These Audio examples accompany April 2022's Cubase workshop on processing strummed acoustic guitar parts.
www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-working-strummed-guitars
Cubase 11 EQ Strummed Acoustic Guitar Audio Example 01.mp3
This audio example contains a short recording of a strummed acoustic guitar recording and demonstrates the low cut and low-mid cut described within the text of the main article. The phrase is repeated six times as follows: (a) the recording with no processing; (b) the same recording but with a low-cut filter set to 40Hz applied within the Channel Settings EQ panel; (c) the same recording but with a low-cut filter set to 80Hz applied within the Channel Settings EQ panel; (d) the same recording but with a static low-cut filter set to 40Hz applied via an instance Frequency 2; (e) as for (c) but with an additional cut of 5dB applied at 200Hz (Q set to 1.5) to move some low-mid frequencies and intended to avoid a build-up of this frequency range within the overall mix; (f) as for (d) but with an additional band of dynamic EQ centred at 200Hz and removing between -1.7 and -7.5dB depending upon the actual amount of frequency content at this range.
Cubase 11 EQ Strummed Acoustic Guitar Audio Example 02.mp3
This example uses the same acoustic guitar performance and demonstrates EQ treatments to adjust the high-end frequency range. The phrase is repeated three times as follows: (a) as heard in example 1(c) with static low-cut and low-mid cut applied within the Channel Settings EQ for reference; (b) as for (a) but with a high-shelf EQ boost of 5dB centred at 10kHz; (c) as for example 1(d) but with a dynamic high-shelf band in Frequency 2 centred at 10kHz and applying between 2 and 6dB of boost depending upon the actual amount of frequency content at this range.
Cubase 11 EQ Strummed Acoustic Guitar Audio Example 03.mp3
This example uses the same acoustic guitar performance and demonstrates EQ treatments to adjust the influence of pick attack within the higher frequency range. The phrase is repeated three times as follows: (a) for reference, as per audio example 02, the performance with low-cut, low-mid cut and high-end boost applied via the Channel Settings panel; (b) as for (a) but with an instance of the De-Esser plugin targeting the frequency range between 5 and 10kHz and set with a fast release and attempting to providing a dynamic EQ gain reduction within this range that attempts to reduce the ‘clicky’ transients of the pick attack; (c) as for (a) but with Frequency 2 providing an additional narrow (high Q) dynamic EQ band centred on 6.3kHz and with a very fast Attack and Release times to try and reduce the ‘clicky’ transients of the pick attack. In this example, cuts have been applied but you could also use boosts if you wished to enhance the percussive nature of the pick noise in some musical contexts. Both multiband compression or multiband transient plugins could also be employed for this kind of task.
Cubase 11 EQ Strummed Acoustic Guitar Audio Example 04.mp3
This example uses the same acoustic guitar performance and demonstrates further EQ treatments to refine the overall tonal balance of the guitar and, in particular, to address any of the more obvious EQ humps/hollows or resonances. The phrase is repeated four times as follows: (a) for reference, the guitar as processed in audio example 03; (b) as for (a) but with an additional EQ cut of 6dB applied at 2.1kHz to smooth out an energy ‘hump’; (c) as for (a) but with two additional cuts created using dynamic bands within Frequency 2 and centred at 2.1kHz and 4kHz, both targeting modest ‘humps’ within the overall tonal balance; (d) as for (c) but with the two additional bands set to Linear Phase mode rather than dynamic mode.
Cubase 11 EQ Strummed Acoustic Guitar Audio Example 05.mp3
This example demonstrates the removal of spot finger noise from a strummed acoustic guitar performance. It uses a different take (different chord voicings but also including a couple of spots with finger noise) of the same chord sequence to the earlier examples. The phrase is repeated three times as follows: (a) this alternative take but with all the same EQ processing applied as in audio example 04; (b) the same take but with manual gain automation applied to reduce the volume where the finger noises occur; (c) the same take but with spectral editing used to reduce the gain of targeted time/frequency ranges within the audio.
Cubase 11 EQ Strummed Acoustic Guitar Audio Example 06.mp3
The example uses the original acoustic guitar performance and compares the overall tonal balancing achieved via Frequency 2 with that obtained by using Oeksound Soothe 2. The phase is repeated three times as follow: (a) for reference, the original guitar recording before any EQ treatments; (b) the performance from audio example 04(c) using various EQ moves in Frequency 2 to refine the overall tonal balance of the recording; as for (a) but with an instance of Oeksound Soothe 2 applied and based upon the plugins Medium Strum Acoustic preset. This plugin (reviewed in the Feb 2020 issue of SOS) delivers a somewhat unique (almost magical) approach to achieving tonal balance in a recording. The free trial version is well worth exploring.
Cubase 11 EQ Strummed Acoustic Guitar Audio Example 07.mp3
All the previous examples have used a solo acoustic guitar recording to illustrate the various EQ adjustments being made. In this final example, the guitar is placed in a very simple (drums and electric bass) mix context. Aside from a little compression added to the drum and bass instruments, no other processing has been added.
The sequence is repeated three times as follows: (a) the mix with the original guitar recording and no EQ adjustments; (b) the mix with the acoustic guitar from audio example 04(b) with all tonal adjustments applied using the Channel Settings EQ controls and an instance of De-Esser; (c) the mix with the acoustic guitar from audio example 04(c) where all the tonal adjustments have been performed using Frequency 2. The differences are reasonably modest but both (b) and (c) appear somewhat smoother and with a touch of extra sparkle at the top-end. To my ears at least, I prefer (c) — based upon dynamic EQ — to (b). However, the EQ adjustments mean that both (b) and (c) do contain less low/low-mid content. These changes are perhaps less obvious within a mix, although you might argue that this is perhaps the point; while the guitar doesn’t seem to have lost anything significant of its overall character, there will be more space within these lower frequencies for the other instruments within the mix.
