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We Used To Be Rivers #857964 07/20/25 04:00 AM User Showcase
Joined: Jul 2017 Posts: 192 Accrington,Lancashire,UK PeteMcN OP Apprentice
OP PeteMcN Apprentice Joined: Jul 2017 Posts: 192 Accrington,Lancashire,UK	A song about love slowly dying using Rivers as a metaphor..........yeah I know its a tad pretentious ,but artistic licence and all that! All tracks produced in BIAB 2025 AI vocals from SUNO Words/Music (c) P McNaught 2025 Mixed in Mixcraft Pro Studio 10 Mastered using AAMS software [Verse 1] We used to be rivers, wide and deep, Flowin' together where the willows weep. The sunlight danced on our water's skin, But now we're dry, cracked, and wearin' thin. [Chorus] We used to be rivers, oh, how we ran, Through the heart of this tired land. Now we're just echoes, dust in the breeze, We used to be rivers, now we’re just memories. [Verse 2] Your laugh was the ripple, my voice the tide, We carried each other, side by side. But the storms came hard, tore the banks apart, Left the canyon empty in my heart. [Prechorus] And I wonder, do you feel it too? That hollow ache where the water once grew? ( NOT OVERLY SURE ON THIS LINE??) [Chorus] We used to be rivers, oh, how we ran, Through the heart of this tired land. Now we're just echoes, dust in the breeze, We used to be rivers, now we’re just memories. [Bridge] The map still shows the path we made, But the flow is gone, the colors fade. I stand where the current used to hum, And I can't help but wonder where you've gone. [Chorus] [Outro] **** Song Summary ********* Title: We Used To Be Rivers File:We Used To Be Rivers.SGU Key=A , Tempo 73, Length (m:s)=3:10 No intro. 54 bar chorus, from bar 1 to bar 54. Repeat x1 chorus No Melody Soloist track has 547 notes, Soloist harmony is < no harmony >(0) Song is saved with Volume, Pan, Reverb, Chorus, Bank0, Song is saved with bar changes for Volume Changes, Style is _BESTILL.STY (Be Still Slow and Dreamy Ballad) RealTracks in style: 1825:Bass, Electric, PopModernGrooveHeld Ev16 075 RealTracks in style: 2666:Pedal Steel, Rhythm LushChordsSlow Ev 075 RealTracks in style: 1595:Guitar, Acoustic, Fingerpicking Pop8thsSteady Ev 065 RealTracks in song: 2169:Guitar, Resonator, Soloist CountryRob Ev 065 RealTracks in song: 2169:Guitar, Resonator, Soloist CountryRob Ev 065 RealDrums in Song:AmericanaSlow8sBrushesFred^1-a:Brushes, Ride , b:Brushes, HiHat ***************** Sometimes you just have to say f### it and do it anyway! Proud Scotsman 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 now residing in England

Re: We Used To Be Rivers PeteMcN #857966 07/20/25 04:14 AM User Showcase
Joined: Dec 2010 Posts: 2,369 Charlotte, NC Tano Music Veteran
Tano Music Veteran Joined: Dec 2010 Posts: 2,369 Charlotte, NC	You shouldn’t be apologizing for reaching, in a creative way, for metaphors like this! That’s creative expansion—where new ideas are found! Excellent track!! Thoroughly enjoyed it. Re: that lyric question: How about “where the waters flowed through”? Windows 11, Intel Core i5-8600T 2.3Ghz, 16 gig ram, BIAB 2025 MegaPak, SampleTank 4, Keystation49 Kybd, Neewer NW-800 mic

Re: We Used To Be Rivers Tano Music #857970 07/20/25 04:33 AM User Showcase
Joined: Jul 2017 Posts: 192 Accrington,Lancashire,UK PeteMcN OP Apprentice
OP PeteMcN Apprentice Joined: Jul 2017 Posts: 192 Accrington,Lancashire,UK	Originally Posted by Tano Music You shouldn’t be apologizing for reaching, in a creative way, for metaphors like this! That’s creative expansion—where new ideas are found! Excellent track!! Thoroughly enjoyed it. Re: that lyric question: How about “where the waters flowed through”? Lol, thankyou my man! So pleased you enjoyed it.......and Yes that lyric change would def work better me thinks! Its funny, but sometimes you cant see the woods for the trees. Last edited by PeteMcN; 07/20/25 04:33 AM. Sometimes you just have to say f### it and do it anyway! Proud Scotsman 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 now residing in England

Re: We Used To Be Rivers PeteMcN #857972 07/20/25 04:41 AM User Showcase
Joined: Aug 2010 Posts: 8,639 Northeastern USA rsdean Veteran
rsdean Veteran Joined: Aug 2010 Posts: 8,639 Northeastern USA	Pete, Wow! That's a great song. The vocal is very natural and the mix is wonderful. Great work! Bob Robert S. Dean - SoundCloud Song Channel

Re: We Used To Be Rivers rsdean #857973 07/20/25 04:43 AM User Showcase
Joined: Jul 2017 Posts: 192 Accrington,Lancashire,UK PeteMcN OP Apprentice
OP PeteMcN Apprentice Joined: Jul 2017 Posts: 192 Accrington,Lancashire,UK	Originally Posted by rsdean Pete, Wow! That's a great song. The vocal is very natural and the mix is wonderful. Great work! Bob Bob thank you so much. I really appreciate you listening and commenting. Sometimes you just have to say f### it and do it anyway! Proud Scotsman 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 now residing in England

Re: We Used To Be Rivers PeteMcN #857999 07/20/25 11:52 AM User Showcase
Joined: Dec 2003 Posts: 24,217 Hamlin NY MarioD Veteran
MarioD Veteran Joined: Dec 2003 Posts: 24,217 Hamlin NY	Pete, what an outstanding song Great vocal Super backing tracks and mix Loved it PS Yes, I used to be a river but now I am just a stream, a stream that is getting weaker and weaker My boss calls me "the computer". Nothing to do with intelligence. I go to sleep if left unattended for 15 minutes. 64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware

Re: We Used To Be Rivers MarioD #858021 07/20/25 02:36 PM User Showcase
Joined: Jul 2017 Posts: 192 Accrington,Lancashire,UK PeteMcN OP Apprentice
OP PeteMcN Apprentice Joined: Jul 2017 Posts: 192 Accrington,Lancashire,UK	Originally Posted by MarioD Pete, what an outstanding song Great vocal Super backing tracks and mix Loved it PS Yes, I used to be a river but now I am just a stream, a stream that is getting weaker and weaker Thank you Mario, appreciate the comment. We were all rivers once upon a time ! Sometimes you just have to say f### it and do it anyway! Proud Scotsman 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 now residing in England

Re: We Used To Be Rivers PeteMcN #858031 07/20/25 06:40 PM User Showcase
Joined: Mar 2025 Posts: 882 Adelaide, Sth Aust. Andrew Dee Expert
Andrew Dee Expert Joined: Mar 2025 Posts: 882 Adelaide, Sth Aust.	Hi Peter! This should be a case study in the course of lyric writing: 'chapter 12 - using metaphor'. Well done! Andrew Regards, Andrew D Adelaide, Sth Aust Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/SQE4btVvNVkLq74e9 Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@andrewoftheantipodes

Re: We Used To Be Rivers PeteMcN #858034 07/20/25 06:42 PM User Showcase
Joined: Apr 2018 Posts: 2,060 Mill Valley, California USA D Deej56 Veteran
Deej56 Veteran D Joined: Apr 2018 Posts: 2,060 Mill Valley, California USA	Peter, That’s one outstanding country tune . . . the AI vocal is perfect for the tune, the mix is exactly what it should be, everything in its place, well-balanced and nuanced. As for the write . . . it’s excellent. I don’t think it’s pretentious at all . . . just dang good!! I'd like to say it's the best thing I've heard on the board of late, but there's so much good music here these days that I don't want to do a disservice to the other great tunes and songwriters. But this is, no doubt, certainly among the best of them. Bravo!! Deej

Re: We Used To Be Rivers PeteMcN #858058 07/21/25 04:52 AM User Showcase
Joined: May 2019 Posts: 4,860 Dallas, PA, USA BabuMusic Veteran
BabuMusic Veteran Joined: May 2019 Posts: 4,860 Dallas, PA, USA	Sin-sationally good, Pete. Love that vocal --outstanding quality. And the harmony is so uplifting. The river you mention may have dried up, but, man, you sure came away with the best song to remember it with. Love that resonator, too. It really flows along nicely as if it's the rutter. 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

Re: We Used To Be Rivers BabuMusic #858080 07/21/25 06:59 AM User Showcase
Joined: Jul 2017 Posts: 192 Accrington,Lancashire,UK PeteMcN OP Apprentice
OP PeteMcN Apprentice Joined: Jul 2017 Posts: 192 Accrington,Lancashire,UK	Originally Posted by Andrew Dee Hi Peter! This should be a case study in the course of lyric writing: 'chapter 12 - using metaphor'. Well done! Andrew Originally Posted by Deej56 Peter, That’s one outstanding country tune . . . the AI vocal is perfect for the tune, the mix is exactly what it should be, everything in its place, well-balanced and nuanced. As for the write . . . it’s excellent. I don’t think it’s pretentious at all . . . just dang good!! I'd like to say it's the best thing I've heard on the board of late, but there's so much good music here these days that I don't want to do a disservice to the other great tunes and songwriters. But this is, no doubt, certainly among the best of them. Bravo!! Deej Originally Posted by BabuMusic Sin-sationally good, Pete. Love that vocal --outstanding quality. And the harmony is so uplifting. The river you mention may have dried up, but, man, you sure came away with the best song to remember it with. Love that resonator, too. It really flows along nicely as if it's the rutter. I'm kinda lost for words, no pun intended, I can't thank you all enough for the wonderful comments on this write. That said, please know that I appreciate them more than I can express. Pete Sometimes you just have to say f### it and do it anyway! Proud Scotsman 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 now residing in England

Re: We Used To Be Rivers PeteMcN #858105 07/21/25 12:50 PM User Showcase
Joined: Dec 2023 Posts: 138 Georgia, USA B BobLMusic Apprentice
BobLMusic Apprentice B Joined: Dec 2023 Posts: 138 Georgia, USA	Pete, That's an amazing song, great job! I liked the mellow feel, with its resonator guitar and pedal steel. The AI vocals blew me away, and sounded especially strong on the chorus. You should put this song out on all the streaming services, if you haven't already. It's better than most of the songs out there.

Re: We Used To Be Rivers MarioD #858106 07/21/25 12:52 PM User Showcase
Joined: Dec 2023 Posts: 138 Georgia, USA B BobLMusic Apprentice
BobLMusic Apprentice B Joined: Dec 2023 Posts: 138 Georgia, USA	Mario, Your urologist can help with that ;-) Last edited by BobLMusic; 07/21/25 12:53 PM.

Re: We Used To Be Rivers PeteMcN #858111 07/21/25 01:35 PM User Showcase
Joined: May 2023 Posts: 2,043 UK WaoBand Veteran
WaoBand Veteran Joined: May 2023 Posts: 2,043 UK	Another excellent country song - not at all pretentious - with spot on mixing and mastering. A great feel to it all around. I've mentioned before that the AI vocals are way, way superior to SynthV, but as SUNO is AI do you have include the notation in order to produce the vocals, as in SynthV, or does the AI do it auto? 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.

Re: We Used To Be Rivers PeteMcN #858130 07/21/25 08:16 PM User Showcase
Joined: Sep 2010 Posts: 8,100 Sacramento, California dcuny Veteran
dcuny Veteran Joined: Sep 2010 Posts: 8,100 Sacramento, California	Hi, Pete. Excellent write, nice production. Everything fits nicely. Tom's lyric suggestion sounds good to me. When in doubt, you can try RhymeZone: https://www.rhymezone.com/r/rhyme.cgi?Word=too&typeofrhyme=perfect&org1=syl&org2=l&org3=y Some suggestions, not necessarily any better: where the water ran true in that place we knew of a dried up slough cutting us in two it's just a bill come due so we just make do no matter what we do No need to apologize for "pretentious" lyrics when they work. And they work here very well. Sunu is scary good with country style vocals. -- 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.

Re: We Used To Be Rivers PeteMcN #858184 07/22/25 02:51 PM User Showcase
Joined: Sep 2018 Posts: 3,584 Virginia USA Ezekiel's Storm Veteran
Ezekiel's Storm Veteran Joined: Sep 2018 Posts: 3,584 Virginia USA	The extended metaphor works well! The AI singer sounds good--I am quite surprised by how his phrasing and dynamics sound natural. Excellent composition.

Re: We Used To Be Rivers PeteMcN #858191 07/22/25 04:31 PM User Showcase
Joined: Nov 2008 Posts: 3,342 DC Ron Veteran
DC Ron Veteran Joined: Nov 2008 Posts: 3,342	Nicely done, Pete. Very tidy BiaB arrangement and a pleasing, warm mix. The vocals are well done and perfectly placed in the mix. Think your exercise of the river metaphor is very skillfully done, and a lot of fun to listen to. DC Ron BiaB Audiophile Presonus Studio One ASUS I9-12900K DAW, 32 GB RAM Presonus Faderport 16 Too many guitars (is that a thing?)

Re: We Used To Be Rivers PeteMcN #858492 07/26/25 06:39 AM User Showcase
Joined: Feb 2010 Posts: 2,989 Maryland TuneMonger Veteran
TuneMonger Veteran Joined: Feb 2010 Posts: 2,989 Maryland	This was terrific! I could imagine a big production on the chorus, gradually building so that by the third go-around you'd have a gospel choir and strings wailing away. But it's great as is. Windows 11, Intel Core I5 10400, 16 gig ram, Scarlett 2i2, Sony Acid Music Studio 10, BIAB 2020 UltraPlus Pak

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