Widen Tricks

1) M/S EQ = Increase the Side Above 5kHz a Little, the Mid and the Side Should have a Coherency of Its Own, also to Clear Out the Middle of the Reverb Signal, Cut Lows and Boost/ Emphasise Highs in Side Channel

2) Use a Elliptical Filter to Put the Low End to the Middle, Often when Frequencies Below 200Hz are Mono you Get a Tighter Mix

3) Not Too Many Stereo Files, i.e. you have to have Mono to Accept Things in Stereo

4) Avoid Frequency Masking

5) Check the Sound from Different Angles, i.e. Most of the Time People will Not Listen from an Ideal Position

6) Use Headphones as Many People Listen Through Headphones Plus you Get an Critical Insight of Wrong Things own the Stereo Domain that are Not Immediately Apparent Through the Loudspeakers

7) Automate the Stereo Position of a Previous Sound, so to Give a New Sound this Stereo Position

8) Sometimes an Autopan Over a Haas Effect can Increase Stereo Width Even More

9) Also Try M/S Compressors, e.g. Compress the Lower Level Passages of the Stereo Component and Make the Width More Apparent and Consistent

10) Also Try M/S Reverbs that Allow to have the Reverb on Either Mid or Side (Instead Stereo Only), i.e. as if you Would Clear Out the Middle of the Reverb Signal

11) Duplicate a Track and Mute Side on 1 Track and the Mid on the Duplicate Track, i.e. you have 2 Instances with Similar Content that you can Freely Design Individually, e.g. Add Reverb on Side Channel and Delay to Mid Channel  (Use a Plugin Such as Track Control or Dualism)

12) When you have Percussive Layers, Boost a Key Frequency on 1 Layer on the Left Hand Side while Cutting the Same on the 2nd Layer and on the Right Hand Side Do the Reverse with the Same Frequency (i.e. Cutting 1 Layer and Boosting 2nd)

13) Some Say, Make Every Track Mono by Favouring Either Left or Right Channel and Discard Other Channel

14) Duplicate a Track, Pan 1 Far Left and 1 Far Right and then Boost/Cut Certain Frequencies on 1 Side while Cutting/Boosting the Corresponding Frequencies on the Other Side

15) in Mastering, Dynamic Manipulations can Enhance the Ambiences, thus the Stereo Width

16) Processors that Enhance Harmonics or Bring Up Ambience in a Track can Increase Perception pf Width/Depth

17) Gentle Side EQuing with a Linear Phase EQ

18) It is Mostly About Panning, but also EQ, Reverb and Timing

19) Don’t be Afraid Pushing Certain Things Hard

20) When you Pan a Mono Sound Hard, Add a Mono Reverb to it but Pan the Reverb Hard the Other Way

21) Pan Law has to be Considered to Get the Sound Mono Compatible, while Default is Often -3dB a Pan Law of -4.5dB or -6dB may be a Better Choice

22) Do Not use Too Many Stereo Tracks as it Makes a Mix Muddy and Unclear, i.e. if Every Track is Stereo, it will Blow Out the Stereo Field and Nothing Sounds Wide, e.g. Make Synths and Pads Mono and Pan them Wide

23) Do Not Double Every Track and Pan it Hard Left and Right, a Mix Does Not have to be Symmetrical

24) Use Only Hard Panning (LCR), Tracks that are Panned in-between the Sides and the Middle can Tale Too Much Space and Make a Mix Seem Narrow

25) Be Sure to Do Something Different to Same Tracks when Panning Hard Left/Right, i.e. the More Different the Sound the Wider 

26) Do Avoid Phase Tricks as it is Just a Temporary Solution and Sounds Bad in Most Environments

27) Do Not Use Too Much Reverb

a) Make Reverbs Subtle

b) Try Different Pre-Delay Settings to Keep the Reverb in the Back

c) EQ you Reverb, i.e. Cut Out Frequencies that Build Up and Cover the Mix

d) Try Delays Instead Reverb