Best way to eq, pan and compress layered sounds

If I recorded different but similar variations of horns or stings, what’s the best way to eq them. I heard it’s good so spread out the eq of layered instruments so that each can have space in the mix, I do have a lot of stereo versions so I split them into mono channels so I can do more with them but I’m not sure if it’s easy to work with them in stereo.

This is a vast vast vast vast… vast vast vast topic. You’re almost asking “How to mix?”

I can give you one tip based on what you said:
If you’re working with horns and strings and other real instruments: If you have control over what instruments are playing and at which ranges (aka arrangement), ta-da: You have done your mixing before you even open up your DAW. Think of a cello playing low notes along with a violin or a horn on a high register: You don’t need to do any EQ’ing because these instruments naturally sit on different frequency spectrums.

Other than that, it’s hard to give generic advice because it’s more about artistic decisions at that point. In general it’s going to be easier to answer when you tell us what problem you’re trying to solve. Is something clashing? Is your piece lacking a sense of space? If you don’t give us more details on what you’re trying to achieve, the best we can do (imo) is to give you generic links to Youtube series on mixing.

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Well I have layers of instruments to make it sound full but the problem is I don’t things clashing, so I’ll try to create lower octaves or something to add more depth

@mrskytown, If you want to learn the basics of mixing this is a fabulous resource: https://www.amazon.com/Mixing-Secrets-Small-Studio-Presents-dp-1138556378/dp/1138556378/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

Placement in a stereo field can also provide a lot of separation. You can have different components stomping all over each other, but spreading out the stereo field can drastically reduce that problem before even touching the EQ.

Thanks ya I came across this as well, I don’t have tons of tracks in my sessions so I probably won’t have many of this issue when I do have this issue it’s definitely best to spread them out and see where things can go as well as adjusting after to spaced them out. Been watching a lot of videos and trial and error

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