Originally Posted By: Cathie
In that case, I would definitely choose the version with the straight accompaniment and no time change. But you might consider just eliminating that bar between the bridge and the chorus altogether, because when I listen to it (and I just did again), I find myself expecting the chorus to start pretty seamlessly from the ending of the bridge.

And although you didn't ask for this and should feel free to disregard it if it doesn't fit your vision for the song, I really missed the fingerpicking from the chorus when you changed the style at the bridge. It would flow more smoothly if the style stays the same, and that smooth flow is part of the song's appeal... I'm thinking it could easily be a meditation song during a church service, and those songs are all about creating and sustaining serenity, you know? But again, if this doesn't fit your vision, you should disregard it.

Thanks again for your input on the style change during the bridge that adversely affected the fingerpicking guitars. I thought that I would have to substitute a different piano or a completely different instrument in order to achieve the same effect without adversely affecting the fingerpicking guitars, but the fix actually turned to be much simpler and easier than that. All I needed to do was change the piano from stereo to mono, which eliminated the interference that had existed in both the left and right speakers. This change enabled me to retain the "fast-paced" effect of the piano without the interference. Another slight change I made was to change the drum track during the bridge from normal time to double time. This further enhanced the "fast-paced" effect that I wanted to achieve.

Regarding your suggestion for me to use triplets on the bridge vocals only, I am definitely in agreement with that because the instruments sound way too fast with the triplet effect (which is actually the equivalent of a 50% boost in bpm). But after listening to my Demo #6 version numerous times, the bridge vocals seemed as if they still needed a little something more than just the triplet effect. So, I did some experimenting with a very slight and gradual tempo change leading up to and continuing through the bridge and found that an additional 1 bpm boost in the tempo for six consecutive measures was just enough to do the trick without producing any of the objectionable "jarring" effects that exists in my Demo #5 version. IOW, I gradually increased the tempo from 100 bpm to 106 bpm for the bridge and then dropped it back down again to 100 for the rest of the song. I have to thank Steve (sslechta) and MarioD for their recommendations on how to create such a tempo change with a transition that wouldn't be noticeable to the listener. However, because I only increased the tempo by 1 bpm per measure instead of by 2 bpm per measure (as Steve did in his example), I was able to create a smooth enough transition using BiaB instead of a DAW.

In response to your comment about "expecting the chorus to start pretty seamlessly from the ending of the bridge," I think there needs to be a slight pause between the end of the bridge and the start of the chorus to complement the effect of the "hold" on all of the instruments. In fact, if you watch the notes as they're being played in the video, you'll see that the instrumental "hold" occurs at the beginning of the same measure in which the pickup note for the chorus begins. So, I really can't bring these two any closer together than they are. You'll also see, though, that I removed the 3/4 measure to eliminate any confusion or misunderstanding that its presence may cause. However, the transition from the bridge into the chorus is still the same as it's been in all of the demos I created for this song, including my newest demo (Demo #8) which I think is the best I can do until I'm able to have a real vocalist sing and record a vocal track for this song. You can listen to my newest demo at the link below:

https://youtu.be/UZyiAtMC45E

Thanks again to you and to everyone else for your feedback, suggestions, and recommendations on this song. It's made a huge difference and has resulted in a much better version of this song than I would have been able to create otherwise on my own.

Tom Levan (pronounced La-VAN)
BiaB 2024 Win UltraPAK Build 1109, Xtra Style PAKs 1-11, RB 2024, Windows 10 Pro 64-bit, Intel Q9650 3 GHz, 16 GB RAM, 500 GB SSD & 2 TB HDD, Tracktion 6 & 7 (freebies), Cakewalk, Audacity, MuseScore 2.1 & 3.4, Synthesizer V