In last week's post, we mentioned how we concluded Ground Zero and RGB, the first two tracks on Avant Garde, respectively. So, this session was a continuation of this compilation's mixing process followed by Green Pope, Fernando Pessoa and H2O. We're really thrilled to finish this body of work (sound?) entirely, therefore we dedicated the whole session to it. Focusing on a single compilation is actually something rare in our workflow because usually, we work on several tracks from (future) different compilations in no particular order during our sessions.

So, starting up with Green Pope - it was one of the most challenging tracks to finish polishing in the whole compilation. The drum section was way too loud, especially the snares; The back vocals and ad-libs were improved as well, mainly re-recorded with Miguel Francisco and Teahgu adding more meaning into their words and extra conviction in what was being announced; the guitars got wider sonically with extended reverbs and delays (Valhalla for the win!). Finally, the UFO sound in the outro section (created using a Boss RE-20 Space Echo pedal) was tweaked down since it was peaking quite high in the master channel. Moreover, auto-panning was added to increase movement and widen the sonic spectrum of the spaceship. Perhaps the 6-minute long duration of the song with several elements spread throughout the piece is what made the mixing so extensively challenging. Anyway, we got it!

Following up, Fernando Pessoa - in general this was a much easier track to conclude compared to Green Pope. Again, the drum section was lowered down in volume. On top of that, only a couple of percussive and sampled sounds got erased since they were interfering with the main essence of the song.

On a different matter, we're still deciding if we keep an emphasis on the Portuguese guitar as the leading instrument in the first verses or if we should add one more vocal feature to the song. If so, we already have someone in mind... Should we pay tribute to Pessoa with a more direct approach? Should we have Nordi as the solo singer in the song? What do you guys think we should do?

Last but not least, H2O - this one was almost completed. Manlike's vocals were slightly pushed forward in regards to the instrumental; furthermore, some keys were pushed to the front of the mix as well. After all, one of the best synth parts is in this song!

As a side note, we couldn't be more excited about seeing Pendulum and Limp Bizkit live on Sunday (13/8) at Gunnersbury Park. These two bands have such a strong influence on our sound, from Pendulum's melodic catchy synths to Limp Bizkit's rhythmic section grooves and distorted guitar riffs. It was a blast!

See you next week fellow monks!