How to Mix Acoustic Guitar
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.พ. 2025
- I was insecure about this for a long time but through years of practice and great advice from those who knew more than me this is definitely the go to approach that works every time!
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God.... the acoustic and electric blend is absolutely luscious!
Thanks Gene!
(07:43) That's real, I try to think about the EQ knobs on my Guitars, AMPs & pedals the same way. I don't ever EQ or CUT anything (ie. Bass, Mids, Treble or EQ pedals) unless I'm recording vocals with it or layering it with other guitars/takes. In those moments the bridge control switch is a life saver
@14:20 oh yeahhhhh listen to that drive! I've said it before, if you want great acoustics ask a guy from Nashville! I've seen this before, but it's always good to come back because things make more sense with experience. I hadn't thought of the de-esser, but I have been using the IK Classic Clipper to do something similar on acoustics, snares and even noisy bass. Thanks!!! 👍🏼
(Greatest Hack Ever)
About everything pointing to the vocal in the mix as a reference as opposed to the whole song, i'm always at a lost for direction when trying to find "Where my tracks are pointing" or what to eq with
I swear this channel was tailor-made for me. All the same plugins I use and know, same DAW, same language, no secrets. Thank you so much for every single one of these videos.
Nice! Yes thin picks are essential. Great vid✊🏻✊🏻✊🏻
Agreed Ryan!
Great tips, but also shout out to the player that recorded those acoustic guitar takes!
Strong and steady strumming the whole way through. Great players make our jobs as engineers 10x easier
I couldn’t agree more Luke. Jason Roller makes my job much easier by playing this even, this in time, this in tune, and understanding the role the acoustics play in a song like this. If it were a James Taylor type song both his approach and mine would change.
Great videos, enjoyable and informative. Would like to see an acoustic mixing video in which the acoustic is the star of the mix, so am looking forward to that!
Thanks Brandon. One coming soon.
I usually compress acoustics on the bus to glue them together but I 16:23 16:23 like your approach for this scenario. I will try this in the future. Also, notching to get out of the way of the vocal is super important. Great video, thanks!
Thanks again Dr. Bob. I will start working on my acoustic mixes. I don't have any presets but will start adding them as I learn more thru your channel. 👍 I've always just recorded but never mixed. Someone else did.....I'm the songwriter more so.
Good stuff. I have also used de-Esser on acoustics occasionally. My favorite tip you explained was pulling up the vocal and really adjusting the EQ to get out of the vocalist's way.Another go to compressor for acoustic guitars is the UAD Manley Variable MU limiter/compressor. I have been loving it on my acoustic rhythm tracks. Keep up the great work doc.
Thanks man! I’ll have try to the Vari Mu!!
Bobby, I just purchased that MJUC comp. love it! Thanks so much. Although there were some great tips there in this video and much I also do…. The comp was the golden nugget for me!!!! Hope you get a commission.
As always, JD
Ha! Thanks John. No commission here just passing good info along! Enjoy the compressor..I sure am!
@@BobbyHuff thanks ! !!!
Outstanding info!
I have a beautiful Larrivee acoustic and use the following approach… dual SM57’s at a 45° (Fredman technique) pointed at the 12th fret, a direct feed from the integrated Highlander pickup… and dual Aston Origin room mics to pick up the room sound. I do very little EQ’ing as the sound captured this way is almost always my ideal sound, and tends to sit in the mix as intended.
Sounds cool!!
I can tell right now I will be using a de-esser on all my future strummed 12-string parts.
(:
Yes do it!!
your experience comes through in your teaching, with the perfect amount of detail but never losing sight of the big picture and why you're making decisions (almost always to serve the song or singer). these tips and recommendations are super useful to me as a songwriter and producer. thank you!
Thanks Shay!
You
that track sounds stellar! nice work
The MJUC is my go to compressor for many instruments since a few years back.
A very good one!
Love the mix of acoustic and electric parts, very Boston feeling. Again more great knowledge for production and mixing
Thanks Andy! I’m a huge Boston fan!
@@BobbyHuff Tom Scholz is an inspiration to us all!
Unbelievably clear and well balanced, I love the acoustic motor!
Thanks Don!
You can't beat the first 4 Zep albums for acoustic guitar sounds. Also Townsends acoustic work with The Who and his recording sound is probably the best ever committed to vinyl.
David Bowie was also a master at acoustic guitar parts and sounds. And Tony Iommi's acoustic work on the first 6 Sabbath albums has never been bettered!
And of course the mighty Ian Anderson and Jethro Tull had incredible acoustic work on their albums
Yes and yes!
Great video. I just finished a cover of Solsbury Hill. I stayed faithful to the original by tracking Steve Hunter's genius travis picked part three times. Since the guitar is all picking and is the driving force behind the instrumentation would you mix differently. I'm trying to blend with the kick, shaker and keyboard flutes. I left more bottom end than I typically do because of how important the part is in a somewhat sparsely arranged song. Do you still recommend rolling off all the bottom? My mixes always suck. Partly because by the time I finish tracking and shooting and editing video, I always think good enough and partly because I dont know what the hell I'm doing with my mixes. Love this channel. Thanks Bobby.
If you’re trying to match the sound of a cover song I would do whatever it takes to match the original . Thanks Mark!
Thanks Bobby! This has sorted some long term problems i've had with mixing acoustic guitar.I've never had a problem with the big, full bodied sound, it's been this area i've struggled with. Many thanks it'll positively affect my work!
Thanks Christopher!
Great episode. Thanks for providing. Love how the distorted guitars sit against the acoustics.
Thanks man!
Another great presentation, Dr Bob! Also, that tune I can hear being played in a chick - flick, and NO disrespect meant because it's an excellent chorus and performance!
Thanks Mark!
Always learning so precious things here! Thanks again!
Thanks Henry!
My Vocals had some nasty mids and lows and now i know i overcompressed it, thanks Doc
Simply fantastic!! Side note… the electrics sound awesome! Could we get a vid on what you did with those…again thanks so much!
Thanks Trent. Video coming up on electric guitars very soon. It’s in the editing phase.
Good stuff Bobby -- the klanghelm compressor is definitely a very cool and unique plugin -- I've used it a bunch on mixes.
Agreed Billy!
Amazing content, this is some pro level technique, will be using it for sure. Any tips for mixing fingerpicked acoustic in a solo performance?
Thanks man! I’ll be doing another video on that!
Great video. I've been struggling with getting acoustic guitars to sound right in the mix. I will try these things out.
A suggestion: I mean this with the utmost respect - I love the channel, but your opening and closing segments "in the operating room" have terrible room ambience. I would suggest either using a lavalier mic (run the wire under your shirt) and clipped to the neckline, or tighten up the shot and get a boom mic overhead and closer to you when you speak. I only mention this because I feel that a great channel such as yours that provides amazing tips on audio production should itself have the best audio whenever possible.
Hey thanks for watching and I hope the acoustic guitar stuff works for you..
The audio at the beginning and end is when the doctor is in the operating room. I’ve tried to dry this audio up but the audio doesn’t match the visual. I learned a long time ago in film and TV the Audio must match the visual environment. The ambience is iappropriate for the operating room set. Notice the audio drives up when the doctor is not in the operating room.
Great information! Love it!
Thanks Marcel!
Damn cool, I never would have thought of using the acoustic guitar this way, I always try to get the full body. This works well in this manner.
Yeah in a dense track forget about the body of the acoustics. Use the hi end and percussive nature of it.
Very cool! Seeing how you mixed her vocal would be cool, too. It’s very tight.
Thanks. Watch my How the Pros EQ Vocals and How the Pros Compress Vocals videos.
Thanks for making this video! Taming acoustic guitar and getting it to serve the purpose of a song is no easy task--I'm surprised at how many people take this subject lightly. If you would please make a video in the future about miking techniques for acoustic guitar (if you haven't already and I just missed it), this is a major area of recording that gets convoluted in all the information on TH-cam, and online.
Thanks again, and all the best!
Thanks Ben!
I lock the hi hat and acoustic in similar pan area for my mixes and mic to really hear the light plectrum sweeps. Especially for hardcore country stuff like George Strait or Mark Chesnutt type song. Great insight and tips I can use to better my acoustic g sounds....Thanks Bobby
Thanks Mayor!
Noticed that you had the sends armed on the grouped acoustic track. Was that going to the reverb and/or any other FX channels?
Yes good catch. Send to a small plate reverb. I prob should’ve mentioned that…
Nice vid! Thx BH!
Thanks Norm!
Great as always bobby! Thick picking is my go too on acoustics and blend to taste with timbre and drive 😁🤘 man I wish klanghelm would come out with a version of a vca &fet of the mjuc!!! You wouldn't ever need anything else 😂 so glad you are digging it. Imo it's the "holy Grail" plugin comp. At least I haven't found anything as good as it
Yes I love it!! Were u the one that recommended it to me???
@@BobbyHuff i did sir but i cannot say I was the only one 😁 that said it's a great plugin
@@antcall6779 a HUGE thank you to you. You were dead on! I love it and will explore more uses for it. Great call Ant Call!!
@@BobbyHuff david from mixbus and marc Daniel Nelson from produce like a pro gets the credit 😁 I'm just a messenger 😂 hopefully klanghelm will give us something new Soon! I'm dying to see what they can do with a fet & vca comp.
Very helpful tips. Thanks.
Thanks Shawn
👍
Thanks!
Love the song and the tips!
Thanks Len!
great lesson, thanks so much Bobby, I would love to see your whole project as in this video, I think I learned so much from you, thanks again, and last can you make a video about mixing clean guitars? thanks
Thanks Nik!
MJUC is also the world's best electric guitar compressor. just FYI
Oh yeah, mk1 2 or 3?
Thanks I’ll try it on electrics too!
How much would you change for nylon strings
Maybe eq differently and compression would prob be the same. If the track wasn’t as dense I would allow for more bottom end of the guitar.
Well, that sounds great!
Thanks!
Great vid, Bobby! Is this tune released yet for streaming? Awesome work on that!
Thank you! Yes it is. Hell you go Through by Bella Raye.
Great content, explained very well. Thank you!
Thanks Tristan.
great mix!
Thanks man!
Thank you
Thanks Boots
Awesome song :)
I'm wondering why you chose to place the de-esser where you did. Isn't it more normal to get that before the comp?
Yes especially for vocals! Just felt good in this particular order on this song for acoustics. Great comment!
Great video! I'm interested in how you got those drums sounds.
My Dr Bob’s Killer Kit and Dr Bob’s Sizzlin Cymbals. There are videos on each and links in the description of the videos. They are both pay what you want.
What is the guitar used? Collings? Signal chain?
I can’t remember what the guitar was. The signal chain was a 251 and a c12 and they were through the UA API unison mic pres.
For more space around vox, consider using high strings(aka nashville 'tuning') acoustic as at least one of the guitars - I have a cheap guitar (all hi strings needs) set up just for this.
Yes agreed. I did a video on this method!
Great video Doc! I needed this. My AC ST pair sounded all Woofy compared to this. I've been finding that a combo of Low pass filter ( up to the lowest note played) and a low shelf (pulled down & over right to flavor) works good for my low end cuts. Any idea how Keith Urban (and maybe your cuz?) got that silky sound and amazing pick/percussive strum on "Break On Me"?
Sounds good man. Don’t know that song. I’ll have to listen.
Lemmy ask you man.
Not that an acc gtr stumming like this part has it, but is there a free/paid plugin that removes "qwueeks"?
Tenxxx . Nice channel Nice day X.
Prefered not to have to get all surgical like that ozon thing
I did a video on this called something Like the Mutt Lange Acoustic Guitar trick. Check it out.
@@BobbyHuff ha yes i remember that one. but im not gonna let gtrplayers adjust their parts at all time.
Have a nice Coffee 😉
Very nice Bobby. Are those drums, the samples you have in your store?
They are the Dr Bob Killer Kit and The Dr Bob Sizzlin Cymbals. There are videos on each of them and links to pay what you want in the description of the videos.
Question. What did you do to the distorted guitars so the acoustics sat nicely in that midrange?
Hi passing the acoustics and finding the spot in the low end of the electrics that gave them some meat. Around 350hz.
What mic pre and mics do you like on acoustics?
Universal Audio API Unison plugin.
Acoustic guitars are A marvel of engineering and often reflect a serious financial investment from the musician to own a good one. I have to agree with Paul Reed Smith who has raised the question why is it that we go through all the effort to make a gorgeous sounding guitar and then the first thing the mix engineer does is turn on the high pass and defeat most of the instruments beauty? Maybe remix the electric guitars which aren’t really leading in this arrangement? In this mix the acoustic could be replaced with an egg shaker for the same effect. Why “tame “ the acoustic when it’s the most dynamic instrument in the studio? The de-Esser was a good trick to delete an unbalanced resonance. I’m curious if it goes away when the guitar is not bandpassed.
In a song like this there isn’t enough power in an acoustic guitar to drive a chorus. Acoustic guitars are more of a color than a feature here. A James Taylor song would be the opposite. The guitar has to serve the song not the song serving the guitar. The acoustics in a song like this Def take the back seat. Thanks for watching!
GREAT!!!
I always ask to the guitar player to play acoustic like John Lennon. Works every time!
Thanks Jav!
What mics would you recommend??
www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/KM184Pair--neumann-km-184-stereo-set-small-diaphragm-cardioid-microphones-matte-black?mrkgadid=3248788498&mrkgcl=28&mrkgen=gpla&mrkgbflag=0&mrkgcat=studio&recording&acctid=21700000001645388&dskeywordid=92700067094005901&lid=92700067094005901&ds_s_kwgid=58700007460124154&ds_s_inventory_feed_id=97700000007215323&dsproductgroupid=375127179101&product_id=KM184Pair&prodctry=US&prodlang=en&channel=online&storeid=&device=m&network=g&matchtype=&adpos=largenumber&locationid=9032828&creative=555205126465&targetid=pla-375127179101&campaignid=15034343277&awsearchcpc=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA_omPBhBBEiwAcg7smUh036bQyE2QX_Q_g2U9bPjyPPN3S5u8OQVLtdn9jF-7R8pb-HenPhoCnSYQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
@@BobbyHuff oh 184’s!! Super thanks!!!
@@richprincipe749 a 251 is good. A 4033 or 4051 is good. Even the Slate mic has good emulations for an acoustic.
Excellent ty
You got your "Like" good man 🙂
Haha! Thanks!
Dammit, Sumner.
He should be fired…
Today I learned Dr Bob uses Vegas
Haha! Nope. I don’t use Vegas.
Oooh - Bobby . . .
Hey Jon
@@BobbyHuff It's like you live to give away the Secret Sauce - and I love you for that, dude!
@@recordman555 thanks man! Others have been kind to show me the Jedi ways so I’m passing it on.
Why not pro tools?
Hey Dana. I started on Cubase and love the navigation of it and the midi functions. Unlimited tracks too.
@@BobbyHuff thanks for the reply. Just curious. I started on Sonar but moved to pro tools when I upgraded to 64bit. I started to struggle with not enough busses(pro tools native) but discovered a hack now I have 256, lol. Also , Imhave had no problems with track number. Many projects are 40+. My first pro tools version was glitch as heck but after several more versions I ended up with version 2019.? Which has run perfectly so I stopped right there and don't have to pay the yearly license. I enjoy your videos , they have a wealth of great info. Thanks
@@danaparsons854 sounds good Dana I appreciate u watching the channel!
Sort of tuned percusion.
Wow. Great way to say it!