Good afternoon folks, The merits of working with the Merritts are many and varied.
I recently had the opportunity to write a song with Janice and here it is, fully formed and wonderfully informed by her voice & melodic sense, for your ears & eyes. It's a finished piece, mastered et al, but ANY feedback is most welcome.
RECORDING DETAILS: Janice tracked & treated by Bud. The vocal FX chain: Izotope Breath Control > Nectar EQ > Nectar Compression > Nectar Reverb The slight reverb is an EMT 140 Plate Reverb sim.
The band/instruments: 735 Piano Acoustic Rhythm Jazz ballad Hipass filter Real Drums Jazz Brushes - sticks 1065 Trumpet soloist smooth bluesy w slap back delay, quite a bit of Multiriffing as well as cut n paste work.
The additional stuff: Bass - Emperador semi acoustic flat wound strings BDI21 HEAVILY compressed Guitar - Bruno Royal Artist semi acoustic, neck pickup DI hipass + trem
Mastered by Fran Ashcroft at HappyBeat Studio.
Words (because they do matter to some folk) Back in your arms I'd Learn, listen & grow, There was purpose in the meaning I'd have to take it slow. I'd learn through living They'd teach me with pain. I'd take the experience They'd each leave a stain. Look around you and know where you stand. Be sure that the soil Is part of the land.
But be careful of The seed that you sow Be certain which fruit Is going to grow We want no death in the soil, No blood at the root, no!
Back on the farm they'd Reap, tend & sow, There was effort in the weeding But some would have to go. They'd avoid using poison As that'd taint the soil. They'd put in the hours They'd put in the toil. Look around you and Know where you stand. Be sure that the soil Is true to the land.
But be careful of The seed that you sow. Be certain which fruit You've chosen to grow We want no death in the soil, No blood at the root, no!
SOLO
Back in time they'd Learn, listen & grow. The fear on which they're feeding And their anger would glow. With their bread they were learning Old lies, oh so plain. Old newspapers said There'd be nothing but pain. They looked around and, Took up flame & gun. Assured that their victims Had no place to run.
But be careful of The seed that you sow. In choosing which fruit You've elected to grow We want no death in the soil, No blood at the root, no!
Last edited by rayc; 08/15/2310:41 AM.
Cheers rayc "What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
This is an exceptional piece of music... The writing, performance, video and production is of the highest caliber. The RTs sound tremendous - what a great jazz band.
I am truly blown away by the vocal - no one does this type of music like Janice. Her performance is superb - controlled, emotional and recorded perfectly.
AWESOME collaboration! Would also love to hear this in a SoundCloud link if possible.
Oh, I already told you how much I love this song. What a great sultry feel, and Janice is the perfect choice. Oh, man, it's all so good. It's a really good video, too. Such a good write, and the best band mixed so well. Very interesting changes with a strong Blues melody. Doesn't get any better.
Enjoy whatever happens! marty
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@babumusic51 SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/marty-straub Band in a Box, Reaper, Cakewalk, Ozone 12, EZDrummer
This is an exceptional piece of music... The writing, performance, video and production is of the highest caliber. The RTs sound tremendous - what a great jazz band.
I am truly blown away by the vocal - no one does this type of music like Janice. Her performance is superb - controlled, emotional and recorded perfectly.
AWESOME collaboration! Would also love to hear this in a SoundCloud link if possible.
Bob
Bob, I truly appreciate your music and that makes your comments about my performance even more meaningful. Thank you, Janice
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
Dark and powerful lyrics, real nice chord changes and melody, well sung and produced. The video was interesting, I listened to it with and without watching.
Very interesting composition...very well arranged and performed...love the trumpet solos and Janice's vocal was spot on with the wandering melody and the bluesy feel of the entire piece...well done to all!
www.soundclick.com/firesong BiaB 2024, Steinberg Cubase Pro 13, Wavelab 11.2, SpetraLayers Pro 10, Audacity, Steinberg UR44 Interface, Yamaha Genos, Roland FP60 and FP10, Windows 10
You are who you are because you do what you do because of what you believe.
Talents collide! Haunting, dark and beautiful. Unusual, emotional music, double edged lyrics amplified by deep Janice's vocals. Cool experimental tune. Ray, bass is great, guitar a little quiet. It's done professionally and listens well. I am a fan of old time imagery, I found video interesting. Congrats to all participants and thank you for sharing.
Well, Ray. I must admit I never got Jazz but I can appreciate the work involved, lyrics and all. The only thing I found slightly irritating was the too up front, upright bass. Clever stuff.
I found there was a lot to process in the song. I wasn't sure if the song was meant to be more metaphor than actual event, but kept wondering what event that might be. So when I heard "they", I kept wondering who that could be referring to.
I figured it was likely metaphor because you generally don't sow fruit. Then it mentioned a newspaper and victims having nowhere to run, which sounds far too specific to be metaphor.
Bouncing between those two was just confusing to me.
The use of jazz also threw me, since that particular style is usually for an entirely different subject matter.
So while it was well done it didn't draw me in emotionally because I kept thinking about the form and content.
But there's nothing the matter with music that makes me think, so I can't really complain.
My only real nit is that Janice's voice feels a bit muffled, like someone cut the high end off. It's not the plate reverb, since I can hear that.
Ray, Janice & Bud, This is an exceptional piece of music... The writing, performance, video and production is of the highest caliber. The RTs sound tremendous - what a great jazz band. I am truly blown away by the vocal - no one does this type of music like Janice. Her performance is superb - controlled, emotional and recorded perfectly. AWESOME collaboration! Would also love to hear this in a SoundCloud link if possible. Bob
Thank you Bob, a very generous appraisal and one I'll bank any day. Soundcloud link added as per your request.
Cheers rayc "What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
Oh, I already told you how much I love this song. What a great sultry feel, and Janice is the perfect choice. Oh, man, it's all so good. It's a really good video, too. Such a good write, and the best band mixed so well. Very interesting changes with a strong Blues melody. Doesn't get any better.
Thank you Marty, the changes are me shuffling around in A again though with some influence from God Bless The Child. Yes sir, Janice is as you describe.
Cheers rayc "What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
I hear your writing style in there. I hear Janice singing the way she does the best. Nicely done to both of you and everyone else involved in this project.
Thanks, Yes, my stain is hard to miss but Janice's top coat makes up for an awful lot of my bad brush work.
Cheers rayc "What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
Dark and powerful lyrics, real nice chord changes and melody, well sung and produced. The video was interesting, I listened to it with and without watching.
Thanks for going the extra kilometre Elliott. There's an audio link in the O.P. now.
Cheers rayc "What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
Very interesting composition...very well arranged and performed...love the trumpet solos and Janice's vocal was spot on with the wandering melody and the bluesy feel of the entire piece...well done to all!
Why, thank you sir.
Cheers rayc "What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
Janice, Ray, and Bud, this is one outstanding collaboration. Janice's vocals are always top shelf. The mix is spot on. Fantastic trumpet leads. All I can add is WOW!
Ta Mario, I had the trumpet in mind from the get go - given the major influence on this song is Elvis Costello's Shipbuilding and Lady Day's Strange Fruit.
Cheers rayc "What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
Talents collide! Haunting, dark and beautiful. Unusual, emotional music, double edged lyrics amplified by deep Janice's vocals. Cool experimental tune. Ray, bass is great, guitar a little quiet. It's done professionally and listens well. I am a fan of old time imagery, I found video interesting. Congrats to all participants and thank you for sharing. Misha.
Thanks Misha, My guitar playing isn't really up to the standard the RT & Janice set but I gave it a bash and set it at a level that didn't damage the rest.
Cheers rayc "What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Windows Special Offers End Tomorrow (January 15th, 2026) at 11:59 PM PST!
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There are over 100 new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®.
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In this video, we explore the updated Piano Roll, complete with a modernized look and exciting new features. You’ll see new filtering options that make it easy to focus on specific note groups, smoother and more intuitive note entry and editing, and enhanced options for zooming, looping, and more.
Band-in-a-Box 2026 Video: AI Stems & Notes - split polyphonic audio into instruments and transcribe
This video demonstrates how to use the new AI-Notes feature together with the AI-Stems splitter, allowing you to select an audio file and have it separated into individual stems while transcribing each one to its own MIDI track. AI-Notes converts polyphonic audio—either full mixes or individual instruments—into MIDI that you can view in notation or play back instantly.
Bonus PAK and 49-PAK for Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®
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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
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SynthMaster Sounds Set 1 (with audio demos)
Android Band-in-a-Box® App (included)
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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)
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