Some of you old timers here might remember this song from over 10 years ago. It is a collab with Joanne Cooper from South Africa. It's a song that has an interesting POV on the poachers who are decimating the African Rhino herds.
I don't have the particulars on the original song as far as the tracks or the style used. I do recall that both Joanne and myself sang and contributed live piano and guitar with Band in A Box providing the rest.
Joanne contacted me recently with a version that she had done using AI to cover the original song and asked me what I thought. I took the stems and imported them into Sonar to work on them. I edited several tracks , while others were good to go, The ending is nothing like the AI handed her. I cleaned up quite a few things and also swapped out the voices for better AI voices. Yeah there's a few nits but hopefully they are not noticeable in a distracting way. I know how closely some of you folks will listen. I appreciate you.
Fool’s Errand Written & produced by Joanne Cooper & Herb Hartley
As the sun rises over distant mountains, two figures move quietly through the bush. What follows is a story of desperation, survival, and irreversible consequence.
Fool’s Errand is a narrative song inspired by the ongoing tragedy of rhino poaching in Africa — a quiet war fought at dawn, where livelihoods, morality, and extinction collide. It tells the story from the ground: measured footsteps, silent tracks, and the moment when everything changes.
Rhinos are now critically endangered. Without sustained protection and intervention, they face extinction within our lifetime.
This song is not about heroes or villains. It’s about reality. And the cost of giving up.
🎵 Written and produced by: Joanne Cooper & Herb Hartley 🎬 Visuals: Original cinematic imagery inspired by the lyrics 🌍 Theme: Wildlife conservation / Rhino protection
If this song moved you, please consider:
Sharing it to raise awareness Supporting legitimate wildlife conservation organizations Starting conversations that matter
Enjoy, and as always... Feel free to comment.
PS: Joanne asked me to post this as she is headed out today on Holiday and didn't have the time.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.com Add nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.
The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
It's a song theme close to my heart (I have a sci-fi novel out which begins with a future wildlife ranger, plus in the late 80s I and a team were working on a documentary to be narrated by Stephanie Powers of the William Holden Wildlife Foundation, but like many such things we failed to get the funding for it). I listened to both versions and while the new one is a clearly better production I really like the rawness of the original.
Some favourite Waoist Adages: #1: Play on the Way. #13: Ask not for whom the flower blooms, it blooms for you. #58: Bring consciousness to it. #63: On the road to effortlessness, effort must be made. #92: Be Love Now, the rest will come on its own.
The remix is a lot sharper and the AI vocals work well, but it would have been nice to hear the original vocals in the remix. Whilst the AI Vox are cleaner, the original Vox have a raw authenticity. Good mix and worthy subject matter.
I prefer the mood of the original, the piano in the remake, your voice in the original, and the female voice in the remake. Not that Joanne's voice isn't as good (quite the contrary), but the female AI voice suits your voice better for this genre. The mix of the remake sounds more professional, but it has some quirks that I personally wouldn't be happy with (and which are a tedious task to fix. Been there, done that). The original mix sounds more open, and the individual instruments and voices have more room to breathe. It's a little too bright, though, but still very good.
There's something to be said for both versions. I like what Lee said. An important topic, glad to see it addressed. But do people care enough? Not in my estimation.
Windows 11, Intel Core I5 10400, 16 gig ram, Scarlett 2i2, Sony Acid Music Studio 10, BIAB 2020 UltraPlus Pak
I prefer the mood of the original, the piano in the remake, your voice in the original, and the female voice in the remake. Not that Joanne's voice isn't as good (quite the contrary), but the female AI voice suits your voice better for this genre. The mix of the remake sounds more professional, but it has some quirks that I personally wouldn't be happy with (and which are a tedious task to fix. Been there, done that). The original mix sounds more open, and the individual instruments and voices have more room to breathe. It's a little too bright, though, but still very good.
Enjoyed both versions
Hope I haven't hurt anyone's feelings...
As always, you have interesting observations. I'm sure no feelings are hurt. If we were looking for something bigger out of this, I'd probably consider blending the two.... As per your recommendation, but it's just an experiment for fun.
Yes... Absolutely there's a few things in the ai version that I would have wanted to be better.... Noise in the tracks .... But... Yeah. Anyway.... Thanks for listening and giving an insightful response
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.com Add nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.
The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
Cool song. Excellent mix and production. I must say I like the music production from the first and the vocals from the original the best. Both very well done however. Happy New Year.
Having participated in that album we well remember this tune. And it spurred our interest resulting in reading about the situation.
In a perfect world this would go viral and rhinos would be saved. Even in our imperfect world we hope it generates a lot of attention to the betterment of the situation.
Music has the power to move things like that. Here's hoping!
J&B
Our albums and singles are on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora and more. If interested search on Janice Merritt. Thanks! Our Videos
Band-in-a-Box® 2026 Mac Special Offers Extended Until May 31st!
Good news- we've extended our Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac® special offers until May 31, 2026!
Band-in-a-Box® 2026 is packed with major new features, enhancements, and an incredible lineup of new content! The program now sports a sleek, modern GUI redesign across the entire interface, including updated toolbars, refreshed windows, smoother workflows, a new dark mode option, and more. The brand-new side toolbar provides quicker access to key windows, while the new Multi-View feature lets you arrange multiple windows as layered panels without overlap, creating a flexible, clutter-free workspace. We have an amazing new “AI-Notes” feature. This transcribes polyphonic audio into MIDI so you can view it in notation or play it back as MIDI. You can transcribe an entire track (all pitched instruments and drums) or focus on individual parts like drums, bass, guitars/piano, or vocals. There's an amazing collection of new content too, including 202 RealTracks, new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two RealDrums Stems sets, and much more!
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202 New RealTracks Released with Band-in-a-Box 2026!
With Band-in-a-Box® 2026, we've released 202 incredible new RealTracks (in sets 468-488) in a variety of genres—featuring your most requested styles!
Jazz, Funk & World (Sets 468-475):
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Our new rock & pop RealTracks bring a powerful mix of requested favorites, fresh genres, and modern chart-inspired styles! We have more of our popular “Producer Layered Acoustic Guitars (15)” featuring Band-in-a-Box favorite Brent Mason. We’ve continued our much-requested disco styles (10), and added new Celtic guitar (5) with a more basic, accessible approach than our previous Drop-D or DADGAD offerings. There are also highly requested yacht rock styles (17), inspired by the smooth, polished soft-rock sound of the late ’70s and early ’80s — laid-back grooves, silky electric pianos, warm textures, elegant harmonic movement, and pristine production aesthetics. Fans of heavier styles will love our new glam metal (13), capturing the flashy, high-energy sound of ’80s arena-ready guitar rock. We also have a set of rootsy modern-folk rock (18), with a warm, organic sound combining contemporary folk textures and driving acoustic strumming. And we’ve added lots of new modern pop styles (16) — the kinds of sounds you’re hearing on the radio today, featuring exciting new drums, synths, and cutting-edge RealTracks arrangements.
Country, & Americana (Sets 483–488):
Our new country & Americana RealTracks deliver a rich collection of acoustic, electric, and roots-inspired styles! We have new country pop (9) with legendary guitarist Brent Mason. There is also a potpourri (14) of bouzouki, guitars, banjo, and more, perfect for adding texture and character to contemporary acoustic arrangements. We’ve added funky country guitar (5) with PG favorite Brent Mason, along with classic pedal steel styles (5) featuring steel great Doug Jernigan. There are more country songwriter styles (8) that provide intimate, rootsy foundations for storytelling and modern Americana writing. Finally, we have “background soloing” acoustic guitar (12) with Brent Mason — simpler, but still very tasty acoustic lines designed to sit beautifully behind vocals or act as a subtle standalone solo part.
And, if you are looking for more, the 2026 49-PAK (for $49) includes an impressive collection of 20 bonus RealTracks, featuring exciting and inspiring additions to add to your RealTracks library. You'll get new country-rhythm guitar styles from PG Music favorites Johnny Hiland and Brent Mason, along with modern-pop grooves that capture today’s radio-ready sound! There are also new indie-folk styles with guitar, bass, 6-string bass used as a high-chording instrument, acoustic guitar, and banjo. Plus, dedicated "cymbal fills" RealDrums provide an added layer that work very well with low-key folky styles with other percussion.
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MIDI Styles Set 92: Look Ma! More MIDI 15: Latin Jazz
MIDI SuperTracks Set 46: Piano & Organ
Instrumental Studies Set 24: Groovin' Blues Soloing
Artist Performance Set 19: Songs with Vocals 9
Playable RealTracks Set 5
RealDrums Stems Set 9: Cool Brushes
SynthMaster Sounds Set 1 (with audio demos)
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20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums with 20 RealStyle.
FLAC Files (lossless audio files) for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums
MIDI Styles Set 93: Look Ma! More MIDI 16: SynthMaster
MIDI SuperTracks Set 47: More SynthMaster
Instrumental Studies 25 - Soul Jazz Guitar Soloing
Artist Performance Set 20: Songs with Vocals 10
RealDrums Stems Set 10: Groovin' Sticks
SynthMaster Sounds & Styles Set 2 (sounds & styles with audio demos)
XPro & Xtra Styles PAK Sets On Sale Now - Until May 15, 2026!
All of our XPro Styles PAKs and Xtra Styles PAKs are on sale until May 15th, 2026!
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