OK, here are my general principles for mixing psytrance, applies to many other dance oriented genres as well, with some exceptions
•mono kick and bass, at least below 200-300Hz. Sometimes I will have stereo fx and width on my bass above this range. make sure your kick and bass aren’t competing with each other in time or frequency content by sidechaining/volume shaping/using syncopation/phase remediation - Mfreeformphase and an oscilloscope can help with this last part
•HP and LP (almost) everything except kickbass. I usually let synths play through from 200-500Hz on the bottom to around 9-11KHz on the high end, sometimes higher if I want the air. percussion like high hats get to ring through on the high end. this helps keep things crisp
•check the mix in mono vs stereo throughout. things can sound very different. make sure your mix sounds good in mono - especially if it’s meant for a big system. I have a dedicated midi trigger set to mono my master channel so I can check this easily and quickly
•anchor your most important elements and mix everything else up around them. I usually anchor my kick around -12 db and my bass around -13db, then snare against those, then lead synths against those… if you can get those 4 elements sounding good together, the mix is a long way towards being decent. mix other elements up to sit well within that framework. I use a lot of maximizers to control peaks at every stage. clippers and limiters can work well here, too. use your ears to make sure you’re not breaking up the sound too much, unless that’s what you’re after.
•minimize competition in the time and frequency domains. this can be done through arrangement, sidechaining, eq, volume automation, etc. be conscious of what parts of the frequency spectrum each element is dominating. eliminate mud and confusion as much as possible. still very much working on this one, lol
• it’s much easier (for me) to focus on a solid mix from the beginning of composition and make improvements as I go, rather than separating out composition from mixing, Other people like to write first and mix later.
•watch your peaks, use the spectrum analyzer religiously. compress, limit, eq, maximize, but keep it clean - unless you want it raw/crunchy/dirty - in which case, things become quite a bit easier
•mix at low volume, checking the mix on all your options for monitoring - headphones, monitors, auxiliary speakers, etc. different problems will become apparent with different listening setups. aim for balance, with the mix sounding as good as it can across different setups. if your mix sounds good at low volume in mono, it will likely sound great at high volume in stereo
I’m sure there’s much more to add, but this is a decent place to start, imo. like any rules (or guidelines/suggestions, in this case) know when to break them creatively