Hi, Vic:

Thanks for the listen and feedback. I don't think it's entirely your ears, but rather some degree of intent (perhaps not the right degree) in the mix and arrangement. You didn't say exactly where you thought the mix overtook the vocal, but I suspect in one of three spots:

1. The Second Verse: I suggested to Ray that we pan this verse and give the vocal a different treatment. My concern was that it was a long song, and feared the vocals would grow tiresome without a changeup. I've heard some songs recently that took a similar approach--a phone-boothy, fuzzy and tubular vocal panned wide that reverts back to the original vocal sound. I thought it would work well with this song. Perhaps we can bring it up a bit more in the mix, but this was the intent and desired effect.

2. The Final Chorus: Again, any shortfall here is a result of my good or bad suggestion . . . Listening to some of the early demos I was blown away by the cello, and really liked how it "competed" with the vocal. Here, too, the intent was to provide a bit of a changeup from the third chorus of an already long song. I'm not sure I'd make a change here, as I think my voice is strong enough to cut through without diminishing the sound. But Ray and I will certainly consider it.

3. The Outro: This, IMHO, was actually a brilliant production choice by Ray. Given the length of the song, and how much I loved the instrumentation and mix, I had anticipated a longer instrumental outro with no vocals. In truth, I considered doing some vocals over it, but couldn't find anything interesting. I was blown away when Ray sent back a version cutting in the latter half of the vocal chorus in that outro. It was intentionally set under the mix, and panned from right to left, the effect being that the vocal is fading in the wind (a sound introduced at the end of the second chorus). Earlier I had suggested doing something like this at the end of the second chorus, before the solo, when that wind effect first comes to prominence. But Ray saved that trick for later on, and I think it works well. But again, the beauty of this forum is that it give us input to re-examine our choices.

Hope all is well with you,

Deej