Mastering Music Tracks - getting my head around it!

Workflow could be viewed thus:

Make (compose)

Methodize (arrrange)

Mix

Master

Market

Effects plugins - use in

--> Making/modifying sound => interesting noises

--> Mixing => interesting track

--> Master => fine-tune

Effect plugins in Making

- insert on sound channel

Effect plugins in Mixing

- use return (from common output [and before master output] to sound channels via send/return system

-- sound channel send --> group effect channel (pre-master) return -->  sound channel --> Master output

--- so can use different plugin effects, to varying degrees amongst sound channels

e.g. one pre-Master return is a compressor, assigned 100% to return A and another per-Master return is an EQ|, assigned 100% to return B --> sound channels can be affected in different proportions by compression plugin and/or EQ plugin before sending their output to the Master output e.g. for sound channel 1 send A is set to 75% and send B to 40%; yet for sound channel 2, nothing is sent to the return plugin for compression (set to 0%), but send to the return plugin for EQ is set to 100% 

Effect plugins in Mastering

- final opportunity to finesse sound output prior to Marketing

Try and get the track as close as you can to what you wanted produced, before Mastering

--> more likely to achieve desired product

--> more scope in Mastering

Essential aims in Mastering --> consistency

--> loud sound (good bang-for-your-buck)

--> character and brightness or clarity of track/s

--> without significant loss of dynamic range (quietest to loudest sounds)

--> without significant distortion (to much low and/or high frequency)

Thou shalt not

- use too much compression --> dynamic range as wide as possible

--> else risk blunted sound

- use too much EQ --> brightness as clear as possible

--> else risk loss of character

- focus all sound around the centre --> keep sounds separated/moving in time (phase) and space (stereo)

--> else risk characterless or boring sound

- avoid complicated movement of sound when applying changes in phase and stereo effect

--> else risk losing sound loudness or other quality as sounds clash