help with acoustic guitar and mixdown

[dizzledude]

ok so i recorded an acoustic track and it sounds realllllllly boxy and kind of boomy, and i recorded about 5 inches from the 12th fret
also whnever i do a mixdown of all my tracks, i have to turn up the volume big time on whatever im listening on because you can barely hear it
how can i fix these problems?
thanks
and does anyone have any tips on how i should eq drums so it sounds nice and roomy, not boxy
thanks

[DT Chris]

related topic

[dizzledude]

read that, didnt really help me much
sorry im still a newb haha

[dizzledude]

nevermind, some stuff came in handy :]

[DT Chris]

I feel you, we still really haven't worked out how to get rid of the 'boomyness'. I was hoping to get you to join that conversation so we could both get the answers,etc without having to get it in 2 topics.

This will probably become an article soon I bet.

[brandondrury]

we still really haven't worked out how to get rid of the 'boomyness'.

I think we are making this harder than it needs to be.

#1 Use a non-boomy instrument.
#2 Put the mic in a non-boomy place.

Now, this may cause other problems, but this is a start.

i recorded about 5 inches from the 12th fret

I'll tell you what. Try recording with the mic on the 12th fret, but put it 50 inches away. Yes, fifty inches. What happens?

Brandon

[dizzledude]

ok ill try taht
but why do my mixes sound so low in sound
i can barely hear em!

[DT Chris]

Ha ha ha! He's just saying he wants us to experiment with mic positions. Nothing will help us more to learn than trying different things out because there is no fixed golden rule.

As Brandon has said in the past, if it was that easy, they would have automated the recording process a long time ago

[brandondrury]

but why do my mixes sound so low in sound
i can barely hear em!

Read this:
Getting Your Mixes Loud

[Izzy Pop]

I suppose I will attack the drums issue since nobody else has. Roomy and boxy are not opposites. Roomy infers that the sound of the room (resonant frequencies, and natural reverb patterns) is present in the recording, while boxy can often refer to poorly EQed drums. Roomy-ness is gained by using a room mic blended with the close mic signals and/or applying delay and/or reverb. To avoid a boxy sound on drums first get a sound you like when you are tracking, and later apply EQ. I've posted a general EQ guide here. Find a frequency in the low mid range that sounds good to you, look for something with an actual musical tone and boost there. Cut to either side and find some frequencies in the presence range (2-7 kHz) to boost to add some attack. Alot of getting a good drum sounds happens before the EQ stage, make sure your mic placement/choice gets you the sound you want when setting up. You can't get something from nothing so the sound you want has to be there before you hit record.