Too Bright mix from a newbie

[pauli]

This is my personal opinion, also the opinion of many others I'm aware of, but since compressing the mix will subtly (or sometimes not so subtly) alter the internal balance, the compressor on the stereo buss should be put into place very, very early in the mixing process. When you fade the other instruments into the active compressor, you'll also be simultaneously compensating for the way the compressor will affect their levels relative to the mix, and you'll have the ability to apply compression and EQ to each channel to further control its relationship with the compressor. Whereas when you add even a small stereo buss compressor at the end of the mixing process, it can be somewhere between difficult and impossible extract the full benefits of compression without having to go back into the mix and re-process almost everything... better off leaving that to a mastering engineer.

So is it possible that's the source of your reluctance?

If you're overcooking the dynamics, there's one simple thing you can do from the very start of the mix that will help.... turn your monitors up!!! Be smart though and get an SPL meter so that you're not cooking your ears. 80dB is about the highest safe level of extended sound exposure, and that's right in the neighborhood of where most people's hearing is the most linear, so I'll find the monitor setting that meters around 80 dB on a commercial mix and turn the monitors up about 25% louder before I start pushing up faders, and I'll shoot for around 80 dB on the rough balance. Ever since I adopted that strategy, I've not once run out of headroom Give it a shot.