Painstaking Process, Part Nine: More mixing

We are really getting close. We have 7 mixes out of 11 total that are in pretty good shape. Gary really is a wizard! Yesterday we had Frank Martin come back into the studio and lay down some synth pads and Rhodes organ on Ave Rara because I felt it was still missing something to make it pull together and really shine in all its beauty (those chords and lyrics by Edu Lobo deserve only the best). Wow! Today we mixed that, pulling out some of the synth where it was too much and some of the background vocals too, fattening up the guitar sound, debating about vocals and vowels and whether lyrics can be understood, editing out percussion where it was excessive and starting to remind me of Goddess of War. The result is breathtaking. I hope I remember this feeling when I am crushed in a day or so under the weight of banality or something worse.