You're welcome! I think I've got a better idea now of your situation. Aspie brain dump to follow...
The
EQ Primer is where I learned pretty much everything I know about EQ. Since you don't have reference monitors (I'm assuming), it's good to have multiple options for listening back to your track while fiddling, like speakers vs. headphones, since every playback device has a different frequency response. You want your tracks to sound good no matter where they are played. (Even if you have reference monitors, it's still good to listen on multiple devices!)
It's all the Primer, but to get started with EQ, you can train your ear to hear the different frequencies by taking out bands to hear the difference. For example, if I want to figure out where there's a middle frequency in my piano track that's doing something unpleasant, I'll solo and loop a chunk of it, play it back, add a low-cut EQ (that cuts everything below a certain frequency), and as I'm listening, I'll slowly raise the cut until I no longer hear what was bugging me. So if I get to 600 Hz, and that's where I stop hearing the weird thing I didn't like, I know that that's where that tone is happening. Then I'll go back and apply a peak at 600 Hz (or just below) with a range of 1.3 octaves and set it to -3 dB or -6 dB, or whatever is enough to take down the unpleasantness without compromising the whole sound, and I listen and tweak until I've got it.
As it moves, you can learn to hear what each frequency range sounds like (but try it on multiple speakers/headphones!). The Primer is great because it offers specific direction and shares knowledge that I would never have figured out on my own.
Another handy principle--EQ is generally more about taking out frequencies than adding them. In nature, boosted frequencies don't ever happen, but cut frequencies are very common (like when you put your hands over your ears), and therefore, will sound more "natural".
Low to mid tones tend to build up "mud and cardboard" when you have multiple tracks, and I've found that that's a dead giveaway of an amateur mix. It's one of the reasons I'm not crazy about listening to live bands; typically the bass and mids will dominate the mix with mud because the guitarist and bassist have their amps too loud.
I learned a lesson by reading the CD liner notes of the MC5 album
Back in the USA. The producer, Jon Landau, wanted the "hottest" EQ he could get, so he pushed the engineer to keep taking the low end down further and further. The final product turned out to sound unusually thin and tinny. However, it became an influence on the punk sound later that decade! (I found
this thread where audiophiles are discussing a reissue of the album that restores the bass. The YouTube video that has the
full album sounds like it's this remaster. I'd have to dig up my CD and compare.)
Re: compression... I found this video on YouTube:
(Caveat: I didn't acually watch the whole video; it takes him until 9:00 to start talking about controls, but before that, he says that it's knowledge that makes the difference, and not the gear. There are other tutorials out there, lol.) For vocals, I'll typically start with a 3:1 compression ratio. I like a short attack, like 2 ms, just long enough to not sound clipped, but short enough to not let bursts of amplitude through. The guys on the video can probably explain it better than I could here!
With reverb, I found a basic reverb setting I liked to give my tracks the ambience of a warm room. It adds a nice resonance.
- Original sound - 100% volume
- Reverb mix - between 15%-30% volume
- Set reverb frequency range: low end limit of 80 or 100 HZ to a high end limit of 1.5kHZ.
I find if you don't limit the high-end of the reverb, it gives it a tone I don't like (I don't know a word for it; the Love album
Four Sail is an example of it, especially on the drums). The lows-to-mids boost that good sweet, resonant part of a voice.
Delay is more of a special effect, and it sounds like that's not what you're going for. Sometimes I like a short delay for that rockabilly vocal sound!
There's lots of material out there that's being shared. Google is your friend! I can't vouch for the quality of it, but I know the EQ Primer and Studio Buddy are good.
