We want out mix to have maximum punch and yet maintain dynamics... so...... why not?
Every track, PLUS the entire mix, and at the mastering stage!!
Pros? Cons? Does this sound totally nuts?

Sometimes things sound good in the distance of the soundstage, especially in quiet passages.
 

Check out my post at   http://forum.cakewalk.com...901.aspx#3041655 
I talk about that...
Jason216

Parallel compression is fairly common these days.  It's so easy to do in Sonar, and I think many people are willing to give it a try.  It's not always necessary, but it can solve a number of problems in a mix if used properly.

bandso
We want out mix to have maximum punch and yet maintain dynamics... so...... why not?
Every track, PLUS the entire mix, and at the mastering stage!!
Pros? Cons? Does this sound totally nuts?

Try it and you will find out. To mix a song so it has the most powerful punch and sound as humanly possible, parallel compressing every single track will not do it. There are many other factors that you need to take into account.
 
CJ

I'll use parallel on drums-2bus, mastering plus & material with quiet passages.
(along with upward compression) but not for general instrument audio processing or tracking.

Processing tools are there to solve specific issues.
IOW, Don't use them simply because they're available.  
 
This is a mistake that many local (live engineers) make with the new breed of digital consoles.
Just because EQ and Dynamics are available on every channel/bus... doesn't mean it should always be used.
 
What does the track (individual or mix) need?  Process as required.

You might as well ask why we don't turn every element of the mix up to maximum volume, why we don't add distortion to everything, why we don't add reverb to the bass, why we don't give everything maximum stereo width.

This was more of a joke post than anything. It's just funny that many of the tutorials that I've seen recently seem to put it all over the place but not all at the same time. Bass, vocals, snare, drum buss, overheads, guitars, acoustic guitars, you name it, can benefit from this. You hear catch phrases like, keep the dynamic transients-smash the room and it'll sound much better punchier, more professional, and polished.

A lot of it depends on how much compression you use. Sometimes I like smashing the drums to bring up the room sounds, but then it makes the drums sound awful. Bringing in the dry signal can restore balance to the Force while having lots of room sound.
 
OTOH for vocals I compress by voice a lot, but don't add in dry signal. Ditto bass, unless I really need the pick transients for definition. In that case, setting a longer attack time on the compressor is often a better option, because I only want more initial transient, not more dry bass.