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Link: Just Be A Good Person

Summary:
A duet, like Romeo and Juliet, only louder.
With an epic grand finale.
Turn up the volume and enjoy the ride.

Behind the scenes:
Surprisingly, many people are concerned when they learn that I don't believe in any deity and try to convert me into a believer.
My usual response (and the way I live, by the way) is: "You don't have to believe in God to be a good person".
That's what this song is about.
I am well aware that not everyone will like the lyrics, but you can't please everyone.

The "Making of":

• After a couple of quiet songs, I wanted to do something loud and heavy.
  Or as Floyd called it for my song "At Home": Heavy Theatrical Rock
• The vocals are a hybrid of SynthV, a locally installed and trained so-vits-SVC implementation,
  Sonarworks SoundID VoiceAI plugin, Suno (thanks to tommyad for bringing this to my attention) and
  RipX DAW and Melodyne to change the melody to what I wanted.
  A tedious job (the SVC training took about 5 days 24/7 on my computer, and ended up not being used much),
  but I like challenges and learned a lot.
• The band is also a hybrid of BIAB, me and Suno, fused with the RipX DAW (a really VERY versatile and innovative app).
  The timing irregularities were a PITA, but tempo tracks in Cubase solved this problem elegantly.
• Lessons learned: AI may be good enough for your daily average song, but if you have your own lyrics
  and a clear vision of where you want the song to go, the work you save at one end has to be reinvested elsewhere.
  Doubly sometimes. 62 re-takes until it was the way I wanted.
  There's (still) no shortcut.
  But I've also accepted that for some things it's a great tool to have at your disposal.
  Like BIAB.
  Or Cubase.
  Or an instrument you can actually play...
• With a length of almost 5 minutes, this is my longest song so far.
  No station will play it.
  As always

A big thank you to Marty for his lyrical and spiritual support.

Feedback (the good, the bad and the ugly, I'm here to learn) is, as always, highly appreciated.

Some technical information:

Style:
BROKEN.STY

The band:
Drums: Suno, me
Bass: Suno, me
Guitars: 4176, Suno, me
Synths: 1265, me
Vocals: See above

You can find the lyrics in the next post.

Title: Just Be A Good Person

(Intro)
What do you want?
I wanna help those in need
Well, do you believe in God?
No

(Verse)
You say I need faith to know what is right
But I've seen kindness in the godless and hate in the devout
You talk of love, yet speak in hate
Like a saint who rules by making me afraid

(Pre-Chorus)
You preach love but twist the knife
Sing of heaven while you curse my life

(Chorus)
I don’t need prayers to do what is right
I don’t need rules to show that I care
I don't need fear to help those in need
And I do it by choice, not by the words I read
Not by the words I read

(Verse)
You shout of sin, call my doubts a crime
You light your candles, recite your lines
But I’ve seen shadows dance in your glow
Yet you hide the cracks so they won’t show

(Pre-Chorus)
You preach love but twist the knife
Sing of heaven while you curse my life

(Chorus)
(I don’t need prayers)
I don’t need prayers to do what is right
I don’t need rules to show that I care
I don't need fear to help those in need
And I do it by choice, not by the words I read
Not by the words I read

(Bridge)
If your faith is built on fire and chains
Then let it burn, I'll walk away (walk away)
Goodness isn’t owned by those who kneel
And truth does not bow to a glorious name
And truth does not bow to your fame

(Chorus)
(I don’t need)
I don’t need prayers to do what is right
I don’t need rules to show that I care
I don't need fear to help those in need
And I do it by choice, not by the words I read
And I do it by choice
Not by the words I read

(Chorus)
I don’t need prayers to do what is right
I don’t need rules to show that I care
I don't need fear to help those in need
And I do it by choice, not by the words I read
Not by the words I was forced to read

(Bridge)
Too many wars you had to fight
To prove that's your God who is right
Why can't I live the way I do?
Without you

(Bridge)
Too many wars you had to fight
To prove that's your God who is right
Why can't I live the way I do?
Without you

(Chorus)
(I don't need prayers)
I don’t need rules to show that I care
(I don't need prayers)
I don't need fear to help those in need
And I do it by choice
Not by the word
Not by the words I was forced to read

(Outro)
I don't need salvation, I don't need faith
I don't need heaven to know my place
I know my place
Know my place
I found my place

Nice work.

yes indeed. It's a lot of work in order to save a few minutes or hours here and there.

I'm still trying to do battle with blending AI and BB.

You nailed this one.

Well, this is a fabulous composition for sure. A HUGE sound and a very cool soundscape. The vocals are quite nice indeed, though the higher notes sound a bit strained (maybe as they should be?). Thanks for sharing your workflow and credits. I'd guess less than 10% BiaB content, maybe far less. Not a criticism, just seems BiaB is not the best tool if you have this type of tune/arrangement in your head and your trying to get it out. Definitely sounds like the hard work/long hours you put in paid off in a rockin' tune.

Hi B.D.!
Lyrically, while I come from the 'other side of the fence', I can well understand your anger/frustration. We can have a tendency to be hypocritical and judgemental (I say this pointing my finger at myself as well), and sometimes forget the main directive of 'love one another' / love is the greatest thing. Because the concept of sin plays a prominent part in the beliefs of Christians, I can see how it can lead to judgemental tones (and sometimes not just 'tones'!) I learned a number of years ago when hearing Prof. John Lennox of a principle that applies to everyone and to many circumstances, irrespective of belief system - you can't impose *your* truth on anyone - it has to be accepted. Too many have tried to impose truth - to disasterous consequences. However, I'd like to think that you and I have a lot in common - the imperative to do well by our fellow humans. I agree there is no monopoly on this principle by any one group. I heard an athiest say once, that from their perspective, the awe of understanding the marvel that they exist here and now in this age, and recognising all that has occured leading up to this time, can instil a motivation to honour this and live a good life, and allowing that goodness to spill over to those that share this planet. In this age, we need to do much more as individuals to find the common ground than looking for the differences. This is a good example of lyrics that spring out of passion of the writer, and can also evoke a range of responses in the listener.

Musically, I thought this supported the content of the lyrics perfectly. The nature of the genre supports the message of frustration - at what you feel is being said by others, and trying to get your message across that there is no exclusivity on doing good. While I'm not a heavy metal listener (if this is what the genre is), you have used a number of devices which I need to consider in my own songwriting: the use of different textures; build up of layers esp. at the intro; a distinctive and catchy chorus; leaving air and gaps at times to allow greater impact of voice and other elements.

Has an Evanescence vibe.
Good narrative and energy.
Well done.

B.D.,

This is an awesome song and production. An amazing tour de force of music & technology.

So well done!

Bob

Thanks, Herb, for listening and your comment.
Stem separation is amazing, but it's hard work to make a single stem sound decent.
The solution would be an AI that creates (downloadable) stems and assembles them into songs, but that is much more difficult to realize than it sounds
And would unfortunately put most studio musicians out of work

I can’t imagine this level of production! So impressive!

BDT, I think you are getting the hang of this. Great overall production. I have found several things about stem separation. First is that they are not created equal. When dealing with just the vocal stem, different separators sound very different in relation to artifacts. Also the amount of processing on the vocals is not readily apparent but if you deverb it and use a filter it becomes quite evident that you can start dry and sculpt it somewhat. You are correct in that it is actually more time consuming than most people would think. Great work on this one.

Thank you for your feedback and sharing your thoughts, Ron.
Much appreciated.

I think your estimate of 10% (give or take) for the content you actually hear is about right.

But what you don't hear, and what makes BIAB so valuable to my approach to this song, is that I did the entire arrangement in BIAB.
It's my planning tool.
What style, what instruments and where, dynamic changes, how many bars my lyrics need in each section and so on.
Of course you could do that in MS Excel , but in BIAB you can test it by trying out different styles and tempos and a basic chord progression to get a feel for it.
Many iterations (and unfortunately also many compromises) are necessary to achieve what you want.

In the end,this song was a lot more work than any other I've written so far, so I won't be going down that road too often.
But it also opens new doors where you can discover new things.
And I'm a pretty curious person

This is a "wow" song, from the get go. It's sounds contemporary, which is something I am unable to create. Anyway, darn, darn, darn good. What a production. My head is spinning.

This is really fracking good song, B.D.! Absolutely on every level. I was only part way through the listen when I realised you must have put a heck of a lot of work into it and only later did I read your blurb about it. In this song and previous ones you have a magic knack - though it's through hard work as well as talent - of making AI vocals sound 100% real, when nearly everything else I hear sounds fake and instantly loses my interest. This song just sounds 100% professional, though you'll soon have stop using the "no fans" part of your YT blurb!

Re the lyrics, I totally relate to and agree with them, though from a different perspective. In my early teens I began asking all of the 'big' questions - I wanted to know why there was life - and I was 19 when I first experienced the Divine--in-All and in the following 55 years- in which I've studied virtually all spiritual traditions, various psychological models and a lot more besides - I've had more profound spiritual experiences than all of the truly spiritual persons I've ever met put together. So I class myself as a lower case 'g' gnostic (a knower) and in 2007 when I first started using social media (the Yahoo 360° site and then Multiply and others before they all vanished - FB and others came years later - I created my own Way for me, Waoism, which I class as something not serious which I take seriously, and equally something very serious which I don't take seriously. It's what I call a "genuine and authorised Act of Controlled Folly"! In simple terms I define Waoism in my YT 'about', and a part of the Controlled Folly is that Waoism being my Way for me makes me equally the most evolved, mediocre and dumbest Waoist sage ever, as well as the best, most mediocre and dumbest student there is as there can never be another Waoist. I have 5 Waoist videos on YT which are only ever seen by a very few FB contacts, but I wouldn't want to post then here with BiaB music as the wordage and the images are more important than the soundtrack, plus I wouldn't want to offend anyone. But risking that, my Waoist Adage #59: is "Believing is the booby prize." Though not believing is just believing the opposite, thus Adage #85 is "Knowing that you don't know keeps you on the path of knowledge." I'll quote a quote from Ibn 'Arabi, a 14th Century Sufi who eventually refereed to himself as a gnostic, which I left on one of Beth's recent posts:
"My heart has become capable of every form: it is a pasture for gazelles and a convent for Christian monks, and a temple for idols and the pilgrim's Ka'aba and the tables of the Tora and the book of the Qur'an. / I follow the religion of Love: whatever way Love's camels take, that is my religion and faith."

B.D.,

This is an incredible piece.
You must be a genius to be able to create a piece of such high standard.
And of course you're a hard worker.
The melody, lyrics, performance, and vocals are all top notch.
By the way, Japanese people generally do not believe in any particular religion.
We visit ancient shrines at New Year's, have Western church-style weddings, and funerals at Buddhist temples.
It's rare that anyone would say anything about the religion.
So these lyrics were quite stimulating for me.
Enjoyed my listen a lot.

Best regards.

Shigeki Adachi

Excellent composition, B.D.
Dynamic galore. Lyrics great.

Vic

Wow, thanks for taking the time to write this really detailed comment, Andrew.
Much appreciated
I pretty much agree with your comment.
And because I didn't mention it in my first post, it's not about Christianity in particular, but about believes in general.

I think (but am not an expert) the genre is somewhere between Nu-Metal and Hard Rock (I think “melodic Nu-Metal” would describe it quite well), and while it's not to everyone's taste, I'm happy you listened to it and wrote a comment!

I'll gladly take Evanescence, thank you Ray
At the moment, this song resides right between Evanescence's “Bring Me to Life” and Linkin Park's “In the End” in my personal playlist, and it doesn't look TOO shabby there

Hi B.D.,

Boy you sure put a lot of effort into this song!

Excellent song, lyrics, backing and mixing with lots of nice light and shade.

Excellent work.

Best Regards
Nigel

B.D.

That was an amazing listen! Regardless of lyrical message, I try to listen from a neutral position. The technical achievements you've incorporated here are beyond my pay grade and knowledge. This is a song that's nearly impossible to not listen to all the way to the end. It's captivating and draws the listener in.

Your unending pursuit for the perfect sound you'd imagined is noteworthy. I'm in awe of what you've achieved here. Great song and great performance.

Impressive accomplishment! Loved it!

Alan

Calling out the hypocrites leads us to self examination. That can be a good thing. Nice work.

Hi B.D.

I was just going to comment on the lyrics, but then I had to open up another device to hear this because everyone had such strong things to say about it. Glad I did. Wow, the message is so incredibly powerful and epic...in a word, fantastic! I grew up Catholic, by the way, and have been just about everything else since then at one time or another. The journey taught me to recognize the essence of our inherent goodness...your song provides the shortcut!

I'd love to hear Pink singing this.

Man, you know how I'm amazed at how good this production is, Brain, and I'm glad everyone here agrees. Also, glad about the comments here. Did I mention to you that I, like Chay, have studied religions of the world for several years. Came to same conclusion as you here. Whether you're a good person cuz you want to get into heaven or want to improve our species and the world in which we live, the result is the same. This song and your production is really outstanding, my friend.

Thank you, Bob.
Highly appreciated!

Thank you, Tano, for your nice words
Much appreciated!

That was quite a ride. Like Arabesque on some serious steroids. Really well done! Quite complex earcandy piece of music. Very musical. I can only imagine the effort went into making this tune. Sounds great! If faith encourages some to be a better person, that is absolutely great, but if not, what is the point? Thank you for sharing.
Misha.

Sounded good, I can't believe how the AI vocals revolution has taken hold. This reminded me of Evanescence if you throw in a little more production. I loved the lyrics, they express exactly how I feel on the subject. Again, good job on both song and video.

Excellent!

Man, I read your description of how you created this piece, and like Al, it's also above my pay grade

Great song, performance, and production, well done. 

Ha!
The guy who's to blame for all this!
I have to say a big “THANK YOU” for bringing to my attention that Suno is much more than just a tool for musically challenged people to create music.
The female vocals would never have been possible with Synth V alone.
There is still a lot (5 vocal layers) of Synth V in there, though.

Thank you so much for your kind words, Scott

Contemporary (in the broadest sense, let's say “in this millennium”) is what I'm looking for.
Unfortunately, this sometimes means that I stray a little from the right path (=BIAB), but for art you have to compromise from time to time.

Thank you very much for your nice and very detailed comment, Chay!
This song was indeed the most work of any song I've ever done, and halfway through I almost gave up because I thought I'd never get this thing to work.
I hope one day I will be able to remove the "no fans" stuff.
Thanks for the encouragement

Thank you very much for your really kind words, Shigeki Adachi.
And for taking the time to enlighten us about how your country thinks about different religions and beliefs

Yep, I LOVE dynamics
Thanks for your nice comment, Vic, especially about the lyrics, as that's the part I want to improve the most this year.

Brian, all of the hard work you put in this song shows as this is a masterpiece.
Outstanding synth vocals (they sound organic), lyrics, arrangement, instrumentation, and mix.
Loved the groove.
The title says it all and wouldn't it be wonderful it we all lived by that?
I try to be a good Christian, I fail a lot, but I know that not all so called Christians are good people and that not all non-Christians are bad people. I never judge a group based on the actions of a few, I judge individuals on how they act towards me, and I think that is what your song is saying.
This is an outstanding song.
Loved it.

Yes, more than in any song before, but it was also a great learning experience.
Thanks for listening and for your feedback, Nigel

It seems you're not the only one, because almost 40% listen to the hole song on YouTube.
With most of my other songs, it's less after just 30 seconds
Thank you for your nice comment, Alan

Yes, I fully agree!
Thank you for listening and your comment, Ed.
Much appreciated!

We often reflect on how if everyone would follow the golden rule the world would be such a better place.
We'll toss in the word empathy also. Sooooo missing nowadays.

We thoroughly enjoyed the back story, lyric and performances.

That’s a lot of work you have here and it sounds like you’ve learned a lot too. Bud can relate as he is trying to relearn a video program that has been hugely updated since his last use of it and Janice gets overwhelmed just from his explanations to her of those changes. 😆

It really is epic! Kudos!

J&B

Shortcut - I like that
Thank you for listening and your kind comment, and especially for taking the time to write about your own journey.

Pink? Anytime!
If I had to choose one singer to sing all my songs for the rest of my life, it would definitely be Pink.
From dreamy, soft to powerhouse vocals, she has it all.
She's extremely versatile.

Wow what a cool intro. Vocals were excellent and so much energy in the backtract. Stellar mix. I got the Evanescence vibe as well.

Thanks Marty
I'm also quite happy that I haven't been roasted for my lyrics (yet), that's the advantage of being in a forum with (mostly, according to my wife I'll never grow up) grown-up people.
Y'all rule

Thank you for listening and your nice comment, Misha

And, yes, it was my most ambitious project to date with a lot of work and uncharted territory.
Learned a lot!

Evanescene, I gladly take that
Thank you, Rob, for your kind words, especially about the lyrics, because that's the thing I'm trying to improve the most

B.D...that was an amazing production...as one who "dabbles" with AI and uses it exclusively these days I'm amazed at your skill in using this medium to such a high degree...I can't imagine the time it must have taken to complete this project...I thought the subject matter was handled well...to me you expressed very well the hypocrisy of both the "believers" and the "unbelievers"...judging each other without fully knowing the people they choose to judge...a thought provoking song produced at a pro level.

Thanks Dave!
It's actually not THAT hard, but learning several new tools from scratch obviously takes time and perseverance.
Especially when you learn that some things don't work as expected.
But having no idea how things work has never stopped me

Wow, that knocked my socks off, in a good way!

Excellent lyrics and message.

Outstanding production, and those hi-tech singers really delivered - they can wail!

Thank you, Mario
Yes, the world would be a perfect place if everyone would just be nice to each other (is that proper English?).
All you need is love.

Wow, this really is modern music, Nu Metal or something like that (first reminded of a Finnish band called Blind Channel), with a very powerful message. I like what you have written, expressed very clearly like in "I do it by choice, not by the words I read".

I wouldn't have guessed this is your song, sounds so different than your previous work, that "hurt girl" is missing And maybe even too professional But I REALLY appreciate the hard work you have put it to this song to make your vision become alive, because the end result is Amazing GREAT. I feel it's one of the best in this genre. Super mix and the singing is beyond unbelievable. You definitely do what is right

Janne

I think the production is excellent. To be honest, I'm not a fan of the hard rock style because everyone has their own personal musical history and tastes and colors are not up for discussion. But what a beautiful job on the whole piece with beautiful variations. As for the subject of the song, if I wanted to be humorous I would say that I don't want to talk about it because I don't want to end up on a woodshed ! For me it's not religion that poses a problem, it's man that worries me the most. There is too much violence and will to dominate in him because the survival of the species is forged thanks to that and is written in our genes. Unfortunately education (when it exists) and social rules are never enough to stem this. Generations follow one another and the same mistakes are repeated: Man learns nothing except to make more sophisticated tools and weapons.
I congratulate you on your beautiful musical work
Laurent

Hi, BD.

This is still popping up on the top of the forum list, and for good reason.

I noticed that I'd listened to it before, but failed to comment. So I'll make up for that now.

Nice "epic" sound. Eclipsed Sounds has a new rock voice available - seems like it might be a good fit for your style. Not that this is lacking anything.

Good write, well produced, and it feels like a song, not betraying the work behind it to get those bits and bobs to fit together and play nicely.

Thanks J&B
Yep, empathy is also a lost cause.
Thanks for the idea for a future song

Thanks Scott!
I gladly take Evanescene

Thanks a LOT for your really nice words, Dan.
And double thanks for understanding that it's not about believers and unbelievers, but about judges who want to convert the other side

"Knocked my socks off" - that's more than I could have hoped for.
Thanks a lot for your really nice comment, Bob!

Truly astounding.
A strong write.
Vocals are amazing.
The Drums are out-of-this-world perfect for the song.
The guitars are killer.

fj

Hi,

I know very little about Rock music but this sounds great to me and you sure have put a lot of work into this song and mix.

Excellent.

Best Regards
Nigel

WOW, WOW, WOW!! What a production of a great song. I thought I was listening to something from the local Contemporary station. It needs to be a national release, it's that good.

Thanks Janne
The professional sound _might_ come from the fact that this is the first song I've given to a professional mastering engineer.
So far, all my songs have been unmastered.
Glad that it's audible!

Hi BD.

Whoa!!!! What a truly mighty music production! I can imagine how many hours you must have spent on this to get all those musical jigsaw pieces to fit together to create such an outstanding presentation. A number of comments have used the word "epic". I wholeheartedly agree. I love everything about this... writing, arrangement, performances, production. It is a mesmerising musical journey from start to finish. The 5 minutes disappeared way too quickly!

For me, this was excellence on steroids!
--Noel

Thank you, Laurent, for not only taking the time to listen to the song and comment on it, but also for sharing your ethical thoughts on it.
MUCH appreciated

Fabulous. All around great!

Thanks a lot for listening and your positive feedback, David
For various reasons, I am still hesitating to update to Synthesizer V2, so HXVOC has to wait a bit...

Superb. Probably the best production I've heard on here. Excellent writing, too. Bravo, hats off.

Thanks Floyd for taking the time to listen and comment.
As always, much appreciated

Thank you, Nigel, for listening and taking the time to comment.
Highly appreciated!

If you take a look at this photo and disregard that it is not even looking in the direction of the pale blue dot we inhabit, I find it difficult to believe we are the center of the universe.

Seen from a cosmic perspective, our various views of God, religion, right and wrong, and many other things seem seriously unreliable.



This is a professionally done piece of modern music on par with anything else I have listened to.

Most things worth doing require significant amounts of work.

Good song!

Cheers,

Billy

Thanks for stopping by and posting such a nice comment, Ronnie.
Much appreciated

Solving a jigsaw - yes, that's what most of my songs feel like, and that makes it a great pleasure for me.

It's always a pleasure to read your nice comments, Noel.
You always make me feel good and a little proud.
Thank you!

Thanks a lot for listening and for your kind comment, Ed.

Much appreciated!