Recording and Mastering a Demo at home:basics

Step 6: Effects!

Alright, so you've recorded your music, you've made the tone perfect, now you want to add cool effects and trick this out like a car. DON'T! Unless you know exactly what you want, or you're doing techno, subtlety is best with effects.

Chorus: creates tones that are partially off pitch

I hardly use chorus. If i do, it's used on the screaming vocals usually. Like previously stated, be careful. This one is tricky because, while adding a little bit of chorus can broaden a track, just a little too much can annihilate it.

Reverb: holds the notes out longer than actually played

One of the greatest effects, reverb will make a recording feel as if it were recorded in a larger room. However, you don't want to have too much reverb, otherwise it gets muddy. You can use reverb to create darker effects, but only do this after you've experimented for a while.

Harmonized lead:

use reverb on the hard left and hard right tracks, as they are the reflections of the music direct sound.

Rhythm and lead:

Use even less reverb on the hard left and hard right tracks.

Rhythm and Solo

If you're treating the solo as another guitar, you'll want a little on the left and right solo tracks, while you have more reverb on one of the centre tracks. This centre track with reverb will need to be turned down in volume A LOT, because it will get very muddy if you don't.

Lead vocals

use very little reverb. Just enough to broaden the sound a bit. Play it by ear.

Backing vocals

Use a little more reverb than the lead vocals, but less than you would on guitar.

Screaming

use as much reverb as you do on a guitar. It's also good to isolate the last couple miliseconds and give them a stronger reverb.

Delay: repeats a note after played

Use it only for a short time. Never for the entire song. And use it very lightly.

Compression: balances volume for the track

Use compression on almost everything that's direct sound (don't use it on hard left or hard right tracks). However, you want a smooth compressions, so experiment until you find something subtle that brings out the quieter notes without damaging the rest.