Mixing duties! I still owe my friend three more mixes. In an earlier post, I had already shared a few seconds from the first track I mixed for him (and in fact co-produced, just like this one).

So here is track #2 of 4...well, the last chorus of it.

I might need to make the vocals stand out a little more, but it's late, my ears are done with and it's a good enough starting point to figure out the last 10% on another day.

This took me about 1 1/2hrs, but the stems were already pre-mixed from an earlier version that I did two years ago. So the loudness balancing was alright and some compression was applied already.

When my friend approached me, saying he wanted to make music again, this was the first track he brought with him. Apparently, the piano track was already a couple of years old by then and he had just finished the lyrics which are quite unsettling.

With the piano track and a raw vocal recording in my rucksack, I started with the rest of the production, adding the fake strings - which I'd probably get done from someone on Fiverr today - then the drums (Native instruments) and lastly the guitar parts in the last third. A part that I'm very happy with. Great indie rock guitars which add just the right amount of energy and shimmer.

I will let this version sit a bit, re-visit, send for feedback, finalize and if all goes right, he will release it towards the end of the year.