I write and record all of my own music. Every instrument, and I record it all in my basement. No help whatsoever. It's recently dawned on me that the sound quality of some of my music could be a lot better than it is. I want to know if anyone knows how to get a better mix using EQ and compression, and which types of EQ (graphic, visual, parametric) and which types of compression (like multiband compression) to use.

I'm not a noob to audio engineering, I am just not advanced. I wonder if someone else advanced could help me get a better mix on my tracks. Equipment, Shure 58 dynamic microphones, mac book pro computer running Garageband 4.1 (and yes, Garageband can be used for professional quality sound mixes, provided that you master in a program like logic) I'm using an Alesis usb 8 multimix hardware mixer. I am having problems with masking.

Any help would be awesome.