I am having heaps of fun with Synthesizer V.

As my second adventure with the vocal synthesizer, I thought I would try creating a duet for the vocaloids Natalie and Kevin. This is a song that I wrote in 2016. At the time, I did not write it as a duet, but Natalie and Kevin have now opened the door to a whole new world of possibilities.

Here is where that doorway has taken me so far...

♫ Every Single Day (Natalie & Kevin)
(Lyrics on Soundcloud)

As always, please feel free to comment on any aspect of the song and its production.
--Noel


The BIAB Band
Mandolin: RT3080 Mandolin, Rhythm AmericanaPop8thsAndy Ev 100
Mandolin: RT3079 Mandolin, Soloist BluesyPopAndy Ev 100
Guitar: RT362 Guitar, Acoustic, Strumming Ev 085
Bouzouki: RT2209 Bouzouki, Rhythm CountryPop Ev 085
Bass: RT701 Bass, Electric, PopHalfNotesSync Ev 085
Drums: CajonFolkPop8ths

The Production
DAW: Reaper
Bass: Renaissance Bass VST3
Guitar: ReaEQ, Reaper plugin
Mandolin: ReaEQ
Vocals: Synthesizer V with voice banks Natalie & Kevin, Nectar 3
Overall Production: Ozone 10

Hi Noel, the track seems to be missing. Will check back later.

Bob

Thanks, Bob. I've got it up and running now.
--Noel

Noel,

This is absolutely superb...

Kevin & Natalie sound like two humans - hard to believe this is Synth V. You also have somehow managed to get Kevin to sound like you! Similar inflection and delivery. Very cool!

Love it! Great song, vocals and production. This raises the bar.

Bob

Hi Bob.

Thank you for taking the time to listen. Because I've spent so much time with Kevin and Natalie, I am unable hear if they sound realistic or not. All I know is that I have reached the end of my ability to tweak them any further so I'm hoping that that is a good sign. I think Kevin has overtones of me because I tend to shape his phrases in a way that replicates how I would sing them. Now if I can manage to get Synth V to create an Australian accent for Kevin, the sky is the limit!

I appreciate your comments. Thanks for the smile they brought me

All the best,
--Noel

Noel,

Well done.
The harmonies are Stunning!!!
(Using the synths as BGVs seems a truly useful tool!!)

Enjoyed hearing the song again. Nice update...

fj

What a sweet song folks! Great harmonies. Apparently this was posted before and then revised. I really like it!

Dewey

This feels so much like one of your writes. The positive lyrics, the phrasing - it's got your fingerprints all over it even with different singers.

   A GPS that steers me safe and sure

Ha! Fun line.

Cool melody, nice arrangement, and the singers do a good job.

Pleasant listen!

Having singers available to do harmonies is cool, right? Plus. they're patient no matter how many rewrites you give them.

Beautiful melody and lyrics, nice lines like "highway paved with mystery". The song and Synth V voices work very well as a duet. Kevin's voice is a bit unnatural on his lower range, but I guess I just pay attention to it, because I have worked with Kevin so much. Natalie's voice breathes nicely. A pleasant folky song that sends me on vacation to a sunny sandy beach.

Janne

Noel...AI still amazes me and you have done such a masterful production with them...a very sweet duet and a really nice song...the band is perfect and the arrangement very pro level...a great listen to be sure!

Noel, those synth vocals sound so real, especially during the harmonies.
Super song and mix.
You are getting really good with those synths!

Hi Bob!

Thank you for your kind words It's good to know that I'm on the right track with Synth V. One of these days, I'm going to see if I can get a slight hint of Australian accent into the vocals That will be interesting.

All the very best,
--Noel

Gidday, floyd

Thanks for dropping by. I agree about using Synth V for background vocals. One of my near-future aims is to get Realband to create some harmonies and then see if I can use them to create MIDI that will work well with Synth V. I've got a feeling that this could be a pretty big thing if it can be done.

Thanks for taking the time to listen and to pass on your thoughts.

All the best,
--Noel

I like the tone of the voices.
I'm wondering if the phrasing could be made to sound more natural by altering the phrasing slightly as it's very much on the on beat.
Not sure whether this is possible on the synth. but it would be great to try, I think.
Amazing stuff.

Vic

This is beautiful! Simple and clear. Kevin and Natalie sound great, the song communicates its own message easily, and what a beautiful message it is ... what to say? You inspire me ... I'd love to have your talent for expressing yourself so beautifully and so easily (seemingly, at least), in music. No worries - I learn, from you and (indeed) from everyone on here, each time I listen Thanks for making my morning brighter!

Hi Noel,

Man, I continue to be amazed at what can be accomplished these days with the synth vocals! Natalie sounds great, not mad about Kevin when he is singing solo, but he sounds good mixed in with Natalie.

Good song too, enjoyed everything about this.

I listen to lots of songs on this forum, but often can't really say much, so re this one, it was just really enjoyble. Well done.

Fabulous song and, again, it's 100% Noel phrasing so works for me. Kevin sounds a little rough in a few spots but Natalie is a revelation.
ACE

Beautiful.
I love the way you have them interact/call respond and harmonize.
Good arrangement, good mix ... good stuff

Noel,

This is beautifully done. For a newbie to the vocaloids, you are doing an amazing job. The harmonies work so well here . . . just wonderfully done. Production and mix are stellar. Loved it!

My very best to you,

Deej

Well, Noel, you really have a good grasp on these a synth vocalists! Natalie and Kevin’s harmonies and counterpoint parts sound especially nice. It is so cool that you can get the phrasing so close to yours and we even hear a little bit of accent in Natalie’s vocal.

The lyric is delightful and Janice read it before listening and said, “oh yeah!”

The mandolins are very good and the whole band and mix and dialed in perfectly.

You’re on a very fast learning curve with Synth V. Kudos!!

J&B

Hi Dewey.

Yes, I posted this a few years ago. The song was originally written in 2016. At that time, though, I have no idea that it had potential to be a duet.
Thanks for visiting. I really appreciate your feed back

--Noel

Hi David,

Thanks for passing through the thread. I really appreciate your positive feedback. I'm starting to feel a little more comfortable with the software now. That helps The possibilities that Synth V makes available when it comes to creating and producing songs are incredible. At the moment, I'm using Solaria to perform a song that I wrote for a female vocalist. It's awesome that I can do this now. And as you say, it's wonderful to be able to adjust lyrics on the fly and hear how they fit. I just love where I can go with music making now!

Thanks for listening!
--Noel

Hi Janne.

Thank you for your comments. I honestly appreciate them. I'm still working out what the best range for each of the voices is. When I wrote this song back in 2016, it was just me singing and I didn't think of any other possibilities. When I recently discovered Synth V and Natalie, I thought I would give it to Natalie to sing and see how it sounded with female vocals. As a result, the key I chose was such that it put Natalie's vocals within the lower section of the classic mezzo-soprano range. She is definitely suited to this range. As an afterthought, I wondered if the song would work as a duet. That was when I brought Kevin into the act. Since the key had already been set, Kevin didn't get any say in the matter He did a reasonable job considering the lack of support he got from me!

I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the visit.
--Noel

Hi Dan.
Thank you for dropping in and having a listen. I appreciate your comments. Like you, AI amazes me. What today's computer technology makes available is incredible. Twenty years ago, I could never have imagined that we would have come so far. I'm loving playing around with Synth V and its use of AI.
All the best,
--Noel

What a lovely tune!

Natalie sounds human. I wouldn't know if you hadn't said so. Kevin sounded a bit synthy in the first couple lines, but then sounded authentic after that.

I enjoyed the song.

Noel,

I remember this song.
Kevin and Natalie's duet has transformed it into an even more wonderful work.
It's a really nice duet.
It's a very cool vocal arrangement.
You're really good at writing vocal harmonies.
Enjoyed my listen a lot.

Best regards.

Shigeki Adachi

Hi Mario.

Thank you for having a listen. I appreciate the positive feedback. I'm really loving playing around with the vocaloids. Synth V has given me a whole new boost to me songwriting! It's amazing software.

Thanks again and all the best,
--Noel

Hi Vic,

Yep. You are 100% spot on. The secret to getting these synthesized vocals to sound realistic lies 90% in the timing of the syllables. It's something that I've been experimenting with, and I think I'm starting to fully appreciate the nuances of it all Thanks for dropping in and having a listen. I honestly appreciate it.

--Noel

Hi James.

It's good to see you again. And thanks for the smile that appeared on my face after I read your comments. I really appreciated them There's an awful lot of doom and gloom in the world right at the minute and working with music is a way that helps me escape it all. Sometimes writing a song is easy for me but mostly, it's not. Then there is the production side of things. That's ALWAYS slow going for me. I do enjoy creating songs, though, so whether it's fast or slow, I don't mind. It's all fun.

All the very best!
--Noel

Noel, You certainly have a good handle on these synth voices. The production is excellent in all aspects. My GPS isn't as reliable as yours. You have steered this pro sounding song in the right direction. I enjoyed my listen very much. Well done, Tom

Hi Dave.

Yeah. 21st century computer technology makes the world quite an amazing place. The vocal synths are extraordinary. I'm loving playing with them. Thanks for having a listen and thanks for your comments. Appreciate it.

--Noel

Hi Waoband.

Thanks for dropping in. I really appreciate the visit, and thanks for having.

All the best,
-Noel

Hi Ray.

It's good to see you. Thanks for passing through the thread. With each song I compile using vocaloids, I get a bit more skilled. I agree that Kevin is a tad rough in places. I'm pretty sure that I can control that but I haven't yet found the right combination of tweaks. Interestingly, the vocaloids are pretty good without too much tweaking but they lack realism. I'm discovering that to bring realism into the picture, it's necessary to be aware of the finer nuances of timing, pronunciation and enunciation. The learning curve that I'm on doesn't seem to be getting flatter just yet. It's a fun journey, though.

I appreciate your comments. Thanks for those.
--Noel

Noel,

The tech involved bringing this hyper-realistic vocal performance is almost scary, but it sounds awesome! It's a lovely song as are all of your works! I still miss hearing your vocals on these though because your vocals are always delivered so well! Glad I caught this one!

Take care, T

Impressive and scary at the same time. I listened to the song and didn’t read the comments until afterwards and as I was listening I thought I was listening to two real humans. The song sounds great and I suspect we’re all going to get replaced very soon by AI.

This is very beautifully done Noel.

I am not sure I would have the patience to use those synth voices the way you folks do (too much of a learning curve for me I think) but I am certainly impressed with how you use the technology.

Hey BD.

Thank you I'm having a ball playing around with Synth V. Working out how to get the vocals to sound as realistic as possible is a challenge that fascinates me. It's amazing what these vocaloids can do!

Thanks for having a listen and for commenting.
--Noel

Hi Deej.

It's great to see you Thanks for having a listen and for passing on your thoughts. Natalie and Kevin make a great duo. What I love most about them is that they do exactly what I tell them to! I'm still getting the hang of the software but the learning curve is flattening a bit now, thankfully!

Hope things are travelling well for you!
--Noel

Hi Janice and Bud.

It's always a pleasure to have you visit a thread. And thanks for your comment about the harmonies. I used a mix of techniques... chord-based harmony with occasional counterpoint and it has worked well. What I love about Synth V is that I get to hear how it sounds and if I don't like it, it's very, very easy to move the notes on the piano roll display and change the harmony.

It's interesting that you should mention a slight accent in Natalie's vocals. Since I started working with the software, I been analysing how accents are formed because I'm trying hard not to incorporate too much of my Australian accent. From my limited experience with these vocaloids, the subtleties of accents are vast. How long a consonant is held, the length of a vowel, the strength of a vowel or consonant and how the components of words join together (just to name a few aspects).

When I am trying to get the syllables to flow smoothly and realistically, my Australian version of English drives the process. As consequence, I'm pretty sure there will be hints of Australian accent throughout the vocals. While I look up words in the online Meriam-Webster and listen to individual words spoken in 'American', that doesn't give me any clues about how to link the words and what changes when words are linked into a sentence. The best I can do will be to have vocaloids that sound mostly American but with overtones of an international accent.

I had an unusual experience a few days ago. I'd been working on Kevin's singing of "Every Single Day" for a few hours, and then I played my version of the song (with me singing). My accent was highly noticeable in the recording. This was the first time, I've ever heard how my accent sounds to other people! After a couple of times through, though, it sounded normal once again.

Thanks for taking the time to have a listen and for commenting!
--Noel

Hi

It's excellent to see you. Thanks for having a listen and for taking time to pass on your observations. Much appreciated!

All the best,
--Noel

Hi Shigeki Adachi.

I hope that everything is going really well for you over in Japan

Thanks for having another listen to the song and passing on some of your thoughts. I appreciate that. I love arranging songs using classical 4-part harmony and traditional counterpoint. This is the first time I've arranged something like this for nearly a decade, I think. It was good to exercise the brain cells again!

Thank you heaps for visiting the thread!
--Noel

Hi Tom.

it's great to see you again. I've still got a long way to go with these synth voices but I'm beginning to understand them a bit better now. It's been a lot of fun learning how to do things.

Thanks for dropping in and visiting Soundcloud!
--Noel

Hi Torrey.

I appreciate your passing through the thread. I agree with you. These voices are incredible. Until I started listening to what people had done with them, I had no idea that it was possible to create such realistic vocals. I'm loving playing learning how to get the most out of Synth V.

Thanks for taking the time to have a listen!
--Noel

Hi David.

You don't need these vocaloids. To be honest, I'm pretty sure that would cramp your amazing creativity! That said, I'm glad I managed to impress you

All the best,
--Noel

Well done Noel.
This is a sweet song featuring a couple of sweet singers. The technology behind Kevin and Natalie and others is truly amazing - and its obviously getting better all the time.
The simple band arrangement works really well. The mandolins are a nice touch, and as someone else said, the harmonies are great.
Cheers,
Mike

Hi Noel,

You could never deny this is one of your writes. As mentioned previously, the phrasing has your fingerprints all over it. And that's a good thing.

Your use of the AI voices is better on every song. i was greatly impressed by the vocal harmony - fantastic! That was a real pleasure!

Wishing you everythig good.

Alan

Hi Mike.

It's excellent to see you. Thanks for popping in. I agree with you. It's extraordinary what Synthesizer V has managed to do with vocaloids. It actually makes songwriting so much easier to be able to instantly change words with your singer and listen to how they sound and whether they fit or not. As songwriting tool, Synth V is definitely an asset.

I appreciate your visit and comments.
--Noel

Hi Alan.

It's always a pleasure to see that you've visited a thread of mine. Thank you for listening to the song and for your comments. I appreciate your insights. I'm beginning to learn some strategies in relation to the AI voices and it helps a lot. They're pretty amazing!

All the very best to you and Di.
--Noel

Boy those vocals are so cool. Was so mesmerized listening to the vocals. Excellent song and lyric Noel. Really well done

Hey Scott!

It's excellent to see you. Thanks for taking the time to have listen. Synthesizer V is amazing. It's given me a whole new outlook on creating songs. Although it's a bit of the steep curve at the beinginning, I'm loving the learning journey.

Thanks again for the visit!
--Noel