This old joke has been making the rounds with musicians for decades, but its even more relevant today:

“What do you get when you put sh t into a reverb? Reverbed sh t.”

OK – not the best joke ever (lol), but illustrates the foundation for great sounding music:

Your music can sound only as good as your sources allow. 

First thing in the process you shoot yourself in the foot? Not a good look. 

With the range and complexity of effects processing available now, it’s especially easy to get carried away and forget the basics.

Now…

Sometimes you’re unable to rerecord or use a higher quality source.

What to do?

Trying to mask the problem with effects will likely make it worse, and certainly harder to fix.

You’ll only end up with “reverbed sh t”.

Before adding anything, focus on reducing. Deal with the root cause of the problem. Make your audio as clean as possible. 

Subtractive EQ is my first line of defence. A careful approach and attention to detail goes a long way.

It’s worth investing in good editing, analytic and corrective tools. The options most DAWs come with are basic. There are tools now that achieve things that were unthinkable only a few years back.

After you’ve done everything you can to make the source as good as possible, add effects intentionally. Create depth and texture. Bring out the best in your sounds. Make things work together as a cohesive whole.

Here’s the bottom line:

1. Start with carefully curated, high quality sources. 

2. Apply proper corrective techniques where necessary.

3. Use additive effects with intention.

In that order.

That is how you can create beautiful mixes that will stand the test of time.

PS. If you’re looking for a free and supportive community to hang with and help grow your music production skills, you’re welcome to join us at the Resoundsound Discord. You can catch me there most days, along with a bunch of cool people. We just reached 100 members!

Click here to join Resoundsound Discord.