EQ for acoustic guitar

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pdarg
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2008/04/19 15:23:34 (permalink)

EQ for acoustic guitar

I have been doing a bunch of recording experiments with an acoustic guitar using different mic’s – the one I have settled on is the Shure SM81.

I am careful with placement and distance (aiming at 10th – 12th fret from a distance of about 8-10 inches), and record the tracks raw without compression or EQ. Even so, the raw recorded track seems to need a lot of EQ once in the Sonar mix. I have tried a number of settings, some better than others, but still, it’s a challenge.

I would be curious to hear how others approach this. Is there a starting point for mic’ed acoustic guitar EQ that you are using?



Thanks in advance.
#1

14 Replies Related Threads

    immprod
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    RE: EQ for acoustic guitar 2008/04/19 15:51:11 (permalink)
    If I deal with good players, I always tell them to sit where THEY think it sounds best. But I usually start the way you do it.
    #2
    j boy
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    RE: EQ for acoustic guitar 2008/04/19 16:22:40 (permalink)
    Might be easier to do with two people. One of you plays the guitar whie the other moves the mic around and monitors, or vice-versa, and when it's *right* you'll hear it. Takes a lot of trial and error sometimes. You still might use eq but probably less of it.
    #3
    pdarg
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    RE: EQ for acoustic guitar 2008/04/19 17:06:30 (permalink)
    How about settings for EQ-ing the track once it's recorded?
    #4
    immprod
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    RE: EQ for acoustic guitar 2008/04/19 17:19:39 (permalink)
    The eq settings depend on the room you recorded in, the player, the guitar etc... But I normally do a lowcut so it fits the music and look for ugly frequencys with a notch.
    #5
    j boy
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    RE: EQ for acoustic guitar 2008/04/19 19:18:27 (permalink)

    ORIGINAL: pdarg

    How about settings for EQ-ing the track once it's recorded?

    Really depends on your guitar. They're all different.
    #6
    Haddox
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    RE: EQ for acoustic guitar 2008/04/19 20:23:57 (permalink)
    I use the UAD Pultec Pro for this and though, the setting will vari from arrangement, song and sound, a great place to start is medium q drop of 3-4 db in the 500 range. I'll then do a small boost at 8k toget some sparkle. If you've got a bass playing with you, rolling off @125 or a little higher. If no bass, then roll off around 100 or a little lower.

    It's just gettin' better an better

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    #7
    soundchaser59
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    RE: EQ for acoustic guitar 2008/04/19 20:29:25 (permalink)
    My guitar has a resonance at 125. I could hear the boomy sound, but I was hit and miss miss miss when I tried to eq it out.

    Then I ran my guitar track thru an RTA so I could see on screen the frequency spectrum it was putting out. That RTA display showed me the peak at 125. I notched out at 125 with a very narrow Q, and magically the boomy mud disappeared. Rolloff hard below 80hz (the low E on the guitar) Then I slap a BBE maximizer on it and it works wonders. Fast and painless. No other EQ required.

    Should also note that I'm using a cardioid "mid" mic and a figure 8 (C414) "side" track that is cloned and phase reversed (3 tracks total).

    You can find a free RTA I think it's called TrueRTA, but Sonar probably has one that will show you the freq spread on your guitar. Dont guess and guess for hours on end, look at the wave form on screen and you'll see it right away.
    post edited by soundchaser59 - 2008/04/19 20:50:32
    #8
    mwall
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    RE: EQ for acoustic guitar 2008/04/20 12:56:53 (permalink)
    I recently recorded an acoustic track, L side miked, R side direct in via the XLR output on my acoustic. For one of those sides, I used the Acoustic Guitar preset in the Vintage Channel plugin, and for the other, I did some minor EQ tweaking and light verb. Then I made sure the volume levels were balanced as I panned one hard left and one hard right (I may have done like 98 percent left and right.) It sounded pretty darn good. A good place to start and try it out, anyway. Sorry, can't give you my exact settings right now, as my system is down, but like others have said, those setting will vary by setup.

    Mark
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    #9
    jb
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    RE: EQ for acoustic guitar 2008/04/20 15:24:33 (permalink)
    It really depends on the mix and the role the guitar's playing. Is it the lead melody instrument or playing rhythm where you want a lot of attack so that it supplements or replaces a closed hi hat? Is there a solo spot for it? In that case I'll automate the eq from the ensemble sound to a solo. I might go from cutting everything <80, with a 1 octave 2-3 db dip somewhere between 400 and 1000 and perhaps a slight bump at 2300- 3000 for the ensemble to flat or even boosting the fundamentals for the solo. More and more i try to record the guitar with the sound i want so that I don't have to eq at all and I'm using omni patterns on my 603 pair and 414 to avoid the proximity boost. At 8 - 10 inches you're prolly picking up a bit more room sound than you really want and that will complicate things a bit when it comes to the mix.
    Ultimately, though, there are no rules and no substitute for experimenting and experience. Now if i could only get the 'tubbiness' out of my string bass!
    Good luck and have fun!

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    #10
    pgw
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    RE: EQ for acoustic guitar 2008/04/23 04:06:11 (permalink)
    I usually use a LD condenser in front of the neckjoint & a SD mic @ around 45 degrees angle towards the bridges distance for both is about 10" - balance those against each other & usually apply VC64, tweaked from the acoustic guitar preset - I scroll through presets until I find something close to what I desire & tweak that.

    Per
    #11
    Limelight
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    RE: EQ for acoustic guitar 2008/05/11 17:56:16 (permalink)
    need tips on ozone3

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    #12
    Dave King
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    RE: EQ for acoustic guitar 2008/05/12 00:11:26 (permalink)
    As jb said, it really depends on the instrument's role in the mix. If it's an acoustic guitar in a full band mix (drums, bass, keys, etc.) you probably just want to record it in mono to keep things under control. Recently, I got a nice acoustic sound by recording with a LDC aimed at the neck/body joint and also with the pickup through an LR Baggs preamp. I recorded the two signals to separate tracks and then blended them to taste.

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    #13
    SvenArne
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    RE: EQ for acoustic guitar 2008/05/12 05:33:25 (permalink)

    ORIGINAL: Limelight

    need tips on ozone3


    Is that an attempt to hijack the thread? If so, it's pretty pathetic.

    To the OP:
    You need to move the mic around until it sounds nice and open, without any midrange 'honk' or low-end mud. For a punchy sound, you want to be as close as possible without getting honk or mud, which can be hard to achive. The exact position varies depending on both the guitar and the room.

    Sven





    #14
    Roflcopter
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    RE: EQ for acoustic guitar 2008/05/12 06:22:33 (permalink)
    Is that an attempt to hijack the thread? If so, it's pretty pathetic.


    Gosh, Chelsea fans are up early...

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    #15
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