18-10-2014, 08:23 PM
as a general rule, electric guitars don't need a lot of high end, and that's the best way I've found (in most cases) to control the fatigue element and clear spectral real estate for tracks that will need high end, like vocals, cymbals, shakers, percussion etc.
this isn't an issue in this mix, but in my opinion, acoustic guitars are a rule unto themselves, because the mechanical noise produced by the pick and fingers rubbing on the strings are essential for a realistic presentation. That obviously applies more to important acoustic guitar parts like leads... but even in those cases it needs to be controlled to avoid high end fatigue. Sometimes a gentle high shelf is all you need, but I prefer de-essers, dynamic EQs or (sometimes) multiband compressors, since they control the dynamics of that high frequency energy and let you keep the noises gentle... it allows the performance nuances of a good musician to shine without being obtrusive or contributing to buildup when percussion instruments are present, as is often the case in acoustic music.
another quick trick... if you find yourself needing to re-amp a DI guitar recording, it's very helpful to low pass filter the DI -before- the amp simulator. that makes it significantly easier to control high end distortion during mixdown, because much less of that noise is being distorted and reharmonized in the first place.
hopefully some of that is of use to you... just a few things i've learned in my endless pursuit of proper guitar mixing. for me, the only thing harder than a vocal to mix properly is a guitar, owing to its role as a midrange instrument. pianos present many of the same difficulties... both are strong where almost every instrument exhibits some level of presence.
this isn't an issue in this mix, but in my opinion, acoustic guitars are a rule unto themselves, because the mechanical noise produced by the pick and fingers rubbing on the strings are essential for a realistic presentation. That obviously applies more to important acoustic guitar parts like leads... but even in those cases it needs to be controlled to avoid high end fatigue. Sometimes a gentle high shelf is all you need, but I prefer de-essers, dynamic EQs or (sometimes) multiband compressors, since they control the dynamics of that high frequency energy and let you keep the noises gentle... it allows the performance nuances of a good musician to shine without being obtrusive or contributing to buildup when percussion instruments are present, as is often the case in acoustic music.
another quick trick... if you find yourself needing to re-amp a DI guitar recording, it's very helpful to low pass filter the DI -before- the amp simulator. that makes it significantly easier to control high end distortion during mixdown, because much less of that noise is being distorted and reharmonized in the first place.
hopefully some of that is of use to you... just a few things i've learned in my endless pursuit of proper guitar mixing. for me, the only thing harder than a vocal to mix properly is a guitar, owing to its role as a midrange instrument. pianos present many of the same difficulties... both are strong where almost every instrument exhibits some level of presence.
I'm grateful for comments and suggestions. Thank you for listening!