What is mud, in production terms, exactly?

[Streak2010]

I really don't know what muddy audio is supposed to sound like. Apparently it occurs in the lower-mid frequencies, but I never really notice anything.

Can someone post maybe a youtube clip of a muddy mix or something? I mean I see all these people panicking over cutting certain frequencies which could lead to mud. I just don't get it.

[ZenPunkHippy]

"Muddy" is the loss of definition of independent elements within a mix, usually caused by overlapping frequencies. When you can no longer clearly hear or identify each part, the mix is mud.

There are lots of different ways to fix muddy mixes: choosing different sounds, moving notes to a different octave or forward / back in time (if appropriate for the track), using EQ / filters to remove the clashing frequencies from one or more parts, reducing effects that are causing a build up of overlapping frequencies.

Peace,
Andy.

[Happy Frog]

I was wondering can adjusting volumes do this as well, or does that do nothing to the frequence, I am trying to learn this too and hope that is not to basic of a question.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

As said, mud is a lack of clarity that occurs when too many different elements possess too many of the same frequencies. It tends to occur in the low mids probably because just about every instrument (aside from cymbals) have prominent amounts of frequencies in that range. Think of it: kick, toms, snare, bass, piano, guitars, vocals, etc., all have lots of energy in that range.

The solution is to make room for instruments that require certain frequencies to sound good (bass, kick, vocals) by shaving off those frequencies from instruments where they aren't as critical (piano, guitars, snare). Aside from doing what you can to avoid this with volume and pan, resolving this problem is usually accomplished via some combination of hipass filtering, shelving, and the use of bell curves on parametric EQ's.

[ozmoz2008]

I really don't know what muddy audio is supposed to sound like.

Lack of clarity but also lack of definition in the sound. Often in the low mid too much energy will cover up on the rest of some other frequencies and will make the bass sound less define, less punchy. As a good image to recreate this, just put your hand in front of your mouth when you speak and you'll have an example of what a lack of definition will sound like.

There are no miraculous recipes, but good eqs and well balance sounds will help, and above all, good listening skills.

We use to have lots of mid-bass and mud problems in the days because of the overuse of tapes and audio bouncing.

Hope this help a little.

[Streak2010]

I guess I don't really notice this problem much. I high-pass all leads, strings/pads, even bass (not sub bass of course).

[GeorgeZ]

Yup, that's the best way to avoid a muddy mix.

[P.T.]

I tend to look in the 125-300 hz area to see if there are problems.
Very often it is the bass itself that is causing the mud and excessive boominess.

I rarely HP anymore except to remove the stuff in the subharmonic area. I think it causes thin mixes.

I'm of the opinion that the mix should still sound good if the bass stops playing.

[Mac of BIOnighT]

but I never really notice anything.
Can someone post maybe a youtube clip of a muddy mix or something?

From these two lines, I believe your main problem is the way you listen to music, not the way you make it. If you don't listen to music on a good hi fi system or good monitors from a CD or another good source, you will never notice anything at all - actually, you will notice less and less as time goes by. It's like trying to learn what French cuisine is by eating at Mcdonald's.
So - unless this was a wrong assumption on my part - start listening to good sounding material on a good sounding system, then experiment a bit with EQ's and your ears will learn

[ozmoz2008]

- start listening to good sounding material on a good sounding system, then experiment a bit with EQ's and your ears will learn

Good point, I will add that it's also a good thing to have more than one set/style of monitors. Mud is something that will be very obvious in small monitors(I mean shit boxes) when it's there, but hard to correct without the big ones.

Having a sub is also a good idea when you cut, because you may loose interesting stuff without noticing.

[mauseoleum]

A DEFINITION OF MUD:

MUD is the ugly scuzz that prevents the phatness to bless your speakers in the proper way.