@previewlounge: OK, wow. How to break down a mix. First read this
http://www.amazon.com/Mixing-Audio-Concepts-Practices-Tools/dp/0240520688 
(actually it's my single favorite book on the subject)
All of the mixing took place in Logic, using a motley collection of plugins that I won't mention by name since I don't think it's 100% critical to have "that plugin" to get a particular vibe/sound; by dumping a bunch of names I might give the impression that you'd need this or that to get a particular effect.
kick drum:
* a bit of HP filter starting around 20 hz to scoop out some of the lows for the bassline
* ran it through a hard compressor (20:1 ratio), but only took off about the top 1-2 db.
* played with small time-shift on the recorded part to get it hitting correct in relationship to some of the other hard transient sounds.
* sharp eq dip around 65 hz to get rid of some conflict with the bass. i can really recommend the IIEQ Pro plug-in for this kind of task -- it sounds great and has a nice built-in analyzer. in fact most of the eq work i did on this mix was with the IIEQ.
drum mix:
* not much (beside sends)
snare:
* not much (beside sends)
bassline:
* a bit of medium-ratio compression (4:1), only reducing by around 3 db. medium attack, medium release.
* ran it through a mild "tape-style" saturator
* notched out a boxy part around 300 hz
dub chord motif:
* a bit of high shelf above 2k, down about 3 db to tame the highs
* hp filter at around 60 hz to reduce interference with the kick + bass
* played with time-shifting the track to make it 'sit' properly with the kick and bass.
main melody:
* hp around 300 hz
* mild buss compressor. it's a VCA gain, RMS detector, feed-forward, soft knee setting (ie like the dbx 160). i only hit this for about 2-3 db gain reduction max.
high pops melody:
* mild opto compressor
now, what really made the mix nice was the bus sends:
bus 1: tape delay plug-in
bus 2: digital delay line + mild distortion (reversed stereo image)
bus 3: reverb on a dark hall preset
bus 4: another reverb on a short drum room preset (0.4 s decay)
bus 5: chorus
bus 6: bit reduction and phaser
the delay busses were routed into another aux, which had a compressor added.
the modulation busses were also routed into another aux, also to compress them as a group.
i played around with a bunch of cross-routing and low-level feedback in the busses, eg: bus 1 -> bus 2 -> bus 3 -> bus 1. it's a really nice way to get very organic textures in the reverb / delay bed (similar to sending the rhythm echo to the gatebox on the md).
master channel:
* mild parallel buss compression (only mixed in 20% wet). 4:1 ratio, about 3-6 db gain reduction, slow release. this was to give the sounds a little gel + breath.
* eq with a sharp dip at 68 hz, -2 db to tame some lows
* low shelf eq around 180 hz, -2 db "
* high pass filter at 20 hz to set an overall bottom limit for the track.
* high shelf at 1.5 khz, up 1 db to brighten the mix.
* limiter to take things up to just loud enough, but not squashing more than a few db at the peaks.
Listened to the mix alternately on my monitors, in headphones, and up in my living room setup.
Let me know if that all makes sense. I'm finding mixing with fewer parts in the arrangement makes the whole process much easier.
