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Background:
The first posting of this can be found here. There, Janne and Ray thought the bass was out of tune or dissonant. Upon examination I think I had a problem with my Bm bass arpeggios so I tried to fix that in this version. It was also mentioned that a Stephen Hawking vocal might work. I couldn’t locate his exact vocal emulator so I used what I had readily available instead.

I’m not entirely crazy about the vocals, it kind of reminds me of Max Headroom without the stutter. Anybody remember Max? smile
Hopefully this is at least a little improved compared to the 1st go at this.

Black Hole 2.0

Technicals:
70 BPM

BiaB
Style is -60SRKBL.STY (60's Brit Rock Ballad 2)
Style MIDI Instrument Acoustic Piano (1)
RealDrums in style:RockEven16: a: Snare, HiHat b: Snare, Ride

Me
Electric Bass
Korg Vintage Tremolo Guitar
Korg Space Voice
Korg Wet Distorted Guitar
Korg String Machine
Korg Synth
Microsoft Text to Speech Vocals

Poem:
Black hole, black hole, man can barely comprehend
The enormity of the power you hold within

First proposed by John Michell in 1784
This was the beginning and astronomers wanted more

A quandary, a distortion, of space and time
You are an unparalleled beast and freakish paradigm

At your center may lie a gravitational singularity
Where spacetime curvature and density become infinity

You consume asteroids, planets and even radiation
Anything that gets too close will face annihilation

The universe is indeed a hostile place for life to thrive
Full of violence and destruction; it’s hard to survive

So what is your purpose and what is your goal?
To eventually consume the universe as a whole?

Something tells me that can’t be your role
For even with you, God’s in control



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BiaB 2026 Windows
For me there’s no better place in the band than to have one leg in the harmony world and the other in the percussive. Thank you Paul Tutmarc and Leo Fender.
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Hi Thumper,

You are onto something here I think.

I would be inclined to raise the level of the spoken word up, seems a little buried at the moment. Maybe experiment a bit with adding some effects to it as well.

But yeah, I liked it as an instrumental piece and I like it even better now.

Well done!

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Hello Thumper,

I had to listen again to this song. At first I thought I didn't like it.
But the music/melody and instruments were good, so it's only the vocals I didnt like', I thought.
But the vocals, the spoken words have a very hypnotic effect on the music and all together it was very interesting.
But whatever, you've made a really nice, intriguing song that I like more than I initially thought I would.

Hans


Hans Berkhout
(Birchwood)
https://soundcloud.com/user-296497130
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Originally Posted By: BlueAttitude
Hi Thumper,

You are onto something here I think.

I would be inclined to raise the level of the spoken word up, seems a little buried at the moment. Maybe experiment a bit with adding some effects to it as well.

But yeah, I liked it as an instrumental piece and I like it even better now.

Well done!

Many thanks Dave . . . you have no idea how far out of my comfort zone this is.

I was torn between a serious Stephen Hawking style and a humerous Max Headroom defective bot approach. In any evident, I'll count this as another learning experience in my "quiver". Thanks for the comments.


https://soundcloud.com/user-646279677
BiaB 2026 Windows
For me there’s no better place in the band than to have one leg in the harmony world and the other in the percussive. Thank you Paul Tutmarc and Leo Fender.
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Originally Posted By: Birchwood
Hello Thumper,

I had to listen again to this song. At first I thought I didn't like it.
But the music/melody and instruments were good, so it's only the vocals I didnt like', I thought.
But the vocals, the spoken words have a very hypnotic effect on the music and all together it was very interesting.
But whatever, you've made a really nice, intriguing song that I like more than I initially thought I would.

Hans

Hey Hans, there certainly is a lot going on in this song, and if nothing else I think we can say it's unique, from what I've heard on song postings here.

Even the bot on Lost In Space with Will Robinson and Zachary Smith had at least some voice inflection. The bot I used is as bot as you can get smile

Thanks for the listen.


https://soundcloud.com/user-646279677
BiaB 2026 Windows
For me there’s no better place in the band than to have one leg in the harmony world and the other in the percussive. Thank you Paul Tutmarc and Leo Fender.
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Hello Bass Thumper,

Originally Posted By: Bass Thumper
Originally Posted By: Birchwood
Hello Thumper,

I had to listen again to this song. At first I thought I didn't like it.
But the music/melody and instruments were good, so it's only the vocals I didnt like', I thought.
But the vocals, the spoken words have a very hypnotic effect on the music and all together it was very interesting.
But whatever, you've made a really nice, intriguing song that I like more than I initially thought I would.

Hans

Hey Hans, there certainly is a lot going on in this song, and if nothing else I think we can say it's unique, from what I've heard on song postings here.

Even the bot on Lost In Space with Will Robinson and Zachary Smith had at least some voice inflection. The bot I used is as bot as you can get smile

Thanks for the listen.


You are so right on that!
It even makes me love your song...

Hans


Hans Berkhout
(Birchwood)
https://soundcloud.com/user-296497130
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I can hear a little Max in there!! I think you created a great vibe for the topic......really nice synth tracks!!! Take care. Greg

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Cool!
Came out really nice. Perfect step from original. The vocals DO work very well with it. Liked it!
Thank you for sharing.
Misha.

P.S. Did you know Korg came out with Triton Extreme VST? 1:1 sounds. Amazing stuff.

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Bass Thumper,

I didn't listen to the original because I wanted to hear this final version complete. To my ears, this sounds perfectly done--the music bed is outstanding. I was a bit with Hans when the vocal first kicked in, but the more I listened the more it really resonated and worked. I think you've done an excellent job on this. Well done!

Hope ll is well in your world,

Deej

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Me likes!
Pretty cool idea with the robo voice.
I would also make the voice a bit louder, maybe with some EQ love if the higher frequencies get too annoying.
Well done!

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Originally Posted By: Greg Johnson
I can hear a little Max in there!! I think you created a great vibe for the topic......really nice synth tracks!!! Take care. Greg

Hi Greg, Yeah, Max is in there, but there is nothing like the original Max.
Glad you liked the synth, there is much learning curve for me to climb there, but I'm trying.


https://soundcloud.com/user-646279677
BiaB 2026 Windows
For me there’s no better place in the band than to have one leg in the harmony world and the other in the percussive. Thank you Paul Tutmarc and Leo Fender.
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Originally Posted By: Rustyspoon#
Cool!
Came out really nice. Perfect step from original. The vocals DO work very well with it. Liked it!
Thank you for sharing.
Misha.

P.S. Did you know Korg came out with Triton Extreme VST? 1:1 sounds. Amazing stuff.

Hey Misha, many thanks for the kind words. I didn't think the vocals worked, but maybe somehow they do.

As for the Triton Extreme VST? No. I wasn't aware of it and don't own any VST unless BiaB is considered a VST.
Obviously I'm interested in the Korg brand, I think they are quite innovative but I have yet to figure out what a VST is and how it might benefit me.


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BiaB 2026 Windows
For me there’s no better place in the band than to have one leg in the harmony world and the other in the percussive. Thank you Paul Tutmarc and Leo Fender.
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Originally Posted By: Deej56
Bass Thumper,

I didn't listen to the original because I wanted to hear this final version complete. To my ears, this sounds perfectly done--the music bed is outstanding. I was a bit with Hans when the vocal first kicked in, but the more I listened the more it really resonated and worked. I think you've done an excellent job on this. Well done!

Hope ll is well in your world,

Deej

Hey Deej, thanks so much for the listen and encouraging comments. The workflow I've developed for myself seems to be working at least for some of what I'm doing. I'm basically just an experimenter always looking for ideas.


https://soundcloud.com/user-646279677
BiaB 2026 Windows
For me there’s no better place in the band than to have one leg in the harmony world and the other in the percussive. Thank you Paul Tutmarc and Leo Fender.
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Steve I thought that this was brilliant.

All I would do is to raise the vocal level some. Personally I don't think it needs any effects, just volume.

Keep on experimenting. That is fun with BiaB isn't it!


My wife had her driving test today.
She got 8 out of 10.
The other 2 jumped out of the way!

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Originally Posted By: B.D.Thomas
Me likes!
Pretty cool idea with the robo voice.
I would also make the voice a bit louder, maybe with some EQ love if the higher frequencies get too annoying.
Well done!

Hey B.D., Thanks for the feedback. You're right, another 3 or 6dB on the bot would have worked better.


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BiaB 2026 Windows
For me there’s no better place in the band than to have one leg in the harmony world and the other in the percussive. Thank you Paul Tutmarc and Leo Fender.
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Originally Posted By: MarioD
Steve I thought that this was brilliant.

All I would do is to raise the vocal level some. Personally I don't think it needs any effects, just volume.

Keep on experimenting. That is fun with BiaB isn't it!

Hey Mario,
Many thanks for the encouragement. Others have mentioned the vocal volume and I agree.
Keep providing honest critique.

PS> This is fun smile


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BiaB 2026 Windows
For me there’s no better place in the band than to have one leg in the harmony world and the other in the percussive. Thank you Paul Tutmarc and Leo Fender.
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This feels closer to the intention you had in the write; I like the vocals( (as the effect obscures lyric clarity a little, I agree with others that they could come up in the mix).
Dark and slightly ominous- suits the subject!
Well done on this.

Robert

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I'm really glad to hear you used my suggestion, okay, it is not Mr. Hawking, but the effect is the same, distancing and otherworldly, as I imagined. Excellent work! And the bass is now in tune. I'm really interested in hearing what area of science you are exploring next smile

Janne


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Thanks for posting this. I remember Max Headroom! But this song immediately reminded me of Neil Young's "Trans" album, an album I really like.

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Well that was certainly different ... but in an entertaining manner.

We're also of the notion of bringing up the vocals - perhaps a couple of db's.
Because they are spoken they are easier to lose in the mix than a melodic vocal or so I would guess smile

Your experiments are always engaging!

J&B


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