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Janne, an outstanding job on those synth voices. Great backing band, super guitar lead. Mixed to perfection.
I really liked this one. Thanks Mario for your positive comment  "Mixed to perfection"  Janne
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Natalie has a definite Alison Krauss ethereal vibe to her voice in the higher register and sounds angelic.
It’s so cool that this song began in a dream.
Janice often says that Bud should keep a notepad by the bedside for such unexpected gifts. 😊
Cool laid back band and the guzheng fits well. Your comping of the guitar solo works great.
Smooth.
Love the lala’s.
Excellent mix. Every track has it’s perfect place.
“The beauty of chance encounters
and the falling for casual gestures
are they solace I crave
or wounds abyss can't erase?
in eternity, in eternity.”
What a way to exit. Great.
Enjoyed it!
J&B
Our albums and singles are on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora and more. If interested search on Janice Merritt. Thanks! A few of our videos are here on our website: https://www.janiceandbud.com/our-music.html
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Hi, Janne. The 'verby mix really fits with the theme. Good lyrics as well. Natalie is a good fit. Her vocal style definitely changed with the 2.0 update. NOA Hex has been on my "maybe buy" for some time now. SynthV can't whistle, but you can export the melody as MIDI and then have it played by another instrument in a DAW. AI is a useful tool when you're looking to explore ideas, and I thought you handled "Is eternity a comfort or a curse?" as well as one can in a short song. Nice work!
-- 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.
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Janne, I really enjoyed listening to this project..esp the interesting melody/chord structure..kept my attention throughout. And as others have said, your handling of the vocals is admirable—I wish I could get Synth V to sound that great! Excellent production, and super-fine work!! Thanks, I appreciate your kind review! Glad to keep your interest throughout. Janne
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Hi Janne, this is a very lovely song!
But still a bit sad (and dreamy) but not fluffy at all.
Good use of the instruments, I liked them all!!!
The vocals are very nice and the harmonies are well. Really well!
Still I have some questions. The lead vocals worked a bit distracting in my head. I think I would have prevered a female vocal with a lower pitch. But that is my personal opinion.
The second question is about the build up of the song, or at least in certain parts of the song, like starting with "If I am cursed, I repeat my mistakes
and you haven't changed, still causing me ache. We promise each other a brighter start. Good lyrics, but you go low on those parts and -indeed- a bit dreamy.
I was wondering if it benefits the song when you go louder/higher on those parts, to create some 'tension'?
So, nothing wrong with the song, just some thoughts...
Bye,
Hans Thanks Hans for your very lovely comment I usually like female voices with a higher pitch, especially now that the singer presents a very young female. Interesting observation about the build up. Because this is a dreamy song, I avoided tension, although I could have made the other parts more like whispered - to highlight those parts you mentioned. This section in the first verse is sad (cursed), but in the second verse it is happier (blessed), but still the melody should be the same, well it is about falling after all, abruptly or gently, so I preferred going low. But I get your point about tension and I try to remember it next time Janne
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Natalie has a definite Alison Krauss ethereal vibe to her voice in the higher register and sounds angelic.
It’s so cool that this song began in a dream.
Janice often says that Bud should keep a notepad by the bedside for such unexpected gifts. 😊
Cool laid back band and the guzheng fits well. Your comping of the guitar solo works great.
Smooth.
Love the lala’s.
Excellent mix. Every track has it’s perfect place.
“The beauty of chance encounters
and the falling for casual gestures
are they solace I crave
or wounds abyss can't erase?
in eternity, in eternity.”
What a way to exit. Great.
Enjoyed it!
J&B Thanks Janice & Bud for another lovely review of my song Thanks for Krauss reference, I wasn't familiar with her music but I'm listening to her right now, yep I can hear the vibe. And thanks for quoting those lines, I remembered that AI suggested a resolution to the end, but now that I read again the suggestions, there was also another option: "or leaves the listener with a final thought provoking question", so I guess the ending fulfills that option also from your point of view: "what a way to exit" Janne
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Cool opening bit. Synth voice is smooth and lovely. A melodically enchanting song that is expertly produced. Melodies that emerge from the ether of slumber are usually quite good.
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Hi Janne.
This is quite an amazing arrangement and production. You've done a super job. As always your songwriting stands strong and tall. I have never heard Natalie sound like this and the way you shaped her voice impressed me a great deal. This is definitely another song for the "One to be very proud of" collection.
--Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Janne,
This is a wonderful song.
Your talent really shines through in the way the key changes drastically and repeatedly halfway through main melody.
On the other hand, the interlude, sung la-la-la, is the straightforward melody, and I think the contrast is stunning.
Enjoyed my listen a lot.
Best regards.
Shigeki Adachi
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Hi, Janne. The 'verby mix really fits with the theme. Good lyrics as well. Natalie is a good fit. Her vocal style definitely changed with the 2.0 update. NOA Hex has been on my "maybe buy" for some time now. SynthV can't whistle, but you can export the melody as MIDI and then have it played by another instrument in a DAW. AI is a useful tool when you're looking to explore ideas, and I thought you handled "Is eternity a comfort or a curse?" as well as one can in a short song. Nice work! Thanks David for your positive review Glad you liked the reverbiness I was actually referring to how much Natalie's voice changed from 2.0 to 2.0.1, don't know was it a bug or what but the vibrato and softer settings sounded like they didn't have any effect anymore. Well, it is better to stick with the original version choice or start from scratch if you change it. I know the export melody as MIDI feature, but I didn't want that lalala melody played by any other instrument than a human voice. I have noticed lately that I could have used another vocal library, but I wanted to use Natalie like voice... maybe oohs or aahs or something similar and then drag the sliders to extreme, I guess I have to experiment hehe NOA Hex fits certain type of songs, here I used the 1 version, because the song was made before the version 2 came to market, haven't tested it much... there's just too many new voices available, I'm not going to get them all... if I find a suitable song for that great sounding Chinese baritone voice, I might get it  Janne
Last edited by jannesan; 11/23/25 09:18 AM.
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Cool opening bit. Synth voice is smooth and lovely. A melodically enchanting song that is expertly produced. Melodies that emerge from the ether of slumber are usually quite good. Thanks ES for your kind comment Glad you liked the intro and the voice. "Ether of slumber" - nice description of the method, I have another such a song under work, but the problem is that it is not the official version of the melody I remembered from my dream  Janne
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Hi Janne.
This is quite an amazing arrangement and production. You've done a super job. As always your songwriting stands strong and tall. I have never heard Natalie sound like this and the way you shaped her voice impressed me a great deal. This is definitely another song for the "One to be very proud of" collection.
--Noel Thanks Noel very much for your lovely review I'm very glad you liked how I shaped Natalie's voice, usually my vision of the vocals doesn't require this much tweaking. Janne
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Janne,
This is a wonderful song.
Your talent really shines through in the way the key changes drastically and repeatedly halfway through main melody.
On the other hand, the interlude, sung la-la-la, is the straightforward melody, and I think the contrast is stunning.
Enjoyed my listen a lot.
Best regards.
Shigeki Adachi Thanks Shigeki Adachi for enjoying my song, I really appreciate your very kind words Glad to hear you liked the interlude, you are right, it's more straightforward and I thought maybe even too conventional, but Natalie's voice just made it work. Janne
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Loved this Janne. Very cool instrumentation choices. Excellent vocals and melodies. Well done..
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Loved this Janne. Very cool instrumentation choices. Excellent vocals and melodies. Well done.. Thanks Scott, always nice to receive your positive feedback Janne
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Peter Gannon Talks Band-in-a-Box with zplane
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