Since I can't let anyone hear anything until The Lionheart is finally
released, instead you can check out my final mix notes for "The
Porpentine" which is being mixed by Grammy award-winning engineer Neil
Citron, who is a raging genius and maybe you'll get a sense of the
utter ridiculousness of the piece. :)



After this piece is mixed, the entire album will be mastered and...it's...done.



***



Hey Neil,



At long last I managed to sit down for a few hours and really go over
the "all-in" mix of "The Porpentine" with a fine tooth comb. If for
some reason you think any of these suggestions are unfeasible or bad
for any reason, let me know! This is a team effort after all. :)



And without further ado, here are all my nitpicky adjustments:



0:21 - 0:28 - 2nd violins louder (I'm trying to bring out the notes F - Eb - Db)



1:12 - 1:32 - piano louder



1:10 - the french horn is slightly late, should match oboe



1:04 - 1:32 - please make the french horn and oboe slightly quieter and
the flute and clarinet slightly louder so that all the instruments match



2:05 - 2:34 - please make the piano louder. the balance is really good
starting @ 2:35 when I switch to the higher register so it just needs
to come up in the beginning of the solo.



3:01 - the piano isn't in time w/the vibraphone and guitar so switch to
the Gigasampled piano here or just take it out (the 16th note part, we
need the LH chords)



3:10 - 3:26 - please bring the violins down



3:35 - 3:59 - SO HOT! YEE HAW!



4:00 - 5:01 - Genius! There's so much happening and I can clearly hear every note of every track. Great job!



5:02 - 5:14 - Bring down the violins and bring up the trumpets, please.



5:30 - 5:44 - Please bring down the violins and bring up the flute, oboe, and clarinet (which should sound like a trio).



5:14 - 5:30 - The piano isn't in time w/the vibraphone & guitar.
Fix it if you can or switch to the Gigasampled piano. I know. I'm
fired. :P



5:45 - That downbeat is awkward due to the sudden tempo change. Ideas?



5:45 - 6:35 - The low strings can be brought down, please.



6:08 - 6:35 - The vibraphone can be brought down just a tad and the
electric guitar playing the 16th note run from Hell can be brought up a
little bit. Spilsbury earned the right to shine here. :)



6:35 - 7:07 - The strings can be brought down here in favor of the trumpets, flute, oboe, and clarinet.



7:11 - 7:39 - Hilarious! Saint-Saens would be proud. :)



7:55 - 8:10 - the piano can come up slightly, the tenor & baritone
saxophones can come down some (in fact, if we simply deleted them here,
do you think it would open up the orchestration? Lemme know!), the
french horn can come up a lot, the alto sax can come up some, the
electric guitar can come down a little.



8:11 - 8:31 - strings can come way down and the trumpets, trombones,
and french horns can come way up. It should sound like the brasses of
Heaven itself have opened up the Moon's Road to personally escort the
listener to the Brightly Shining Sea with preference given to those
instruments w/the F - G - F - G - Ab - G, etc. melody. Feel free to
change the panning around to achieve this effect if you think it will
help. Also, if Spilsbury is still playing the melody on the electric
guitar here, feel free to let him soar over the top of that, especially
if it'll put a smile on Steve's face. :)



8:35 - 8:50 - I think the fade out works but it goes too far as it
should feel like the sections directly segue as opposed to an ending
and a second track.



8:51 - 9:18 - Nice, nice, very nice!



9:19 - 9:29 - Jen's cello can come up a little here, bringing out the middle line of the harmony just slightly.



9:30 - 9:35 - The strings can come down, the oboe can come down
slightly to balance w/the flute & clarinet better, and the electric
guitar can come up slightly.



9:36 - 10:11 - The woodwinds should be slightly more present. The oboe
is louder than the flute & clarinet but should have equal weight.



10:01 - 10:11 - the saxophones can be a little louder here (especially
the alto which I think is highlighting the minor/major shifts) and the
strings can come down slightly to compensate if necessary.



10:12 - 10:50 - the harp can come down a little, the rolled guitar
chords can come up, the woodwinds can come up (and the strings can come
down to compensate), the oboe @ 10:34 - 10:37 can come up. Sounds like
the piano got doubled @ 10:34 - 10:42, but it sounds really cool, so
let's keep it! Happy accident! ^_^



10:59 - 11:15 - the tuba can come up here



11:15 - 12:35 - the flute can come up as well as the woodblocks making
the "tick-tock" noises as time runs our for the Land which is hurtling
towards its inevitable destruction.



11:24 - If Craig Bunch's scream can be made louder it should be, but if
it's too complicated to do, don't worry about it. We'll find out who's
really listening closely and who isn't. :)



11:27 - The piano is like a 32nd note early on the G. My bad.



11:48 - 12:35 - as instruments switch from doing the cuckoos to the
augmented chord riff, the instruments that remain on the cuckoos should
come up. The muted trumpets always play the cuckoos.



12:51 - And Alexander Scriabin's Mystic chord is finally used to bring about the end of a world! Goodbye, world!



14:08 - 14:27 - the guitar playing the chords can be brought up very slightly.



14:27 - someone is way out of tune, either in the french horn or one of
the trombones. If it's not easy to correct, just cut the notes out.



14:52 - the cello is playing on 2-3-4-5-1 in the first bar of the 5/8
instead of 1-2-3-4-5, so she needs to come back an 8th note.



15:13 - 15:16 - the trumpets should be in these two bars (where the
drums kick in in earnest) instead of the two bars @ 15:17 - 15:20.



PHEW! I THINK THAT'S IT! WE'RE ALMOST THERE! WOOOOOO!



Many, many, many thanks, and feel free to call me anytime with any questions,



Chris



P.S. Upon listening again, somewhere along the line I think we lost the chimes....