Best way to start your mix from scratch?

If they are all full-length stems, then yes, that's what I do.
 
If there are clips that start a way into the song, this is what I do:
First trim them (destructive) then slip edit the start all the way to the beginning of the song.
Now bounce that down to a fresh track and the beginning will be pure silence.
After you have done this to all your tracks, remove the old tracks and save the entire project to a new directory.
The files in the Audio subfolder of your new project folder will now only contain the tracks starting from the beginning, making lining up much easier.

magik570
At this point I am thinking may be I should export all dry tracks and import in a new project and start fresh. Is that what you would do?

That's what I do. It can be a bit of a pain in the balls if you are dealing with "comped" clips but in a lot of ways getting rid of the "comp" factor is mentally cleansing so you can start raw. That of course would require you are happy with your editing which is another subject. 
I did this very recently on a totally chaotic set of tracks recorded/edited before I knew how to work with Sonar. Essentially a bunch clips spread out over a bunch of tracks, cloned, doubled, things recorded into those clones that were (and weren't need)... total mess.
 
I went through and figured out EXACTLY which clips/parts were needed (and not clones) and cobbled together more intelligent tracks (so two rhythm guit tracks, one bass, one drum and then a logical set of tracks for leads).
 
I disabled the PC and FX bin on everything (I did this manually one track at a time but you can disable everything in a project using the MixModule in the ControlBar or I think the keybinding is E... not sure if that disables PC stuff as well)
 
Then on the dry tracks I set levels so they were peaking around -12db (I do this on dry exports to leave enough headroom for effects later on... might require normalization or automation). I'm not sure if that's the right way to go but it works for me.
 
Export the dry TRACKS (not the busses... you gotta set that up in the Export dialog) then set up new tracks for each in the new project then import the clips into the appropriate tracks (I don't just import and let Sonar do it automagically). I actually created a "Temp" folder in my Cake Content folder for stuff like this so I can just drag the clips in from the Browser if I want right into the tracks (instead of using the File > Import thing every time... that saves a little hassle).
 
You just gotta make sure when you export your tracks that you have your timeline set at the start of the project (00:00:00) so all the clips can just be butted up against the start of the new project (or if you left too much silence at the start of the original project you can export from further down the Timeline but you gotta use the SAME spot each time... so everything gets exported from measure 2 or 3 or whatever with no deviations... but you can just snip and move in the new project anyway so it's not hard to remove start silence).
 
That of course exports silence in between clips as well which adds to the size of the files but I prefer to start with project length clips anyway and I can slice and dice afterward instead of mucking around with timestamp bullpizzle.
 
If you have MIDI files you want to use/route to new synths in the new project click on the MIDI clip and add a single note at the very first beat of the very first measure. That note will make the clip extend to the start of the project so you can drag it intot he new project and just butt it up to the start of the timeline just like you dod with the audio. You can delete the note afterward in the new project. Then just drag and drop the MIDI clip into a Browser folder (for example like my "Temp" folder in the Cake Content) and then in the new project set up a new MIDI track and drag that file into it (butting it up against the start of the project). Route it to whatever synth and audio outputs you want or drag it into multiple MIDI track setups to try it out on different synths until you find something you like (then delete the rest).
 
Of course you can just disable all effects in your current project but my tracking/creation projects are super chaotic and jammed with takes. Once I get my editing done I find it a LOT easier to deal with mix stuff in a totally clean project with just the final (post editing) files. Also frees up a ton of computer resources (Sonar doesn't have to constantly anticipate you calling up files you have no intention of using) so you can go more nuts with the effects without dropouts/glitches. Gets rid of any potential project corruption/gremlins your tracking/editing file may have picked up as you worked (my projects get less and less stable as time goes on so a fresh start gets rid of that crap).
 
Just how I do it... I'm not a pro engineer.
 
Cheers.

noynekker
I haven't found the magic reset button when a mix goes poorly.

 
Agreed, I think if a song refuses to mix itself, it's trying to tell you something. 
 

Exporting and Importing into a new project seems like trying to start the painting all over again

 
Tweet-worthy!! And it's even under 140 characters 
 

I always start with drums and bass and work from there. BTW, here's a tip for you! If you're working on a track with a drummer and some latin percussion, I have found that unless there is a break in the song for the percussion instruments you may as well dump any shaker sounds if there is a lot of hihat. I have yet to be on a recording date that shakers didn't get dumped because they either get lost in the mix or it confuses the way you hear the hihat. Just one less instrument to deal with. When I say shakers, I am referring to the egg shaped, maracas can cut thru the mix pretty good and tube shakers SOMETIMES work better but those eggs get lost really quick in a dense mix.

Sidroe
If you're working on a track with a drummer and some latin percussion, I have found that unless there is a break in the song for the percussion instruments you may as well dump any shaker sounds if there is a lot of hihat.

Have you considered panning the shaker to the opposite side relative to the hats? I mean, you can get some really cool syncopations going between those two cats. 

 
The complexities that are involved in creating a satisfying mix of a musical performance be it a song , a mix for release or any other purpose the mix is gonna serve can have a staggering amount of decisions that need to be made during each and every step of the process 
 
For myself personally , I choose not to ascribe to the self limiting concept of Right or Wrong . 
 
An alternative  mental concept that opens doors and has no hint of limitation for me is , 
 
What is an effective production workflow value ? Is this production value something that already exists ? 
Who here on the Cakewalk forum (or anyplace else ) is putting it out there for people to learn ? 
Can I learn how to do it ?  Will this new information serve the music I'm looking to express and capture ?  
 
The flip side of the coin involves a lot of humility and self honesty …. 
 
What am I doing now that I could be doing a lot better ? Am I doing it this way because I am just being lazy ? 
Has holding on to an older production workflow that may have worked in the past given me the results I am looking to accomplish today in my music  ?
Can I accept that this way no longer works for me and be OK with it ?
Can I give myself a break and accept that it is time to open myself up to learn new ways of doing things?
 
For the sake of brevity, I will stop there with the soul searching and questions   
 
By going there, my primary goal is to create the spark that Ignites my Creativity and guides that creative energy into a positive flow and movement of energy .
A positive movement of energy always brings new growth with it .
A negative movement of energy will also bring new growth .(once the lesson it came to bring has been learned and overcome .) 
A secondary benefit of the new growth and flow is that it brings with it the transmutation and availability of all the negative energy that was once put on hold in limbo while trying to maintain the status quo of non movement and stagnation ….
 
This energy that was once dormant has now become unlocked and available to use . 
 
Feel free to question my Ideas and concepts .
I can assure you that this indeed does apply to music production , mixing and many other art forms and creative pursuits people engage in for that matter .
 
Absolute creative expression ,  even in it's most basic elemental form knows no boundaries   unless we choose to put them there 
 
 
Kenny