"Simple kick drum and bass guitar balancing act: cut a small notch of 80Hz in bass, boost a little 80Hz in Kick. It WORKS."
Finding "room" for different sonic elements is essential to creating a good mix. When instruments compete for the same frequencies, the resulting mix may be muddy and difficult to listen to. This obstacle can frequently be easily remedied by cutting or boosting specific frequencies with an equalizer.
"Before you touch the EQ or compressor knob, make sure your brain knows what you intend to do with it, and how it may enhance the mix."
Compression and EQ are very effective tools when used correctly. If used incorrectly though, a mix can very easily be ruined. As an engineer, the more practice you can get with these tools, the better.
"Vocal not POPPING out of the mix? Copy it, compress it hard, add some upper mids, mix in SUBTLY with original vox."
"Vocal not POPPING out of the mix? Copy it, compress it hard, add some upper mids, mix in SUBTLY with original vox."
Vocals are a tricky animal. There are numerous techniques that can be used to yield desired results. Certainly compression and EQ are critical tools in vocal mixing, as are delay, reverb, and automation. Finding the right mix is of utmost importance, and more often than not should be considered in the context of the composition.