Thank you for your heartwarming comment, I really appreciate it.
I can tell percussions are really diffficult to set right. Their dynamics and harmonic content make it one of the hardest elements to mix in my opinion, especially in orchestral settings where the amount of reverb drastically changes how the percussions interact with other instruments.
I found that cutting the low end with an EQ is often a good thing. Volume automation also is a useful tool.
I grew up watching un bunch of Tim Burton movies so yeah, Danny Elfman is a strong influence here, especially in the vocal part I think.
You got it with the time signature ! To be precise, it's a 4 + 4 + 5 + 4 structure (the 3rd bar being divided as 3 + 2) to match the accents of the harmony.
I totally agree with you about the panning. I did not spend much time on the mixing part, and I went with the default settings fors the strings panning. Will try enhancing that next time :)
