Tips for a Mastering Noob?

[wub]

I wanted to know, when would i EVER use a limiter on a track?

when you've got an element that really shouldn't have any dynamics (a pad, really distorted lead, etc), but is moving all over the place-- squash it down.

limiting works great on things where you want to lose the transient and keep the sustain-- ambient drum mic's, effected pianos and guitars, etc.

One of the best descriptions of limiter usage I've seen on here

[Sharmaji]

^ cheers bud

you can use a transient shaper for the 2nd aspect as well-- slow the rate of the attack, increase the rate of the sustain-- but that'll give a different,usually less-effected sound to the element. Sometimes that transparency is what you need. Othertimes, the harmonic distortion and tension of limiting is what you need.

When it comes to things like the emulations of the Fairchild limiter-- when WOULDN'T you want to use it? it makes everything sound huge.