Here are examples of what I would do if someone sent me a track for mixing and/or mastering, whether they had multiple stems or just one. With these examples, the edits made could have involved compression, limiting, noise gating, transient shaping, volume adjustments, EQ, and/or reverb/delay application.
- timaeus222 ~ Crystal Gradient (Before)
Jazz, Ambient, Orchestral
This is before full mixing and mastering. The cinematic drums were too distant and weak and the piano sounded mechanical because of its dryness. Some elements were also too wide and taking up more of the stereo field than necessary (this is not obvious).
- timaeus222 ~ Crystal Gradient (After)
Jazz, Ambient, Orchestral
This is after full mixing and mastering. The cinematic drums are way more impactful and powerful. Unnecessarily wide elements were partially summed to mono to save stereo field space (subtle), while the pads are now more intimate (closer to the listener). The overall piece is now much tighter.
- Mak Eightman ~ Amputate Your Metal (Before)
Metal, Orchestral
This is before stem mixing and mastering. Basically, the bass is muddy and the drums aren't as impactful as they imply that they want to be.
- Mak Eightman ~ Amputate Your Metal (After)
Metal, Orchestral
This is after stem mixing and mastering. Now, the bass is more evened out, the guitar has some low-mids scooping to keep it from getting too heavy, and the drums are impactful enough to show dynamic contrast.
- Nostalvania ~ Silence of the Daylight (Before)
Jazz, Piano
This is before one-stem mastering. The piano sounds just a bit dry and was a bit light on the low end.
- Nostalvania ~ Silence of the Daylight (After)
Jazz, Piano
This is after one-stem mastering. Now, the piano has some great ambience and some warm low end to accommodate that left hand.
- Chiwalker ~ Monstawrs (in da castle) (Before)
Neurofunk, Industrial
This is before stem mixing and mastering. The objective volume is kind of quiet. The bass could be fatter, the melody and chordal elements were kind of buried, the snare is relatively tame, and the kick is a bit flabby.
- Chiwalker ~ Monstawrs (in da castle) (After)
Neurofunk, Industrial
This is after stem mixing and mastering. The bass is full, clear, and in-your-face; the melody and chordal elements are more upfront, the snare is now very snappy, and the kick is tight and punchy.
- jnWake ~ Chemical Fusion (Before)
Jazz Fusion, Funk
This is before one-stem mastering. The mixing was already good.
- jnWake ~ Chemical Fusion (After)
Jazz Fusion, Funk
This is after one-stem mastering. Although the mixing was good as it was, after I added some EQ and parallel compression, a more cohesive mix came together that emphasized the e. piano and drum transients.
- timaeus222 ~ Smooth Surfing (Before)
Drum & Bass, Atmospheric
This is before one-stem mastering. The bass (and other elements, more subtly) feels uneven in volume, and the kick is OK, but not very tight.
- timaeus222 ~ Smooth Surfing (After)
Drum & Bass, Atmospheric
This is after one-stem mastering. The bass (and the overall volume) is more even now, and the kick is noticeably stronger. The drop at 0:22 makes it evident that the parallel compression on the Master track on this ReMix made not only the entire mix punchier, but the levels more evened out.