Well, there are a lot of mixes of mine that you haven't heard, hehe... ;)

I definitely would love some polish on my stuff, you're totally right! I'm also looking to bring this information with me as I progress into some new areas I've been really itching to explore! I actually have The Mixing Engineer's Handbook, it just came in a couple of days ago! It's been really helpful alongside the course I'm going through and all the supplementary online information I've been reading. I've also got Owsinski's "Recording Engineer's Handbook" and have his "Mastering Engineer's Handbook" wishlisted... just in case. ;P

Thanks so much for reviewing again, my friend!

Thanks man! I don't mean to make it seem like I've destroyed everything I've ever written with poor mixing. Just about everything that I upload to Newgrounds, I feel like I've done an adequate job on the mix. I have a huge number of tracks that have not been uploaded because of how poorly they're balanced, though, and those are the tracks that I'm referring to here. I certainly think that I know how to balance things pretty well when it comes to writing out parts in the first place, and that is very likely the most important part of the whole process. I'd just love to give it all that extra push that really unlocks the full potential of the music! :D

Thanks so much Mattashi, it really means a lot to me! I've always been a firm believer in the "a strong composition trumps all" mentality, and I still am. At the end of the day, we're writing music, no matter how many additional aural processes it may go through. If you can't believe in the strength of your composition, not much is going to change that. I will always try to maintain a strong composition at the core of it all. I write a little every day! :D

That being said, I've also always understood that there are only benefits to be had from understanding mixing proper. I run into situations on the daily where my ears don't guide me in the direction I need to go, and I'm at a loss for how to get things sounding right. When you're dealing with an orchestra, like this piece, it's just so much easier to get things sounding right together because many libraries (even the modestly-priced ones) have been sampled so closely to something that is structured to be balanced in real life. The wide dynamic ranges and incredible variety of timbres that come with orchestral music also lend themselves to a much more minimalist mix. A lot of these libraries sound amazing right out of the box. I've been messing with my new copy of Requiem Pro, and I'm just amazed at how good it sounds the moment I write it into a piece (and boy do I love me some instant gratification). But when I experiment, I've run into so many walls in the past and halted so many songs that I think it's about time I learned a bit about the subject. At the very least, I need to know what these knobs do and what each tool was built for.

Beyond that, I'd just like to know, quite honestly. I have friends who study production, and they've always told me it was worth knowing. I'd love to have the ability to mix for bands, or to balance audio in film/game projects. I'm studying for all of those things. I love to learn new stuff about audio, and the kind of work that goes into a professional environment for it. At the end of the day, I think it can only help me (and a bit of personal satisfaction is involved, too).

Thanks for the review again! Grant Kirkhope is a pretty prominent influence in one of the other pieces I wrote for this set, so it's likely a bit of that dribbled into here. :3