TheEelsAnkle

So my brother and I have written a bunch of songs on acoustic guitar and cajon. We also use a few other percussion instruments: washboard, tambourine with a foot stap, ankle bells, shakers, floor tom with cymbal attached.

I play guitar, kazoo, harmonica, tambourine, and back-up vocals. My brother sings lead and plays all the other percussion stuff. We switch it up for some songs so tips for percussion and guitar would be helpful. I was thinking about maybe getting one of those acoustic clip-on reverbs or making one, but I don't think that would help a lot.



Do you have any tips on getting a fuller sound? Thanks!

InfiniStudent

Is this an electric acoustic?

If it's not, you could mic it - just adding volume and EQ will do a LOT to fatten up your sound and not make it sound so tiny and thin.

Once it's in the electric acoustic domain you can add Effects to it (Fx you would use on a "clean" sound) so some reverb, sometimes light chorus or phaser/flange or delay (for a cool one-time special passage).

Honestly, when I was doing the acoustic thing I was totally happy with the fullness and warmth of my electric/acoustic just properly EQ'd running through the PA - of course, it was also a top of the line Takamine so... it was already oozing tone.

The other thing you could do is just drop the percussion...and swap it out for a much more important acoustic bass. You could play along with MIDI drum tracks. OR expand your line-up and add a friend.

Happy Jammin!

Mind_Reader7

Reverb is magical in some scenarios. I use it more often than I should.

When I do any acoustic type stuff, I always play with reverb + delay.

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GaryBillington

My last band was an acoustic duo as well, the difference being it was just me on guitar playing with a female vocalist - nothing else was required.

Seems to me that adding all the extra stuff like kazoo, harmonica etc could be what is making you think you need more to fill out the sound - when you add a layer on top, you also need to add a layer at the bottom to even things out. Have you tried cutting the extras out & just using the guitars to play a nice stripped down melody behind the vocals? It's often the case that less is more.

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InfiniStudent

+1 Yup. That's what I was thinking too. Typically in an "unplugged" scenario percussion is the last layer to be added. You really need a bass "bottom" layer before adding percussion or the bottom sounds "missing"

TheEelsAnkle

Yes it is an electric-acoustic, but we often play in places with no access to electricity (camping, beach, street). We do have a couple friends that play bass, but then we have the same problem with electricity as only one of them owns an acoustic bass (and he happens to be at school 9 hours away ) Thanks for the tips!

steven seagull

Easiest solution - buy a 12 string

Failing that make sure you're both covering different parts of the frequency range, if one of you is playing open chords or using the lower strings make sure the other player is using inversions higher up the neck that use the higher strings - if you both play similarly voiced open chords it will sound a bit flat, and also any timing discrepencies will be much more apparent.

Likewise for your vocals make sure you're harmonising each other, don't just double the same line - you'll be amazed at the difference it makes.

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racertj5

Nashville Tuning one of the guitars may work for you as well

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TheEelsAnkle

I have never heard of that! That's very cool! Do you know of anything similar to Nashville tuning I can try right now without restringing?

TheEelsAnkle

Ahh, harmonizing the vocals. I haven't really though much about vocals! Thanks! MIght also buy a twelve string once I get some money. I really like the 'playing chords higher up' idea! I've already started changing some stuff! Thanks!