OK, a little background.  I've been involved in recording to some degree for 40 years, but I've never been a "recording engineer" per se.  I have a layman's understanding of most of the key concepts, but not the hands-on experience that produces great recordings.
 
Obviously technology has changed enormously with the move to DAW-based recording, mixing, and mastering.  recently I have had enough free time to work my way up the learning curve.  I think I now understand most of what is functionally possible within SONAR.  That is quite impressive, of course.  But to some degree the explosion of options can be the enemy of good sound.  The SONAR projects I have undertaken so far are more about practicing the functions than actually getting the best audio result.  I have been happy with the results, but I have the feeling that I have created too much mud in the tracks by using effects more actively than I should.
 
I am wondering if anybody has seen what is, essentially, a compendium of best practices for working with DAWs.  I am looking for rules of thumb such as:
 

• When is it better to group on buses and apply effects as a group versus effects on individual channels?
• What effects are better on the master bus rather than individual channels?
• How can you keep the sound clean?  How much reverb to use?  Use reverb on all voices or just some? Use the same reverb throughout the mix or mix different reverb effects on different instruments?
• Strategies for compression
• Ways to bring out important voices without making them louder (chorusing, flanging)?
• etc

Does this make any sense?

These questions pertain to mixing music as a whole and there are countless books and whole colleges dedicated to the study of how to do it right. There is no substitute for listening and playing.

Try "Mixing Secrets" by Mike Senior. It's an awesome book. 

sharke
Try "Mixing Secrets" by Mike Senior. It's an awesome book. 

Thanks.  I've ordered it.  The outline seems like exactly what I'm looking for.
There have been other comments on this forum indicating that a lot of professional studios are going out of business.  It is obvious to me that a "serious hobbyist" really can do some very high quality work with DAWs and fairly economical audio interfaces.  But the technology can also make a real mess of the sound if not used wisely.  Knowledge really is the key thing.

Experience through a combination of knowledge, experimentation, failures, successes, tools, and an appropriate mind set, are a lifelong pursuit, in just about any field.
 
Music production, particularly, is all of the above, as a melding of both art and science, and also quite subjective.
 
Ordering books and looking for tips is all part of the process - in a good way - so keep at it, and try to learn something from all that you do.
 
There is also a giant load of really bad music out there, created and produced by inexperienced and untrained folks.
 
Do your best and you will find some measure of success and satisfaction in life.
 
Bob Bone

I would suggest "Mixing Audio: Concepts, Practices and Tools" by Roey Izhaki. This book is very in depth. It has helped me tremendously.

robert_e_bone
Do your best and you will find some measure of success and satisfaction in life. Bob Bone

Well said.

Try "Mixing Secrets" by Mike Senior. It's an awesome book.

 

I would suggest "Mixing Audio: Concepts, Practices and Tools" by Roey Izhaki. This book is very in depth. It has helped me tremendously.

 
I have both and thoroughly recommend each of them.
 
Add to that Scott Garrigus's Sonar Power X2 and you don't really need anything else, maybe Bob Katz's "mastering audio"

Mixing Secrets is a good book, I have it myself..... however, a book only takes you so far. By all means, read, study and grow in the technical knowledge obtained from books and reading.
 
The best way to grow is to build on the 40 years of experience you do have.... at whatever level that is.... is to jump in and start working on it and applying it. How fast you progress is totally up to you.
 
Record your stuff and post it on the songs forum and ask specifically for mixing and engineering advice based on what you did to the recording. We have people here with really good ears and most of them can tell you what they are hearing, and how you can correct and improve the process on your end.....and they don't mind sharing that knowledge with others.
 
Using the Songs Forum as your sounding board, you should see improvement as you apply the lessons learned.

robert_e_bone
There is also a giant load of really bad music out there, created and produced by inexperienced and untrained folks.

I think that is part of the problem. There are probably more bad examples than good examples.
 
The same thing is true of music notation software and arranging.  Music notation doesn't make a person a better arranger.  In some ways, it brings out the worst -- or it gives a less capable arranger an opportunity to produce something that appears on the surface to be a lot like the work of the best arrangers.  If one visits some of the sites where people upload their arrangements (and I am particularly sensitive to big band arrangements), the normal situation is that 90% are WAAAAAAAAY too cluttered.  The notation software doesn't ever tell you to stop adding notes.
 
And likewise, the DAW software doesn't ever tell you to stop adding effects.  Well, at least the DAW software TRIES to warn us by having dropouts when we really go over the top.  :)
 
Part of the problem is that most of the effects are additive (reverb, chorusing, surround, etc.)  Those are the ones that risk mud.  EQ "can" be subtractive and should be used that way most of the time, to carve out space for more important material.  Compression can be subtractive, but is mostly used as a way to just boost the overall volume.  What I'm saying is that the DAW tools just sit there begging us to add more crap to our mix, when it is often better to be in subtractive mode.