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David,

This sounds really good! I love that jazzy/pop sound! I'm not familiar with the use of those synthesized vocals but they sound pretty good, especially the bgvox! Great tune! Thanks, Torrey

Hi, Bob.

Thanks! I think I'm getting better at using it, and it's getting improved through regular releases.

One thing I hadn't expected was how the voice quality of the singer would impact the songs. I know it's obvious in retrospect, but - for example - the soft voice has a different "attitude" than a harder voice, so a hard rock song wouldn't work.

There's a new SOLARIA voice being released next month. It'll be interesting to see what direction that voice take me in.

Glad you had a chance to listen.

David you are a master at synthesizer vocals and this sounds very real to these old ears.

Your best to date IMHO

Hi David,

You must have put a lot of effort in creating this song, with the vocals, the harmonies and the band.
The melody is very lovely, with sweet lyrics. And I must say the vocals sound more human now!
The harmonies are done very well. I could learn from that. So, I am impressed that all your working with these artificial vocals brought you this far. Hats off!

Still, the band is a bit to static and modest (if that is the word here). Maybe you could use some real tracks from BiaB that 'live' a bit more. And also the vocals are also a bit lifeless. They need to sparkle more, but I think that will be a hell of a job to achieve.

As I said, I am impressed!
Happy Newyear,
Hans

Hi, Torrey.

Thanks! I love all those '70s sounds that BiaB has, and I don't think it's possible for me to write a song without using a bunch of major 7th chords.


I'm glad you enjoyed it!

One nice thing about robots is that they don't complain there's a difficult interval to sing. I'm probably forming some bad songwriting habits because of this.

And being able to write background vocals that intertwine with the primary like this is a lot of fun.

Thanks for the positive feedback!

Thanks, Mario!

I suspect that when other people start posting using synthetic vocals, you'll find that it's more the software than me. But I'll take the compliments while I can.


Thanks! Good to hear.

Hi, Hans.

Thanks, I'm glad the song works for you.

I'd like to take credit here on the voice, but I suspect it's mostly because the software has improved, and this song is a better fit for the range of the voice.



There's not a lot of back and forth in pop songs, although there are some exceptions. The Christmas song "Baby, It's Cold Outside" comes to mind.


You're right - there's not as much interplay in the instruments as there could be.

Part of the reason is that I had initially written this in another key, and the guitar part worked with the vocal a bit better. When I transposed it, I lost a bit of that.

I also rely more on rhythm instruments, and don't have as much variety in the arrangement as I could have done. I was a bit more focused on getting it finished than building the arrangement as much as I could.

I suspect that adding a better bass track could help. Maybe I'll see if I can get my son to play one.


Thanks again!

I appreciate the feedback, both positive and negative!

Hi David,

Very nice song and enjoyed the vocals - I can't believe they are synthesized - wow!

Best Regards
Nigel

David,

Very nice song!
Excellent melody and chord progression.
The use of Synthesizer V is very fine as usual.
Enjoyed my listen a lot.

Best regards.

Shigeki Adachi

Hi, Nigel.

Yes, the technology is pretty amazing. It's a bit mind-boggling to go back and compare where it was a decade or two ago.

Thanks for the positive feedback!

Hi, Shigeki.

Thanks, that means a lot coming from you!

Although I stick to the circle of fifths a lot, I try to make the chords a bit interesting, which often leads to some melodies I wouldn't have ordinarily tried.

I'm glad you could get a chance to listen to it.

Hi David ...

Well, I did read "ALL" of your introductory info. Most of it was Greek - or some other foreign language - to me. You've probably read how archaic and simplistic my recording process is.

The lead vocal was quite nice. What I really enjoyed was the counterpoint vocals - they really add to the entire project. Nice sax solo and a terrific mix for the entire song.

At near 75 years old, my ears sometimes lie to me or just ignore everything other folks hear - but .... do I hear a small bit of vibrato in the Eleanor's voice? If I am correct in that assumption, perhaps that is why I think she is sounding more and more human as her vocal history has unfolded. Also, I always love your chord progressions. I love playing around with chord interactions and see how I can come up with something different and interesting but isn't exceptionally jolting.

I admire your persistence, creativity and overall production skills. Impressive!

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and the best New Year ever ...

Alan

Nice title leads to the right mood which is expressed very well in the slightly positive lyrics, in the verse melody and the instrumentation, I really like the guitars. 70's feel in the band and chording, although I cannot recall the female artist whose music it reminds me. Somehow also reminds me of songs in Japanese anime movies... Interesting to read your production details, quite a lot of engineering, anyway very good work with Eleanor and those counter parts are impressive.

Janne

Hi, Alan.

Well, you are a glutton for punishment!

The right perspective on this is that my process is overly complicated, and you're doing something right.


Yes, the counterpoint is the fun bit. The underlying melody and vocals are hard work, as is the mixing and fine tuning.

But the counterlines - those are fun to do. So it's good to hear they sound good as well.


Yes, there's a lot of expressiveness in the vocal, including vibrato.

This version of Eleanor is an "AI" version, which uses a neural network to generate the voice. There's a slight hit to the vocal quality, but it's generally a bit better in overall expressiveness.

Also, it's been trained on fine pitch detail, so you have an option to "humanize" the singing, which makes it more natural than if it were just randomly jittering the voice.

There's also fairly fine level of detail that can be performed manually, and I've written some script to help me with adding things like progressive vibrato.



Thanks, I appreciate you noticing and mentioning that!

Merry Christmas, and I hope this year brings the best to you and Di.

Hi, Janne.

I like a sad song as much as anyone, and was planning on doing a super-sad sort of thing with lush strings and an english horn.

I was also hoped to do a more "Carpenters" sound with the vocals, but wasn't having a lot of luck with the thickened harmony lines.

But I'm happy with how it turned out, even if it was more upbeat and positive than I'd initially intended. Songs seem to go the way they want to go.


And I'm happy to see the Production Notes didn't bore you to tears.

Thanks for stopping by!

David,

Goodness! it takes a while to read your threads (especially if you've been away or don't have time to get to it for a few days)!!

I do enjoy the fact that you document your thoughts and processes. Interesting reading. Your thoughtful responses to comments, too...

The BAND/tracks sound great. The opening gave me a Steely-Dan-vibe...great company to be in... the mix is tight.

The robot voices ARE impressive (technologically). But...it seems as though "they all sound the same". Not just your use of them, but ALL uses of them. You do a hell of a job getting them to sing with a good cadence. But...they, inevitably, lack true emotion.

You write very cool melodies. However, (I didn't want to say "But..." again ) This one feels like a trying-too-hard moment. The melody "bounces" a lot. Ups and downs - which works at times, then, at times, just feels like it is up-and-downing unnecessarily - which begins to sound forced. There actually needs to be more "sameness" ("even-ness"?) to the melody to make it sound "natural", not "manufactured".

...this is in NO WAY intended to suggest what you are doing is not VERY impressive (all aspects of it). It's VERY impressive. The acoustic sounds wonderful! The harmonies are exquisite. The drums are tasty!

You are a very talented musician and songwriter and producer.


fj

I started out thinking, "just give it time", then tried to imagine what the future might be like.

I succeeded in scaring myself.

Imagine this:

It's 2035. (David might be able to project a little more precisely.)

You initialize a singer by firing it up and interacting with it. You start off with some unscripted casual chit-chat to get both of you comfortable, then move on to singing together.

At first, it sounds like you are chatting with a robot. But as the training progresses, the singer learns from you and emulates you.

Eventually, it sounds like you are singing a duet with another you. Spooky!

Then, the emulation becomes so perfect you can no longer hear the other voice at all. You can only tell you're not alone by watching the meter.

You try to throw it curves, singing off-key or off-beat or with totally inappropriate affect, but it anticipates you perfectly.

Beep beep, your singer is trained.

Man, this sounds really cool!

I love the music. Robot voices will always be that, no matter how much they "improve" I suppose, but I am impressed by what you are able to do with technology for sure!

Merry Christmas!

David,

you are really making progress on Synth5 and the Eleanor/ANRI . I now too own the Pro versions and look forward to learning how to tweak/tune the software. i look forward to following your AI blog too

Hi, floyd jane.

I do tend to write a lot. A lot is re-processing what I'd tried to do with a particular song, and see where I'd hit or missed particular marks. Plus, songwriting and production tends to be a very solitary process, so it's really helpful to talk and get feedback from other songwriters and producers - especially those I admire!

So I appreciate all feedback, both positive and negative. It helps confirm places where I already think I need to improve, and point out places I've entirely missed.

I'm not just bumping my post.


Good to hear! I'm a big fan of Steely Dan, and the Alan Parsons Project, and I suspect I'm more producer than songwriter.

But that also leads to problems when I figure I can fix something via production rather than going back and fixing fundamental things like a hyperactive melody. It ends up pretty, but still fundamentally flawed.


I hear what you're saying. I've spent a long time trying to get my own vocal synthesis program off the ground, and no matter how much improvement I've done, there's always a huge gap between what it does and what a real singer can do.

And I always feel sad when I hear someone who uses strings with a "cheap" MIDI library, because it feels like it just lets the song down. So when it's the vocals, which are the key to the song, it's even more so!

A lot of these songs simply wouldn't have been possible to do without a vocal synthesizer, since my home is currently anything but ideal for vocals. But I've also got a house full of singers (myself included), so I should make more of an effort to get real vocals on my songs in New Year.

In the meantime, thanks for putting up with the robots!


Yeah, it's a "threading the needle" thing for me, and I'm obviously not there yet.

My verses often feel like they're trying to be the chorus. I'm spending too much effort trying to outline the chord changes and create interesting lines, but that's not really the job of the verse.

I think part of the problem is the way that it's created. I'll start with chords, when melody is the real driver of the song. Then I'll build the melody up one phrase at a time, without enough attention to how it matches what's gone before. Then I go back and try to make it more unified, but still focus on the micro level of the melody.

In the future, I'll try to re-use motives, have less ideas, and avoid using so many leaps that sound lovely, but are out of place in the verse.


No, I appreciate the honesty here.

And thanks for mentioning the drums.


And, of course, I appreciate any praise in addition to constructive feedback!

Thanks again. It's always good to hear from you!