There's lots of advise on the web, and often contradictory.
But the advantage of all that is that you can try it out and see if it works.
If it does, then you go away happy. If it doesn't, then you try out some other method.
However, if yo are relatively new to this, then it's good to start off simply.
* Leave the master output at 0.
* Pull all faders to zero.
* Then bring up percussive and bass sounds first, and get them to play nice together
* Bring up melody lines next (either vocals or lead instruments), and get them sitting nicely
* The bring up other instruments, pads and so on just enough so that they fill ther roles without swamping everything else.
Don't worry about overall level at this stage. orry about the sonic landscape and get that right.
Just make sure you are not getting into the red.
If there is a murkiness about the sound, then yo may have to do some remedial work with EQ, compression and so on.
If your compression isn't working because your sounds are quiet, you may need to adjust its threshold.