To be more specific, if i was to use one of my tracks in a club, how should it be mastered versus a track that is mastered for headphones? And is it possible to master a track to sound good in most listening environments? (apologies if there is relevant info elsewhere, 4am thoughts over here)
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Thank you all for the advice.
I will definitely be applying this in future tracks.
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I heard it should help to compare you track with commercially produced songs of the same genre to get a feeling what sounds "right".
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Yo, so (im not an expert on this stuff by any means), but the point of mastering a track is to make it sound good across ALL systems and platforms. So its sounds as good through Spotify as it does through a club's PA system. Mastering also entails making a track sound a bit more full (usually just by clever compression, limiting and EQ), resulting in a louder, and subjectively 'better' track (see; Fletcher Munson Curve), link here > (link is only visible to registered users)
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As a rule of thumb, you shouldn't mix/master a track to sound good through only one system (headphones, for instance). Remember that the odds that someone is listening to your track on the same system and setup as you is minimal, so you have to go through measures to make sure its compatible with as many systems as possbible (see; Reference Tests), and is mono-compatible, as a huge chunk of playback systems rely on mono speakers (phones, tablets, some laptop speakers etc). Just put a utility on your master, in this case the Stereo Enhancer, and engage it every so often to make sure what youre making sounds good in mono, link here > (link is only visible to registered users)
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An easy way to tell if a track has been mixed exclusively on headphones or speakers is the lack of content on either side of the spectrum (headphone mixes tend to have more bass and less highs, and vice versa). As mentioned earlier, taking your music through reference tests is vital, play it through as many systems as you can to make sure it sounds consistent across all of them and you'll start to get an idea of what carries through the most across different systems and what needs prioritising, link here > (link is only visible to registered users)
If you are really motivated, I'd say to make a "Studio" version of your tracks, and a "Live" version. Studio version has a lot more editing, effects, stereo. For the club version, simplify and clean up the beat. Try to keep everything centered in the middle, almost mono. For example, in club version you wouldn't want two sounds panned hard and left.
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Though, I guess this method mostly applies if you are going to be playing your own tracks.