A Question About Fader Balancing

Hello Everyone, so my question is about balancing all the sounds in your mix once channel stripping is completed. I have the understanding that everything must be balanced to the Kick, that being said my question is does that mean that no element can be louder then the kick in regards to peak level? If my kick is at -9dB can my for example strings or in fact any other element be louder then that, like say -8dB or -7dB? Or do the other elements need to be below whatever level my kick is at? I was curious because I figure once I sidechain with the kick it will still punch through those other elements but was interested in some opinions about the matter.

It all depends on the style of music, generally in dance music we are balancing to the kick drum. That does not necessarily mean no sounds can be louder than the kick drum, it means you balance your mix to sound uniform/cohesive to the kick, which of course is king!

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Got it! Awesome Thanks!