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Noel96 Offline OP
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I wrote earlier this song early in 2025. It sprang from a fleeting thought that passed through my mind as I was trying to create something fairly quickly for a small songwriting group that I've been involved with since 2022. I've since worked on the lyrics, music and production a little more, and the song below is where my journey took me.



Please feel free to comment on any aspect of the song. All thoughts are welcome.

I hope you enjoy listening.
--Noel


The Band
BIAB
Bass: 3588 Bass, Electric, NashvilleRadioPopPushA Ev 110
Guitar: 4196 Guitar, Acoustic, Rhythm SongwriterGentleStrum8ths Ev 100
Pianos: (1) 920 Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm Rumba Ev 110, (2) 1533 Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm PopPowerPushArp Ev 120
Rhythm: Conga Drums, Afucheshaker

MIDI
Pad: Synthmaster 3 – PAD Chasm AZ
Arpeggiator: Synthmaster 3 – SEQ Tokyo Arp
Harp and Chime: Miroslav Philharmonik

Vocals
Lead: Synthesizer V – Kevin 2 vocaloid
Background: Synthesizer v – Natalie 2 vocaloid


Production Info
Bass: Renaissance Bass Enhancer
Vocals: iZotope Nectar 3
Overall production: iZotope Ozone 11


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You have certainly figured out how to get the most out of the synth vocals, Noel! Both voices sound really good to these ears, love it when you bring Natalie into the mix.

Good write, and the track sounds great too, love the Congas.

Enjoyed!

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Noel,

This is a beautiful song... Great lyrics and awesome production. I really like this band. I also love the cool and gentle ending.

Kevin is an excellent lead vocal. The combination of Kevin and Natalie on the chorus is awesome. A great blend and balance of the two voices.

Excellent!

Bob

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Noel, gorgeous tune. Love the sentiment, rhyming scheme on the chorus, and the narrative that's relatable on more than one level. Also really like the harmonic movement. Super use of synth vocals and nice BiaB arrangement. The bell near the end was a nice touch. Superb song!


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Noel,

Beautifully done.
A lovely production. Good percussion choice.
Good mix.

Love the positivity of your songs. The world needs a lot more Noels.

fj

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Cool journey, Noel, and thanks for saving us a seat. Excellent lyrics and a great idea flying around in the clouds. The melody is perfect too, and fits the fun feel and lyrics so well. Good arrangement and mix too. It's got it all!!


Enjoy whatever happens!
marty

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Noel96 Offline OP
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Originally Posted by BlueAttitude
You have certainly figured out how to get the most out of the synth vocals, Noel! Both voices sound really good to these ears, love it when you bring Natalie into the mix.

Good write, and the track sounds great too, love the Congas.

Enjoyed!
Hi Dave.

Thanks for the visit! Natalie and Kevin are a good team. The SynthV people really struck gold when they created these two voices. I've still got a way to go with getting vocals that sound fully human, but I'm getting better. As with everything, it's all about practising over and over. I appreciate your comments. Thank you.

All the best!
--Noel


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Noel96 Offline OP
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Originally Posted by rsdean
Noel,

This is a beautiful song... Great lyrics and awesome production. I really like this band. I also love the cool and gentle ending.

Kevin is an excellent lead vocal. The combination of Kevin and Natalie on the chorus is awesome. A great blend and balance of the two voices.

Excellent!

Bob
Hi Bob.

Thank you. I always smile when I open a song thread of mine and see that you've passed through it smile Out of all the voices I currently have for SynthV, Kevin and Natalie are the ones that I feel most comfortable with. They work together superbly.

Thanks for visiting and thanks again for your comments. I appreciate them.
--Noel


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Originally Posted by DC Ron
Noel, gorgeous tune. Love the sentiment, rhyming scheme on the chorus, and the narrative that's relatable on more than one level. Also really like the harmonic movement. Super use of synth vocals and nice BiaB arrangement. The bell near the end was a nice touch. Superb song!
Hi Ron,

It's good to see you. Thank you for taking the time to have a listen and to pass on your thoughts. I'm still smiling smile

I hope that life is being kind to you!
--Noel


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Hi, Noel.

The vocals are especially nice. Semi-sad lyrics, but with the positive spin that's your trademark.

You're doing that asymmetrical thing with the meter, which disregards my lazy expectations and makes me actually have to pay attention. laugh

I enjoyed it!


-- David Cuny
My virtual singer development blog

Vocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?
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Originally Posted by floyd jane
Noel,

Beautifully done.
A lovely production. Good percussion choice.
Good mix.

Love the positivity of your songs. The world needs a lot more Noels.

fj

Hi floyd.

Thanks for dropping by and having a listen. I appreciate your comment smile

All the best.
--Noel


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Originally Posted by BabuMusic
Cool journey, Noel, and thanks for saving us a seat. Excellent lyrics and a great idea flying around in the clouds. The melody is perfect too, and fits the fun feel and lyrics so well. Good arrangement and mix too. It's got it all!!

Hi Marty.

Thanks for taking time to have a listen and to pass on your thoughts. I appreciate the feedback.

Thanks again!
--Noel


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So much to like in this Noel...I especially liked the last line the the chorus--it has kind of an extension of syllables and notes that really catches your attention! The lyric is lovely, and the band is well-chosen. Did I hear a tubular bell there near the end--kind of like the presence of the Almighty? And the nice slow-down with the final notes. The vocaloids are really great--you did a nice job with them, especially the duet/harmony parts.

I have only one "suggestion"...I didn't like the word "quirky". I think it's very descriptive, but I have found words like this a bit of a clunker in an otherwise very smooth-to-sing song (I think it's the hard "R" followed by the hard "K"). If it were my project, I'd replace it with something like "silly" or "peculiar" or even "odd little". Just my thoughts.

Great work!


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Noel, this is fantastic
Great rhythm section
Those synth voices sound so real that if you hadn't said anything I would have thought they were organic!
Great lyrics
Loved it


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It's called the Heineken Maneuver.

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Very inviting title, who wouldn't like to fly around in the clouds. The tone is quite sad, but the spark of hope is there to lighten any heart. Touching.

Great work with the vocals, your voice shines through again. The female singer is beautifully used in the choruses, fully in the last one.

Enjoyed many small details like the conga intro, the bell and the slowdown at the end. The piano and the acoustic guitar create a nice, fragile bed for the story.

Janne


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Originally Posted by dcuny
Hi, Noel.

The vocals are especially nice. Semi-sad lyrics, but with the positive spin that's your trademark.

You're doing that asymmetrical thing with the meter, which disregards my lazy expectations and makes me actually have to pay attention. laugh

I enjoyed it!
Hi David.

It's good to see you. Thanks for picking up on the asymmetrical thing. Although the word 'asymmetrical' never occurred to me, it's the best word. I tend to work with Pat Pattison's idea of 'balanced versus unbalanced'. I've done that in two ways (mostly) with this song. Firstly, I have a number of lyric phrases that begin after beat 1 and secondly, I have two bars of 2/4 in an otherwise 4/4 song – one bar at the end of the opening chorus, and the second bar as the penultimate bar in verse 1 (this is probably the bar that interferes with musical 'symmetry' the most, I suspect). I've heard the song so many times now that I can't appreciate how this strategy feels to a listener. I crossed my fingers and hoped it would be okay.

Thanks for listening and passing on your thoughts. I appreciate it.
--Noel


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Originally Posted by Tano Music
So much to like in this Noel...I especially liked the last line the the chorus--it has kind of an extension of syllables and notes that really catches your attention! The lyric is lovely, and the band is well-chosen. Did I hear a tubular bell there near the end--kind of like the presence of the Almighty? And the nice slow-down with the final notes. The vocaloids are really great--you did a nice job with them, especially the duet/harmony parts.

I have only one "suggestion"...I didn't like the word "quirky". I think it's very descriptive, but I have found words like this a bit of a clunker in an otherwise very smooth-to-sing song (I think it's the hard "R" followed by the hard "K"). If it were my project, I'd replace it with something like "silly" or "peculiar" or even "odd little". Just my thoughts.

Great work!
Hi Tom.

Thanks for dropping in. And thanks for having a listen and commenting.

I appreciate that you noticed the last line in the chorus 🤩 As with many of my songs, draft lyrics were in progress well before I started putting the words to music. Originally, I planned to end the chorus with 'clouds' as it rhymed with 'loud' in the previous line. This worked. When the music came along, though, I had 'do' in the last line on a held note and it felt like a rhyme for 'do' had good musical value. In the end, I tried rhyming both 'loud' and 'do' and liked the effect it created so I stayed with it. As I'm thinking about it now, I'm wondering if this is another aspect of the musical asymmetry that David (@dcuny) is referring to.

Also, thank you for your comment about 'quirky'. It's a really good point and one that I did not think of. One of the big differences between the American and Australian accents is in how the 'R' sound is used. In Australia, our R sound is a lot less pronounced. In 'quirky', the 'ir' becomes the vowel sound "er" (phonetically ɜ). With the American R, it tends to be an 'uh' sound followed by an R sound (phonetically ˈər') In other words, Australian English has no separate R sound attached to a vowel. If this song ends up in the hands of a non-Australian or non-British person, I can see how "quirky" is an uncomfortable word. I'll change it to something a little friendlier smile

Thanks again!
--Noel


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Originally Posted by Noel96
Also, thank you for comment about 'quirky'. It's a really good point and one that I did not think of. One of the big differences between the American and Australian accents is in how the 'R' sound is used. In Australia, our R sound is a lot less pronounced. In 'quirky', the 'ir' becomes the vowel sound "er" (phonetically ɜ). With the American R, it tends to be an 'uh' sound followed by an R sound (phonetically ˈər') In other words, Australian English has no separate R sound attached to a vowel. If this song ends up in the hands of a non-Australian or British person, I can see how "quirky" is an uncomfortable word. I'll change it to something a little friendlier smile
Hi Noel - I'm inexperienced (I have no experience) with Synth vocals. For us Aussies, does anyone produce non-rhotic accents for synth vocals - I guess maybe British?
Andrew


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Originally Posted by Andrew Dee
Hi Noel - I'm inexperienced (I have no experience) with Synth vocals. For us Aussies, does anyone produce non-rhotic accents for synth vocals - I guess maybe British?
Andrew
G'Day, Andrew.

I'm only at the entry level of synth vocals and there is a great deal that I don't know. The English vocaloids that I have tried have all used the that American R sound that highlights rhotic languages. I suggest that you start a thread in the Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production Forum and ask. Many people on here have a much broader knowledge than I do.

--Noel


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This song is stunning. I think I may know what this song is about. In any case:

"You opened the door and waved goodbye
And then you stepped out into the rain
I blew a kiss and waved right back and said see you later, my friend
But life often surprises one when everything is going fine
I didn’t know then, no, I didn’t then
That life had other plans in mind"

Incredible.

You combine beautiful, beautiful music with incredibly moving lyrics, to powerful, devastating, stunning effect. Every song I hear from you is right up there. You have the technique, too, but (like with all the best songwriters) it doesn't show; you use it so well, it's invisible; the MUSIC and lyrics show, the message shows. And boy, do they show. You just communicate so (seemingly) effortlessly. It's heartwarming, and also tear and gratitude inducing - for want of clearer words.

I am genuinely in awe of what you bring to the table, each time. You highlight the best of what makes us human, in your songs. God bless and BRAVO.

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