If you are a self-recorded musician, particularly in a home recording studio, here are a few things you should know if your recording sounds like crap.
1. Pre Amp. You need to be using a professional quality pre amp. If you're trying to record vocals or any other instruments for that matter, without a pre amp, you're making a huge mistake and nothing else will turn out right without good audio levels.
2. Compressor. Compression is used on nearly every professional audio recording that exist. A compressor is almost always necessary to control the audio signal. Certain parts of a record may be too high, a compressor will make this less noticeable, a lot less noticeable is used properly.
3. EQ. This is where you get to play with the frequencies and overall tonality of your record. Good EQing will make your record sound like heaven.
So, if if you're looking for your recordings to be more sonically sound, work on mastering those three things before you start with Reverbs, Delays, and Autotune, they are the bread and butter of all professional audio recordings.
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