Well what strikes me is that jp has openly said he wants to produce. Glad that did something different this time. Btw I know nothing about the actual process of recording /production etc, but the difference between a well produced record and a standard dt record is clear.... I do wonder if the complexity is what makes it MORE challenging
Producing records is where you take charge in the overall sound, including using a certain type of guitar for a certain tone, or to tell the Keyboardist to use this patch because it sounds cool.
Now, you have a band that has a lot of different time signatures, tempos, differences in dynamics of soft and loud, various keyboard patches that range in volume, along with the bass, guitars, and many drums and cymbals. All of this is in one song that tends to be around 10 min. Add in a deadline and have fun mixing it to the approval of the producer or whomever has the last say.
The Astonishing sounds as good as it does because of these guys
Richard Chycki – engineering, mixing
Mike Schuppan – engineering
Travis Warner – engineering
Gary Chester – engineering
James "Jimmy T" Meslin – assistant engineer
Dave Rowland – assistant mixer
Jason Stanniulis – assistant mixer
Brandon Williams – music editing and coordination
Ted Jensen – mastering
compared to Train of Thought...
Doug Oberkircher – engineering
Kevin "Caveman" Shirley – mixing
Kieran Pardias, Brian Harding, Yohei Goto, Dan Buchi – assistant engineering
Howie Weinberg – mastering
Roger Lian – digital editing