Double-click the desktop icon for the program in which you made your music recording, for example Logic, Cubase or Audacity.
Open the "File" menu and select the relevant "Session."
Click the "S" icon to solo the audio to which the effect is assigned. This enables you to hear just that audio, rather than the whole mix. Any effects problems, such as excessive reverb, will become apparent more readily.
Click on the effects interfaces. The method for doing so varies according to which program you use, but when you solo a track, the assigned effects typically appear in a column to the left.
Click "Bypass" on each effect to hear the audio with and without effect. This will give you an idea of how the effect is modifying the original sound.
Tweak the parameter controls on the effects interface. Set each parameter dial on the effects interface to 50 percent. This provides a moderately intense starting point to begin tweaking. If you have set any of the effects parameters, such as "Depth" or "Rate," to the maximum, this may be why the effects sound bad. It's very rare that any parameter needs to be set to maximum; this typically creates too intense a sound.
Add compression to any affected audio. You typically find the compression effect in the "Dynamics" submenu of the "Effects" menu. Compression tempers the volume profile of a sound by removing any volume spikes. When you add effects such as distortion or delay, this can create volume spikes. Compression brings the lowest and highest parts of an audio recording inside a set of predetermined parameters.
Select the "Noise Gate" tool. The specific location of this tool varies according to which program you use, but you typically select it from the "Gates and Limiters" submenu.
Play each affected recording individually and tweak the noise gate "Threshold" dial to remove any hiss. Each effect adds a little latent noise to the audio. When using multiple effects, this noise intensifies. The noise gate mutes any sound below a certain threshold and only allows sound above a certain volume to reach the output section of the mixer. Set the "Threshold" dial so it cuts out the noise but lets through the audio recording. This technique is especially useful with distortion.