I NEED HELP MIXING DOWN AND MASTERING MY TRACKS ON PRO TOOLS 7.0. I DON'T HAVE ANY ADDITIONAL PLUGINS BESIDES WHAT CAME WITH IT. I HAVE A GOOD CONDENSER MICROPHONE AND BOOTH. I'M TRYING TO GET MY MUSIC TO SOUND LIKE IT WAS RECORDED IN A BIG PROFESSIONAL STUDIO AND HAVE THE CLARITY AND PROFESSIONAL SOUUND BUT I DON'T KNOW WHERE TO START. I KNOW A BIT ABOUT MIXING AND MASTERING BUT NOT ENOUGH. CAN SOMEONE TELL ME SOME KEY EFFECTS AND THE PROCESS I HAVE TO DO TO GET MY MUSIC RIGHT?

You're kidding right?

Without hearing what you have so far...it's kinda' hard to give you any specific tips on how to make it better.

Also...mixing is not about just using a lot of plug-ins and FX to get it to sound good.
Your mix should sound pretty good just by bringing up the faders and adjusting the panning.
If it's not...plug-ins and FX won't help much.

If you can ask some specific questions about techniques or about any issues you are having....then maybe some specific answers might be available.

Can any of your tracks/mixes be heard anywhere online...?

yea go to http://www.myspace.com/flamemain You can hear some of my mixes there. My main concerns is clarity and what is nessary to get that professional sound. What kind of compressions to use and how much. Basically how do I mix down my rap vocals.

Wow - if this is serious, it is SUCH a big question. It's VERY much like saying "I play football, how do I get so I play as good as the pros?"

Well, years and years of practice is important; you have to make HUNDREDS of decisions in a mix. The final settings of EVERYTHING will be your choices; they will change from one mix to another, so you can't just "learn the settings". Even if you had all the cool gear - you don't yet know how to work it.

It is "an art", not just settings...

o.k. , from the music that you have heard from my website, is there any problems with the mixing of that.

Cut 1. "Dat Broad"..the Vox sounded OK...but just a little low-level and a bit muddy.
Cut 2. "Get Real"...the vox are distorted (is that intentional)?
Cut 3. Middle Fingers"...Vox are OK...but also a little low.
Cut 4. It's Whatever"... Vox sound a bit cluttered.

Maybe you need to check how you are panning and all your levels first?
But overall...nothing really bad.

Any suggestions on how to get rid of muddy or clutterd vox? Is that solved by panning or is there anything additional? I also felt that cut 2 was a bit distorted and this because the beat I was givin contained to much bass I beleive. Is there a way I can correct that as well.

Once you've captured/recorded a distorted signal...ain't a whole lot that can un-distort it. Re-recoding it is the only real option...IMO.

Good Panning will allow you to have a lot of different elements in the mix without them all fighting for the same space. Also, getting the right EQ balance for all those different elements is equally important. If your Vox are deep, male vocals...and you have a lot low end instruments...then they tend to mask each other.
With most lead vocals....I Pan them dead center...and I never have anything else occupying that exact same space. Even with Bass guitar, I'll Pan it just a little off to one side, especially with baritone male vocals.

Muddiness is a result of poor mic technique, where someone "ate the mic" while they were recording, and the proximity effect made the Vox real boomy/muddy...or sometimes the preamp and anything else you do to the signal can make it muddy. Sometimes the room you record in will contribute to that.

With already recorded muddy vocals...you can scoop out a little of the low mids (for male vocals, somewhere around 200Hz-400Hz)...and add a touch of mid-highs for clarity/crispness (around 4kHz-6kHz...just watch the SSSSSS-sibilance around 6kHz-8kHz).
When you record vocals...have the singer step back a good 12"-18" away from the mic...and just bump up the gain a little on the pre if you need more signal. That will keep the vocal more balanced sounding...but sometimes it also depends on the mic you are using, as some will be a bit muddy…which is why you always want to have at least one high-end mic in your arsenal.

For spoken Rap…maybe something like an announcers/radio mic would work well (Electrovoice RE20)…?

http://www.zzounds.com/item--ELVRE20

Learn proper gain staging. Find the 0dbu reference of your converters, and target that as your nominal record and mix levels. This is the biggest single mistake new engineers make, driving levels far too hot coming in and going out. Typciall ADDA converters are in the realm of +28dbu @ 0dbfs, at or beyond the capabilities of most analog gear.

What is your mic? Do you have work hard to get it to sound like you want? Some mics "get" you a sound automatically, a cool sound or not, but try some out if you can. It will help a lot.

What is your mic? Do you have work hard to get it to sound like you want? Some mics "get" you a sound automatically, a cool sound or not, but try some out if you can. It will help a lot.

Mics do not "get you a sound automatically". Choosing the right mic for the application is how you get the right sound.