I've just about completed my first comprehensive round of volume envelopes (basically, just turning instruments and mics "on" and "off" as necessary for each song). For DI tracks, I'm not worrying about fading them in/out too much. For the mic tracks, I'm sometimes fading in/out over a minute or more to make the transitions as imperceptible as possible. Once I'm done with this, I'll start listening to the whole thing on various speaker systems and making notes of where to further adjust things (piano down here, lead vox up there, etc.). At that time I'll probably also solicit opinions on a new mixdown of the track I already shared, and maybe another song with different instrumentation. In the meantime, a couple questions:
1. The show starts with the drummer playing banjo on a version of Seven Bridges Road. This is the only time the banjo is used. This track is very quiet, and I've got the fader pushed up to +13 (/15) to get it where I want it. Am I better off adding amplification to that track via effects so that I don't have to deviate that much from unity gain on the fader? Or is the fader applying the gain just as cleanly? (Full disclosure: I already added amplification to the BassDI track because it was so quiet, so your answer here will also advise me on whether to treat that track differently).
2. On one song, Stephen (lead singer) plays the piano at stage left. I have the piano vox panned R40 for the show. For this song, would most of you bring the vox back to center or leave them panned? I assume this is a personal preference thing, so go ahead and cast your vote.