Nice tut, though what you call layering I'm more used to calling grouping. It's certainly a lot easier to get a decent balance in the mixer than by fiddling with the volume controls on the individual instruments.
It's a shame we haven't got pan controls in the mixer...it would be a lot easier to manage the sound stage in there too.
Do you often use effects on the grouped/layered channels ? I can't think of much that I might need at that level except maybe a limiter and even then it's probably better on the track that is causing the problem.
Steve