How would you mix 1 acoustic + vox tracks?

[bchamorro]

Lets say I have recorded one acoustic guitar in mono and one vocal track.

 

I want to mix these two, but I'm not sure if the best thing to do is to leave both in the center. My acoustic guitar tracks is mono, so I can't really pan left and right.

 

What would be the "best" way to mix this?

[Eriksimon]

Use some gentle modulation on the guitar track, using a mono>stereo plugin (chorus or ensemble are good bets). On the vocals you could also use modulation (ensemble) but keep it minimal (or don't use it - it is matter of taste).

Route (= set output to) both tracks to the same bus>aux, and insert a compressor on the aux. Rough compressor guidelines: set it to the Platinum algorithm, peak reduction (NOT RMS), ratio between 1.5 and 2.5 : 1, knee 0.7-1, threshold set so that the maximum gain reduction is 4-6 dB, NO auto makeup gain (use the manual slider to compensate gain loss). After the compressor you can insert an AUMatrixReverb, just browse through the presets and play with the dry/wet slider. The AUMR has a very nice, gentle stereo spread to it. You could also choose to insert an AUMR on each individual track, if you feel the voice and guitar need different treatment (you could use the same preset, but perhaps with different wetness for each track).

 

Good luck!

[David Nahmani]

Record a new double acoustic guitar track. Pan one guitar left the other right.