I think, de-humanize the strumming. The slides, however, might be more controllable at final mixdown if they were levelled.

Here's my remix for your amusement:


Once you're done, I'll take down the clips that I made. Shoot me a PM and I'll delete both of the above-mentioned soundclips.

 

the 57 and 58 are live mics and can't really live up to recording acoustic instruments because of their frequency response curves. Rent some good condenser microphones (AKG 414, Nueman, etc.) and maybe mic pre's as well. Ask what a good starting point will be with the mic's on acoustic guitar, hopefully they will be experienced in using the mics and not just renting them.

 

Yes. Absolutely. This really sucks about steel string guitars. The cool brightness and sparkle of new strings only last for a few days...

Thank you so much man. I really appreciate your comments.

This harmony is stuck in my mind for years. It's nothing more than the basic G chord shape sliding between the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 10th frets, regular tuning. Maybe I'll turn it into a song one of these days.

I agree with both of you (Kookaboo and aww167).

Sure, great music speaks for itself and I certainly know how to appreciate good music independently of the quality of the production.

However, getting a little help from a really well crafted production doesn't hurt at all! It's really great to hear great music coupled with a great production. That's why, as Kookaboo suggests, I've been studying production techniques really hard, so I can get the best possible results out of what I already have.

This sounds much better. Thank you! I'll give this effects chain a shot.

Yes, I'm aware of that. Luckily enough, I used to work as a luthier apprentice when I was a teen, so I know all the setup tricks to make an inexpensive guitar sound and play as great as possible. Like you said, this is really essential.

Man! This sounds really good, and, most specially, natural.
Would you care to share some screen shots of your EQs?
By the way, which plate reverb did you use?

Thanks everyone for the precious tips. You've been really helpfull!

Cheers,

R.

 

Last edited: Dec 3, 2015

I appreciate your efforts but to me the mix does not sound much better than the original.
The main guitar sounds still too bold! I've listened to the raw original stem and it sounds
way too *bassy*. Imagine you would want to add a bass guitar to the track - there would
be no room for it as the Acoustic guitar eats all space up!

Consider my critic as stimulation for improving, we're on the same boat...
...i also struggle to get the best sound possible in a mix.

 

Above the Audio analysis of the main guitar "Test Strum Mic".
You can clearly see how much basses it has!
I.m.o. to get an "enjoyable" mix you have to cut down the low frequencies very careful but decisively.
You want a good sounding steel string guitar, not a bass guitar nor a plastic toy guitar.
It's even more difficult to record a Nylon Strings Guitar! I can tell you...

 

actually, i think maybe you're not on the same boat. i think you are looking at the clip as though it is part of a larger mix that includes other instruments while darth has mixed it as a standalone piece. in that vein, his mix sounds better to my ears. and i'm not trying to start a argument here. just making an observation.

 

Sure!
You can always use a metric tape (if you have one) to measure the distance from the source to both microphones or use anything else
And indeed, it's about cancellation of frequencies, it could sound bad... Or good! If you're lucky!!
Well, for acoustic guitars, i don't have and angle, i like to put the mics where i know it would sound -at least- fine, and work from there, always checking that they have the same distance and phase issues on the DAW, you can record a little bit and check the waveforms
Maybe the boominess it's because you're really close to the guitar or are you putting the mic near the body?
Anyways! And yeah! Double tracking will give you alot of width, but it can give you phase issues and maybe you will need to edit the takes

 

No worries, Kookaboo. Thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated, bro'.

 

It's the Princeton Digtal 2016 Plate Reverb vst. I had no particular motive for using it instead of another brand of plate reverb. It's merely at the top of my alphabetically sorted plugin browser list.

Re. screenshots: mea culpa! I didn't save the project to disk. Once I'm done with the job that I'm on right now, I'll try to replicate what I did to your tracks and whizz some screenshots over to you.

 

Thank you much mate.
I didn't want to offend you with my (raw) opinion.
Knowing how hard it can be to record & mix good i just want to share my points of view.
Opposite to other people i listen to every single Instrument or track and analyze it well,
edit it, then i put all files together and make a mix. Every Instrument has to sound good
on its own right from start. That's my approach.

 

wow. kind of petty to downvote me for offering my opinion. and my opinion has not changed. darth's mix sounds better to me. sorry if that hurts your feelings.

 

My pleasure, bra.
You brought stuff to the party that I hadn't considered.
There no "I" in "team".

edit: absolutely no offence taken, Cook. Really. The one thing that's worse than being talked about is not being talked about.

 

Last edited: Dec 3, 2015

@ RMorgan – Some of your tracks/sounds are recorded (or bounced?) at too low volume level.
To obtain best results for mixes you have to be aware of the loudness volume of each track.
If signals are recorded to low you'll probably encounter difficulties...
...same if they're recorded too loud!

Another track, the "Test-StrumLine.wav" is recorded even lower.

 

The tracks were actually recorded as loudly as possible, Cook... But I forgot to reset the faders before exporting the stems.

My bad!

 

Ouch!
That's embarrassing.
Nevermind, you'll find your best way.

 

Nashville producer Bryan Clark goes through some mic rigging tricks for recording acoustic guitar....