Quote:
The problem I'm having is I really have NO idea what effects will get me closer to the sound I'm looking for. I don't know how to NOT muddy up a mix, or make something stand out.



There are 3 main EQ's that are used for the majority of the music you hear.

1. Compression
2. EQ
3. Reverb

Those 3 are the primary ones that you should learn to use.

A fourth, the Limiter, can also be used to advantage in some places. However, if you learn the 3, you can do almost everything you need with them.

Personally, I go light on compression, use EQ judiciously, reverb as needed and rarely use a limiter. Your tracks, straight up raw, should be fairly close to the sound you want before you apply any FX to them. If they are not, you should re-examine what you're doing in the recording process, so that they are closer to the desired end result, up front.

The muddiness in a mix comes from having too many things in the same frequency range and that range tends to be the lower mids into the low range. EQ is your friend here. Using high pass filtering can solve lots of problems in this range.

Last edited by Guitarhacker; 03/22/15 02:18 AM.
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