|
Log in to post
|
Print Thread |
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 8,201
Veteran
|
OP
Veteran
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 8,201 |
Hi, David. Thanks!  Hey, if you ever need someone who can pull off Tom Waits, give me a holler, but give me enough time to run out and grab some filterless Pall Malls and some Cutty Sark. I assume the Cutty Sark is to dull the pain of singing your throat raw...  Love this tune sir. Well done. You're too kind. Thanks again!
-- David Cuny My virtual singer development blogVocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?BiaB 2025 | Windows 11 | Reaper | Way too many VSTis.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 2,617
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 2,617 |
This is so, so beautiful! Well done, in absolutely every way. One thing did jump out at me:
"Time for wishing on the starry sky
and forgetting what I've known"
I just love those couple of lines, but the whole thing is superb. The duet of the two singers, towards the end, also really worked, for me. One of those songs that I am going to listen to, for at least one more time.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 3,706
Veteran
|
Veteran
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 3,706 |
Wow! This is just a lovely, lovely song. Really like all the little touches that perfectly support the song without sounding forced. Hard work like that is sometimes best when the listener doesn't notice it and just enjoys the song. Love the intertwined vocals at the end, but the male vocal MIGHT be a little further back in the mix. That's my only (slight) quibble. You've really set that bar quite high with this song!!
DC Ron
BiaB Audiophile
Presonus Studio One
ASUS I9-12900K DAW, 32 GB RAM
Presonus Faderport 16
Too many guitars (is that a thing?)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Jul 2015
Posts: 5,665
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Jul 2015
Posts: 5,665 |
David,
What a lovely song! The vast amount of instrumentation used in this is incredible and the overall production is deserving of a lot of praise....much more than you will probably receive in the forum! I have a bit of an idea about how much work went into this and appreciate the effort put into the song! The synth vox work is excellent!
Thanks, T
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 4,599
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 4,599 |
Very nice gentle intro and then the beautiful melody and a great voice start... very pleasant tune, kind of Christmas/winter feeling with lovely dreamy lyrics "time for wishing on the starry sky/and forgetting what I've known". Great work with the arrangement, so many nice details, but still simplicity rules. And of course, Natalie doesn't fail  It would be interesting to hear this sung by a male, though. Janne
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 12,921
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 12,921 |
David,
A Lovely Opening. Listened to it 4 times before moving on.
I then did the same thing with the first verse. WHAT a Perfect combination of instruments - mixed Perfectly. It is a Gorgeous sound. Quality Producer Guy stuff. Drums, bass, guitar and vocal - perfect levels.
The vocals on Mister Allistacious section gave me chills. The melody sounds like James Taylor should be singing it and the harmonies have a sound close to Joni Mitchell and Linda Ronstadt backing him up....
The string interlude before "Ollie Uncle Elephant" is Tasteful.
The fiddle was Quite impressive. I have yet to read your notes, so I'm hoping you talk about how you got that to "suggest" the melody...
The french horn was nice. The "just a little bit" was a nice touch. And the ending string quartet. Again, Quality Producer Guy stuff...
Your work with the girls is Stunning. Getting closer-to-real all the time (it is getting hard to know since we are hearing these girls sing ALL the time. You get accustomed to it.)
A beautifully written song. (I had to go back and listen again - to the lyrics - because there was so much good stuff going on I couldn't listen to the words...)
This is real quality work.
fj
So I read the notes. Now I'm even MORE impressed. Impressive work on the piano, the strings, the controller. The SWAM instruments are incredible.
So, you played the violin solo on a keyboard?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 8,201
Veteran
|
|
OP
Veteran
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 8,201 |
Hi, James. This is so, so beautiful! Well done, in absolutely every way. One thing did jump out at me:
"Time for wishing on the starry sky
and forgetting what I've known"
I just love those couple of lines, but the whole thing is superb. The duet of the two singers, towards the end, also really worked, for me. One of those songs that I am going to listen to, for at least one more time. Thanks! The duet at the end was just something I stumbled on. The song needed something different, and I'd just gotten the Hayden voice. He's an interesting contrast to Natalie. I started playing around with a counter-line, and... Oooh, that's pretty... happened. I'm glad that you enjoyed listening!
-- David Cuny My virtual singer development blogVocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?BiaB 2025 | Windows 11 | Reaper | Way too many VSTis.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 8,201
Veteran
|
|
OP
Veteran
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 8,201 |
Hi, Ron. Wow! This is just a lovely, lovely song. Really like all the little touches that perfectly support the song without sounding forced. Hard work like that is sometimes best when the listener doesn't notice it and just enjoys the song. Thanks! Love the intertwined vocals at the end, but the male vocal MIGHT be a little further back in the mix. That's my only (slight) quibble. You've really set that bar quite high with this song!! I went back and forth on placing that vocal part, and I may revisit it again. When I first started with the backing vocals, they were way too up-front. I moved them back, and like magic they sounded much better. So that part might move back a bit more as well - we'll see. Thanks for the feedback and encouragement!
-- David Cuny My virtual singer development blogVocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?BiaB 2025 | Windows 11 | Reaper | Way too many VSTis.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 8,201
Veteran
|
|
OP
Veteran
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 8,201 |
Hi, Torrey. What a lovely song! The vast amount of instrumentation used in this is incredible and the overall production is deserving of a lot of praise....much more than you will probably receive in the forum! I have a bit of an idea about how much work went into this and appreciate the effort put into the song! The synth vox work is excellent! Thanks! I wish the writing for the strings was more melodic. It does the job, but I had planned on writing something a bit stronger. Unfortunately, sometimes there's a wide gap between what I want and what actually comes out. I'm pleased enough with it, but it reminds me that I need to work more on my string writing. And while I appreciate the sentiment, I'm more than happy with the praise I've gotten from the forum - especially since people here know exactly what it takes to make a song!
-- David Cuny My virtual singer development blogVocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?BiaB 2025 | Windows 11 | Reaper | Way too many VSTis.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 8,201
Veteran
|
|
OP
Veteran
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 8,201 |
Hi, Janne. Very nice gentle intro and then the beautiful melody and a great voice start... very pleasant tune, kind of Christmas/winter feeling with lovely dreamy lyrics "time for wishing on the starry sky/and forgetting what I've known". Thanks! Writing hard, rocking songs doesn't seem to be my wheelhouse, but sleepy, pleasant songs - I'll take that, thank you very much. Great work with the arrangement, so many nice details, but still simplicity rules. And of course, Natalie doesn't fail It would be interesting to hear this sung by a male, though. I was quite pleased with how well Natalie sung the song. The other voices didn't seem to come close to her level of expression. Although... I may try using Natalie's expression with a male voice. While the male voices are pleasant, but the female voices just seem to have a level of emoting that the male voices can't get close to... yet. Thanks for stopping and commenting!
-- David Cuny My virtual singer development blogVocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?BiaB 2025 | Windows 11 | Reaper | Way too many VSTis.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 8,201
Veteran
|
|
OP
Veteran
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 8,201 |
Hi, floyd jane. A Lovely Opening. Listened to it 4 times before moving on.
I then did the same thing with the first verse. WHAT a Perfect combination of instruments - mixed Perfectly. It is a Gorgeous sound. Quality Producer Guy stuff. Drums, bass, guitar and vocal - perfect levels. You certainly know how to make a songwriter feel good about their song! The vocals on Mister Allistacious section gave me chills. The melody sounds like James Taylor should be singing it and the harmonies have a sound close to Joni Mitchell and Linda Ronstadt backing him up.... Now that's my dream team... Although Karla Bonoff would be nice, too. The string interlude before "Ollie Uncle Elephant" is Tasteful. I mentioned in my notes that I had higher hopes for it, but my brain wasn't putting out anything particularly distinctive. So there are a some pleasant "gestures" between the parts of the string section, but I really need to spend some more time working on getting my individual string parts to feel more cohesive. I'm happy with how it came out, but I listen to arrangements done by George Martin for The Beatles or America, and think That's how it's done!. The fiddle was Quite impressive. I have yet to read your notes, so I'm hoping you talk about how you got that to "suggest" the melody... That part was played using my EWI. It's the same sort of wind controller that Mario uses. As an aside - breath controlled instruments (using a wind controller or breath controller) are a fantastic development. I can play all sorts of instruments - strings, brass, double reeds - that I'd never be able to play in real life with a degree of control that is staggering. Even if you don't have a breath controller, you can still control the instruments via the mod wheel and play then strictly with a keyboard. But as a singer, I find the wind controller very natural. I originally played a Sample Modeling cornet on the part. I've got a very schmaltzy playing style, with lots of breath controlled vibrato. I thought it sounded good and provided a good contrast, but my wife (and Deej) thought it was too out of character with the rest of the song, so I changed it to a Sample Modeling violin. I was able to use the same MIDI data, and just swapped out the instruments. I did make a few minor tweaks to the melody to better lead into the vocal entry on the second half. Your work with the girls is Stunning. Getting closer-to-real all the time (it is getting hard to know since we are hearing these girls sing ALL the time. You get accustomed to it.) I sent a link to my old choir director, who asked if it was synthetic, or and actual singer. I figure that if a singer knows it's probably synthetic but still has to ask, I must be doing something right. One more tangent. Right now, there are still a limited number of singers available, and it's fairly easy to recognize specific voices. There's a technology called RVC (retrieval voice cloning) will make it possible to train an neural network to replace an existing voice with another voice. The performance remains, but the timbre of the voice is changed. It's expensive to record all the material needed to create a new voice, but it's fairly cheap to train a neural network using RVC. So I expect in the near future there will be a wider variety of voices available using this sort of technology. A beautifully written song. (I had to go back and listen again - to the lyrics - because there was so much good stuff going on I couldn't listen to the words...) Thanks again, I really appreciate your kind praise!
-- David Cuny My virtual singer development blogVocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?BiaB 2025 | Windows 11 | Reaper | Way too many VSTis.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 20,587
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 20,587 |
Hi David.
My gosh. This is stunning listening. The orchestration is extraordinary, and the skill with which you have created a musical journey is very, very impressive. Everything fits together perfectly. I love the song; it's melody and lyrics. It's very easy to listen to. I was pulled into the story telling immediately and I was mesmerized by the words, their images and how they flowed. And now that I know a little bit about Synth V, I want to congratulate you on your work with Natalie. It's easy for me to appreciate now just how much time you have spent tweaking the length and strength of the component parts of syllables as well as tweaking performance components. You have achieved a level of realism in Natalie's enunciation and vocalization that I'm still trying to obtain.
All in all, this is one heck of an impressive composition and presentation.
All the best.
--Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 8,201
Veteran
|
|
OP
Veteran
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 8,201 |
Hi, Noel. My gosh. This is stunning listening. The orchestration is extraordinary, and the skill with which you have created a musical journey is very,
very impressive. Well... thank you! You've a master of superlatives! It's easy for me to appreciate now just how much time you have spent tweaking the length and strength of the component parts of syllables as well as tweaking performance components. You have achieved a level of realism in Natalie's enunciation and vocalization that I'm still trying to obtain. I think you've giving me too much credit here - it's more that Natalie's style fits the song, rather than me doing a lot of tweaks. If there was something that wasn't working, my first impulse was to figure out how to change it so it worked with Natalie, not the other way around. All in all, this is one heck of an impressive composition and presentation. Thanks again, I appreciate you taking the time to listen carefully and the thought you put into your response!
-- David Cuny My virtual singer development blogVocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?BiaB 2025 | Windows 11 | Reaper | Way too many VSTis.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Feb 2016
Posts: 2,361
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Feb 2016
Posts: 2,361 |
David ...that was gorgeous...every aspect (and there are too many to mention) of the production is exquisite...the melody is beautiful and captivating...please tell Natalie that she did such a great job...you should work with her again I loved it!
www.soundclick.com/firesongBiaB 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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 16,136
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 16,136 |
The lyric and melody are heartwarming and had us both smiling as we looked at our “old friends” up on the shelf from our childhoods.
Natalie does evoke Karen Carpenter’s voice in this a lot and the outro duet with Kevin is great.
The other bgv’s were very good and we thought of Beach Boys harmonies during the chorus following the Ollie Uncle Elephant verse. Nice!
We also enjoyed the music box and Celeste and English horn and, wow, the strings were lovely.
Each listen gets better!
J&B
PS Thanks for the backstory and track data.
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
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 2,567
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 2,567 |
Lovely vocal, David.
Like Ray though I think you should ditch the snare. It sounds too mechanical for such a warm and gentle sound overall.
Good one.
Vic
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 24,717
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 24,717 |
David, you are a master at the synth voices.
Outstanding song, gotta love those Swam instruments.
The vocals are crystal clear, the instruments sound great, and the mix was spot on.
Loved it.
I arrived early to a restaurant.
The manager asks, "do you mind waiting a bit?"
I said no.
"Good", he said. "Take these drinks to table 3"
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 2,281
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 2,281 |
Gosh! this is absolutely beautiful all around. Great production. Loved it!
Mike B.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 8,201
Veteran
|
|
OP
Veteran
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 8,201 |
Hi, Dan. David ...that was gorgeous...every aspect (and there are too many to mention) of the production is exquisite...the melody is beautiful and captivating... Wow! Thanks! please tell Natalie that she did such a great job...you should work with her again The problem is that I like her voice so much, she keeps getting all the songs! I need to give the other voices a chance, too! Thanks for listening and commenting!
-- David Cuny My virtual singer development blogVocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?BiaB 2025 | Windows 11 | Reaper | Way too many VSTis.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 8,201
Veteran
|
|
OP
Veteran
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 8,201 |
Hi, Janice & Bud The lyric and melody are heartwarming and had us both smiling as we looked at our “old friends” up on the shelf from our childhoods. Natalie does evoke Karen Carpenter’s voice in this a lot and the outro duet with Kevin is great. Yeah, I think she's awesome in the lower register. The other bgv’s were very good and we thought of Beach Boys harmonies during the chorus following the Ollie Uncle Elephant verse. Nice! I staggered the vocals, and forgot about it until I brought it into the DAW. When I heard them in context, I was surprised how nicely they came out. We also enjoyed the music box and Celeste and English horn and, wow, the strings were lovely. Thanks! It's nice to finally use some of those pretty sounds in songs! PS Thanks for the backstory and track data. Of course! It's nice to know that someone reads it. Glad to hear from you!
-- David Cuny My virtual singer development blogVocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?BiaB 2025 | Windows 11 | Reaper | Way too many VSTis.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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!
It's the perfect time to expand your Band-in-a-Box® style library with XPro and Xtra Styles PAKs. These additional styles for Band-in-a-Box® offer a wide range of genres designed to fit seamlessly into your projects. Each style is professionally arranged and mixed, helping enhance your songs while saving you time.
What are XPro Styles and Xtra Styles PAKs?
XPro Styles PAKs are styles that work with any version (Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition) of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 (or higher). XPro Styles PAKS 1-10 includes 1,000 styles!
Xtra Styles PAKs are styles that work with the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 (or higher). Xtra Styles PAKs 1-21 includes 3,700 styles (and 35 MIDI styles)!
The XPro & Xtra Styles PAKs are not included in any Band-in-a-Box® package.
The XPro Styles PAKs 1-10 are available for only $29 ea (reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Listen to demos and order now! For Mac or for Windows.
The Xtra Styles PAKs 1-21 are available for only $29 ea (reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the Xtra Styles PAK Bundle for only $199 (reg. $349)! Listen to demos and order now! For Mac or for Windows.
Note: XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2025 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 19 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version as they require the RealTracks included in the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
Supercharge your Band-in-a-Box today with XPro Styles PAKs and Xtra Styles PAK Sets!
Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Mac Videos
With the release of Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac, we’re rolling out a collection of brand-new videos on our YouTube channel. We’ll keep this forum post updated so you can easily find all the latest videos in one convenient spot.
Whether you're exploring new features, checking out the latest RealTracks or Style PAKs, this is your go-to guide for Band-in-a-Box® 2026.
Check out this forum post for "One Stop Shopping" of our Band-in-a-Box® 2026 Mac Videos!
Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Mac is Here!
Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac is here and it is packed with major new features! There’s a new modern look, a GUI redesign to all areas of the program including toolbars, windows, workflow and more. There’s a Multi-view layout for organizing multiple windows. A standout addition is the powerful AI-Notes feature, which uses AI neural-net technology to transcribe polyphonic audio into MIDI—entire mixes or individual instruments—making it easy to study, view, and play parts from any song. And that’s just the beginning—there are over 100 new features in this exciting release.
Along with version 2026, we've released an incredible lineup of new content! There's 202 new RealTracks, brand-new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two new RealDrums Stems sets, XPro Styles PAK 10, Xtra Styles PAK 21, and much more!
Special Offers
Upgrade to Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac and save up to 50% on most upgrade packages during our special offer—available until May 15, 2026. Visit our Band-in-a-Box® packages page to explore all available upgrade options.
2026 Free Bonus PAK & 49-PAK Add-ons
Our Free Bonus PAK and 49-PAK are loaded with amazing add-ons! The Free Bonus PAK is included with most Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac packages, but you can unlock even more—including 20 unreleased RealTracks—by upgrading to the 2026 49-PAK for just $49.
Holiday Weekend Hours
As we hop into the Easter weekend, here are our holiday hours:
April 3 (Good Friday): 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM PDT
April 4 (Saturday): Closed
April 5 (Easter Sunday): Closed
April 6 (Easter Monday): Open regular hours
Wishing you an egg-cellent weekend!
— Team PG
Update to Build 10 of RealBand® 2026 for Windows®!
If you're already using RealBand 2026 for Windows, download build 10 to get all the latest additions and enhancements.
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® users: Build 904 now available!
If you're already using Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®, make sure to grab the latest update! Build 904 is now available for download and includes the newest additions and enhancements from our team.
Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® users: Build 1237 is now available!
Already a Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Windows user? Stay up to date and download the build 1237 to get all the latest additions and enhancements.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Forums57
Topics86,224
Posts802,066
Members40,071
| |
Most Online64,515
Apr 8th, 2026
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dansk
Deutsch - Windows
Español
Français - Windows
Italiano - Windows
Nederlands
Polski
Português
Svenskt
русский
Japanese
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Korean