Audio Effects for Beginners: Processors & Mixing Guide

Learn how to use essential audio effects and processors in mixing to achieve a professional sound step by step.

Audio effects are very important to improve the audio quality and sonic impact of a music production. Current technology gives us access to lots of tools to process audio in different ways: create depth or space in the mix, adjust the pitch or create a different "color" in the sound of musical instruments, vocals, etc.

Brian Eno, the famous producer of U2, David Bowie and Coldplay, said:

"Most audio processors can be used as musical instruments by themselves".

Modern producers must know how audio processors (audio plugins) work in order to shape their sound. There are no hard rules to follow once you know the basic principles. If you know how audio effects operate, you will be able to create your own sound and define your own sonic style!

Audio effects have been an important part of many styles in the history of music recording. Rock, pop, EDM, etc. all of them have "signature" effects that identify them. Many musicians and productions are also identified because of the effects they use. Artists spend a lot of time polishing their sound to create fresh and different sounds in their mixes. This course is the entry point to do that!

In this course you will learn, step by step, how audio processors work and how to apply them. You will learn how to use effects like:

• Delay

• Echo

• Reverb

• Exciters

• Modulation effects

• Tremolo

• Chorus

• Flanger

• Phaser

• And more*

By using these effects effectively, you will be able to:

• Improve the quality of your music mixes

• Create new sounds for any musical style

• Fix tuning problems of singers and musical instruments

• Improve the impact and realism of sounds and recordings

• Create original effects for DJ sets or post-production applications

• Take full advantage of the tools included in your DAW (Ableton Live, Pro Tools, Logic, Cubase, etc.)

The course covers each family of processors from their foundations. So, by the end, you will be able to use any kind of software or hardware audio effect!

Songs produced in a professional studio are carefully polished by using lots of audio processors. The engineer adds little processing here and there to create more dimension, depth, clarity and punch in the music. You can learn how to do this too! By mastering your arsenal of audio effects, you will have the knowledge to sound more professional and differentiate your music from the rest.

This is an ideal course for the music producer, musician, audio editor or engineer that needs a deeper understanding of the available audio effects and tools. The course has been designed to learn in an efficient way, understanding each important concept step-by-step and watching practical examples. You can learn a lot by studying for just 15 minutes a day!

You will be guided by a certified audio instructor, with more than 20 years of teaching experience at all levels, from seminars to college-level classes and a top instructor on Udemy, so academic quality is guaranteed. Join more than 20,000 students worldwide and learn more about audio!

*This course is the ideal complement to the Equalization Techniques and Compression Techniques courses, from the same author.

**También se encuentra disponible una versión en español de este curso.