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.
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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.
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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
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