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#857471 07/13/25 11:46 AM
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This is the latest offering from Kill Branch Studio. A modern country, unrequited love kind of song.

The band:
Bass: 1825. I really like this bass real track.
Mandolin: 1947
Hammond B3: 2692
Dobro: 2169
I'm playing all guitars. 3 electric guitar tracks and one Taylor acoustic. I'm also on the piano. I think it's waves rhapsody.
Drums are jamstix.

Driving Circles


V1
You know I drive by sometimes
Windows down, radio loud
Don't slow down when I pass by
But my heart knows, my heart knows

Why am I still driving circles?
Driving circles, driving circles
Every mile just leads me back
Leads me back, leads me back
Can't you see I ain't ready?
Ain't ready to let you go
Ain't ready, ain't ready to let you go

V2
Saw your mama at the store
She said you're doing fine
Didn't ask about me
But I wonder, do you wonder?

Chorus

Bridge
How could you walk away so easy?
Left me lost, still asking why
I thought we’d last, but you were leaving
Caught me blind, no goodbye
Ohhhhh, ohhhhh, ohhhhh
Can't let you go.

Chorus

Outro
You know I drive by sometimes
Drive by, drive by sometimes

Words & Music ©️ 2025 Herb Hartley

As always.... Thanks for listening and feel free to comment.


You can find my music at:
www.herbhartley.com
Add nothing that adds nothing to the music.
You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.

The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Herb, whomever is singing try your best to keep her. She is fantastic.
Great job on the piano and guitars.
Outstanding mix
Modern country at its best
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
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Superb.
Lyrics, music, vocals, production – superb. Totally professional.
Was AI used at all in the harmonies? To me, they sounded almost too perfect (timing and pitch) to have been recorded live.
Looking forward to your next offering.


ProTools; Ableton Live Lite; Reaper
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Herb,

An amazing production in every aspect...

Bob

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Herb, superb backing track and great playing. Love the song and the arrangement moves the song along in all the right places at all the right times. The sheen is quite lovely and makes for pleasant listening. The vocals sound really nice, but they do remind me of synth vocals on some lines. Might be something in processing. The ambient FX on the vocals are quite nice. Super song!


DC Ron
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Hi Herb,
What a beautiful song, beautiful songstress (impressive!), and great band. The chorus is just riveting. Glad you shared it here. Stellar!

MarioD #857520 07/14/25 04:56 AM
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Originally Posted by MarioD
Herb, whomever is singing try your best to keep her. She is fantastic.
Great job on the piano and guitars.
Outstanding mix
Modern country at its best
Loved it

Glad you liked the song. I spent a little bit of time working on the mix and like they say, the mix is never done. It just gets abandoned.


You can find my music at:
www.herbhartley.com
Add nothing that adds nothing to the music.
You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.

The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Originally Posted by Ghostgum
Superb.
Lyrics, music, vocals, production – superb. Totally professional.
Was AI used at all in the harmonies? To me, they sounded almost too perfect (timing and pitch) to have been recorded live.
Looking forward to your next offering.

Thank you for listening.

So to answer your question..... The live vocal was doubled in my DAW. Melodyne can transpose the entire track. So it was raised by a major 3rd. Of course that'll result in some good notes and some not so good ones. You go through one section at a time and edit the notes that don't sound good. Melodyne is transparent on small changes but can introduce some small artifacts on larger changes. However, this technique allows for a very tight and precise harmony performance. Hope that clarifies things.


You can find my music at:
www.herbhartley.com
Add nothing that adds nothing to the music.
You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.

The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Herb,

Outstanding country tune! Hmm, not at liberty to release the singer's name?? Love a good mystery!! And she's fantastic here. The mix is excellent, everything is right where it should be. Love the repeat of "circles" and "lead me back" in that chorus--really good touch that puts it smack in ear worm country. Enjoyed my listen very, very much. Excellent work!!

Deej

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Hi, Herb.

Sounds good!

I'd say it's a big, modern sound... But it's been a while since I've listened to modern country, so I can't say.

As Deej says, you pound in the earworm of a hook.

I love the dobro and mandolin sneaking in to play tasty licks.

I've got Jamstix, and wish I could figure it out. Every time I load it up, I just get frustrated and end up using something else. I just can't wrap my head around it.

I'm guessing the singer is Suno, because she sings "ever mile leads me back", which looks like a typo, not the sort of error a human singer would make.


-- David Cuny

My virtual singer development blog
Vocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?

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rsdean #857562 07/14/25 12:44 PM
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Originally Posted by rsdean
Herb,

An amazing production in every aspect...

Bob
Thank you Bob.


You can find my music at:
www.herbhartley.com
Add nothing that adds nothing to the music.
You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.

The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
DC Ron #857563 07/14/25 12:45 PM
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Originally Posted by DC Ron
Herb, superb backing track and great playing. Love the song and the arrangement moves the song along in all the right places at all the right times. The sheen is quite lovely and makes for pleasant listening. The vocals sound really nice, but they do remind me of synth vocals on some lines. Might be something in processing. The ambient FX on the vocals are quite nice. Super song!


Thanks for listening. See my reply to ghostgum and see if that answers your question.


You can find my music at:
www.herbhartley.com
Add nothing that adds nothing to the music.
You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.

The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
BYOBand #857564 07/14/25 12:46 PM
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Originally Posted by BYOBand
Hi Herb,
What a beautiful song, beautiful songstress (impressive!), and great band. The chorus is just riveting. Glad you shared it here. Stellar!
Thanks for listening. Yes I agree with you


You can find my music at:
www.herbhartley.com
Add nothing that adds nothing to the music.
You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.

The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
Deej56 #857565 07/14/25 12:47 PM
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Originally Posted by Deej56
Herb,

Outstanding country tune! Hmm, not at liberty to release the singer's name?? Love a good mystery!! And she's fantastic here. The mix is excellent, everything is right where it should be. Love the repeat of "circles" and "lead me back" in that chorus--really good touch that puts it smack in ear worm country. Enjoyed my listen very, very much. Excellent work!!

Deej
Ear worm.... I agree with you and while ear worm songs can be wearisome I think it works well. Thanks


You can find my music at:
www.herbhartley.com
Add nothing that adds nothing to the music.
You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.

The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
dcuny #857566 07/14/25 12:56 PM
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Originally Posted by dcuny
Hi, Herb.

Sounds good!

I'd say it's a big, modern sound... But it's been a while since I've listened to modern country, so I can't say.

As Deej says, you pound in the earworm of a hook.

I love the dobro and mandolin sneaking in to play tasty licks.

I've got Jamstix, and wish I could figure it out. Every time I load it up, I just get frustrated and end up using something else. I just can't wrap my head around it.

I'm guessing the singer is Suno, because she sings "ever mile leads me back", which looks like a typo, not the sort of error a human singer would make.


Jamstix isn't the easiest but the more you work with it the more you realize all the things it can do. I'm just scratching the surface with it.

Well, you're wrong. I haven't used Suno in a long time. My subscription (experiment) expired and it was starting to pop out stuff that was sounding like everything else. I'd suggest listening again and more closely. She pulls back on the "vree" syllable but it's there. Just like she drops her "g" slightly in "driving" .

Thanks for listening as closely as you do.


You can find my music at:
www.herbhartley.com
Add nothing that adds nothing to the music.
You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.

The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Hi, Herb.

Originally Posted by Guitarhacker
Well, you're wrong.
Heh. That should teach me not to play "guess the vocalist". But I couldn't resist.

It won't even be close to the first or last time I'll been wrong today. wink

Quote
I haven't used Suno in a long time. My subscription (experiment) expired and it was starting to pop out stuff that was sounding like everything else.
That's a pretty compelling reason to stop using it, all right.

Quote
I'd suggest listening again and more closely. She pulls back on the "vree" syllable but it's there. Just like she drops her "g" slightly in "driving".
I did listen, a couple of times. Shows how much I need new ears. laugh

And yes, I noticed "driving", but there is made sense.

By the way, I thought it was Suno only because it does some mighty fine country vocals. So it wasn't intended to disparage the singing.

Thanks!


-- David Cuny

My virtual singer development blog
Vocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?

BiaB 2025 | Windows 11 | Reaper | Way too many VSTis.
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Brilliant instrumentation in this song, excellent chord structure, amazing incognito vocals, great production all around.


Some favourite Waoist Adages:
#1: Play on the Way.
#13: Ask not for whom the flower blooms, it blooms for you.
#58: Bring consciousness to it.
#63: On the road to effortlessness, effort must be made.
#92: Be Love Now, the rest will come on its own.
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Excellent stuff Herb,
the reverb on the vocal at the beginning & when it's in the stripped back verse sections, seems a little at odds with the bad a little.
Modern country - pop with dobro & banjo?
Your parts fitted and enhanced the mix really well.


Cheers
rayc
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You had me hooked that from that opening hooky piano part I think, Herb smile

Man, what a vocal! Everything about this works, love the write and the instrumentation.

Sounds like a hit to me, excellent!

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i like that bass also! Great track, and lots to learn from here. Thanks for that tip about using Melodyne to create a harmony track--I'll be using that for sure. I esp liked the stripped down outro, very effective. Thanks for sharing your quality work!


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