if you expect there to be a "quick way" to do something right in mixing, there isn't. i mix all day and even my "quick ways" are the exact same processes as "the long way", just done faster thanks to DP's Window Templates (which go from my Sequencing arrangement to my Mixing arangement in one step rather than 20), quicker interchanges that load the files exactly where and how i want them to, no exporting, etc. so make no mistake about it, there's no shortcut to good quality man. I can mix a track to "good" status in under an hour. But If you knew how long it took to mix a track to perfection you'd be surprised.

for distortion, step the hell back. you should be recording at least 4" away from your mic. recording with your lips on the mic is that made for TV or live performance shit.

and the only program you can get that'll be a substantial improvement to cooledit without being a brainraping program for a beginner is Cubase or Nuendo. i dunno if you can get it free or not, but El Rey did. Audition, Audacity and the like are all in the same hobby grade category and basically a paralell step to cooledit..

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