mp3: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ADUQUA ... sp=sharing
First - this is a beautiful tune, well written, arranged, performed and recorded. It was a pleasure and honor to work on this mix. Thank you, Alan, for sharing your tracks!
Most of time I spent on this mix was dedicated to the lead vocal track where I addressed the following:
- Pitch and vibrato - Some of the notes, possibly from previous pitch correction, were completely stripped of any vibrato or pitch variations which sounded somewhat unnatural and attention-grabbing at times. Other notes had a great deal of vibrato that were not always centered on-pitch. I worked to re-generate vibrato where I felt it was needed while reducing those areas where I felt it was excessive.
- Click track bleed, pops, clicks and other noises - The lead vox track had click track bleed running throughout which was, of course, most noticeable during the quiet passages. I first experimented with using Izotope RX to remove the clicks but did not like how it was sometimes cutting into the vocal tails which I was afraid would be audible in the mix. So, instead, I used track automation to manually cut the clicks only where audible in the context of the mix. Same approach was used to control "T's", breaths and some "F's".
- Dynamic range - The dynamic range on this track was very large. Unfortunately, some of the note tails were at lower amplitudes than the click track bleed (as stated above). Compression used to control the track dynamics also brought up the click track bleed which required careful automation adjustments. Typically a track like this would be a good candidate for "parallel compression" but that approach has a side effect in that the compression is most audible at low signal levels. In this song the lowest vocal signal levels occur where instrumentation is the sparsest making the compression more noticeable. So I chose not to use parallel compression. Instead I used traditional "top down" compression which has most effect (and side effects) at high signal levels. Since the instrumentation is most complex at these higher levels it helps to conceal the compression. I used two compressors in series: an opto-style to control the macrodynamics followed by a VCA style to control the faster transients. Gain riding for the mix was provided with automation.
- Those "esses"! - The track had A LOT of "esses" that were exaggerated by the large amount of compression I used (a typical side effect). I tried a few different de-esser plugins but did not care for the results, so I went with the tried and true method of note-by-note automation (see attached screenshot).
Choir tracks - I grouped the choir tracks by type (Alto, Soprano, kids, etc.) and sent each group to its own bus where I applied panning and EQ. No compression was used on any of these tracks as I felt the dynamics were great as recorded. I used just a tad of EQ to add some "air" and roll off the low end where necessary. The vocals were panned per common choir positioning (tenors center, alto/soprano left/right). I applied a long hall reverb with rolled off highs for the big cathedral sound. Automation was used on each group to bring the tracks into the mix at what I felt were the appropriate levels.
Tubular bells - Even though bells consist of many non-harmonically related overtones the opening hit of the bell in the intro sounded flat to the piano. To tighten this up a bit I offset the track by +22 cents (using Elastique "time and format setting") to better align the bells with the piano. I used clip gain on this track to control mix levels as appropriate.
Piano - I used slight EQ dip at 550Hz to reduce the "honkiness", added a bit of boost at 80Hz for more "beef" then high passed at 45Hz to remove any thumping from pedals/keys.
String tracks - Sounded great as-is. I added a bit of EQ bump at 2kHz only to the staccato track to make it bite a little more but left the other string tracks as recorded. I used volume automation on these tracks to bring them up/down in the mix as I felt appropriate.
Organ. This track was a major player in the overall power of the song. I brought up the bass end with a massive 11dB low shelf boost at 125 Hz and rolled off some of the highs to reduce the brightness where at times seemed a bit too shrill. Both EQ and volume were automated on this track. I also used a stereo widener to expand the soundstage.
Glock - I used a limiter on this track to control the transients and produce a more consistent level. Automation was used to bring it up/down in the mix as I felt appropriate.
Master output - No compression or limiting was used on the 2-bus, only a very wide EQ dip at around 800Hz to even out the spectrum a bit. I wanted to maintain the full dynamic range that this recording deserves. If I were to master this track I would apply a peak limiter to nick off the peaks and that's about all.
BONUS:
overall this is was difficult for me.