Compression (depending on genre and feel) - I normally use light compression with most of my tunes, though in techno music these days it leans to a more heavier compression (from what I've heard).
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Stereo enhancing - Just general Stereo seperation to widen the mix of all your instruments so it doesn't sound too crowded. Along with that, panning your seperate instruments works a treat too ;).
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A global EQ at the end, maybe as a bass boost or a treble booster - something small to just give the tune that little bit more umph :]. . .
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That's what I do anyways, hope that helped ^__^__^.
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Comments
Those are some pretty solid tips, thanks for the comment!
Stereo, Phase and Spectrum Imaging is a must to weed out the weak points in your music per genre, followed by tweaking of mix or plugins to remedy the problems. I use Sonalksis Stereo Tools for the imaging and to fix Stereo width problems, then slam the frequencies into place with a Sonalksis Multi-Limit and finish it all off with a Sony Oxford Dynamics plug for a bit of warmth and final brickwall limiting. Before all of that, though, I will use a 7, 11, or even 32 band EQ, depending on the EQ problems I am hearing or seeing. I like to solo bands in trouble areas, like the chorus where there is a wall of sound, and then tweak individual bands based on what types of issues I am fixing. That's my general track pre-master.
As for totally mastering a recording, ie. a series of tracks to be compiled into an album or other cohesive media, it's all about balancing EQ, perceived Volume, and album layout & progression. That's mostly a per album type of thing as opposed to one over-arching method.
Alot of what engineers and producers do is based on personal preference, genre, and personal choice. Your submissions here mostly sit in the Electronic music macro-genre, so your emphasis should rest on bass, treble and tempo meshing for a master of an album, as those three things dictate the flow of most electronic music. If you were to master for Classical or Contemporary Orchestral, your emphasis would be on clarity of mix, compositional progression and Dynamics of each composition. I predominantly produce Hip-Hop, so I concentrate on bass strength & clarity, vocal mixing, and tempo or subject matter for a master.
That's some very in depth information, thanks for all of it. What I'm mostly looking at right now is mastering of individual tracks as opposed to an entire compilation, so the first and third paragraphs were most helpful to me. Sent a quick follow-up query via PM for clarification of one point :)
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