Help! Need help mixing! And the EQ!

[MetalDave]

Ok when someone says the guitars sound muddy I say always eq before compression. Muddy isn't something you fix with Compression. Youd just be making the mud more aparent or louder. First try to get a cleaner sound from the start. But mud can only be fixed by eq. Ok some use sonic maximizers but this is just an eq that takes out the guesswork... what have you learned then? As far as attack, compression may be the answer. When compressing you will almost always lose dynamics, so you don't want to over do it as with any effect. All these things can be taken care of at the beginning... when you are recording. A better amp will usually give the attack you want. better pickups would also be a solution. You just can't get a LesPaul Marshall sound for a First act combo from walmart. I don't care if you are Bob Rock, it ain't happen'n. You are way better off skimping on your recording gear than to go cheap with your instruments. I will alway suggest A/B ing the mix with a sound you want to improve on. Take a band whos sound you like and put them on one track. Put the volume up a bit just under clipping. click on the mute then solo button and go back and forth between you and say dream theater or whomever you think you want to emulate. See if you can do better than what you hear. It can be frustrationg but you will more understand once you see what to do to get the sound you are looking for. You will start to see what frequencies do what for each sound and before you know it you are an eq master. before using compression, think to yourself "can this be fixed by turning up the volume or gain"? before adding compression. Compression can and will eventually suck the life out of a good recording. I have heard some examples of this on here. When adding delay or reverb, alway back it off a bit once you find the settings you like. If you can't hear the reverb, this is sometimes a good thing. Take a break and go back and listen to it again later. It will be there and probably too much. I am blabbering this morning... Hope these tips helped you.