Final balancing work on the album, though I can't proof it, or even listen to it properly, as I still can't hear properly, and may not be able to for some weeks.
The biggest tips I can give for audio balancing or mastering are:
1. High pass filter (bass-cut) almost everything to some extent, because a natural mix will tend towards pink noise (far too much bass) and we want to turn it white. Apart from this I almost never boost or EQ anything, unless I want a special effect to that end.
2. Use ears and judgement to mix all mid range frequencies: the vocals, piano, guitars, all main instruments that form the melody. This is based on a feeling of balance, a feeling; but for bass levels (and probably high frequencies too) use a spectrograph/tools to balance. The difference between 50% lower or higher bass is huge in a mix, but it's hard to hear this because ears aren't sensitive enough to volume levels at these frequencies.
