Hi, Andrew! Great to see you again! Terrific pointers you have! The idea of putting in an instrument to follow the melody is very good. That would also give a hired vocalist a better idea of it. The chords make the melody more tricky and veiled to follow and the funny thing is when I isolate the vocal track, I can't help thinking "What the 4u^k is this?" Put the instruments back in and it makes sense. The tune has an element of ambiguity and yet has interest and that's how I got the droning, longing, melody I have. I like the idea of a fadeout with vocals included. It would follow the them of a bus traveling into the distance. Even if it's 70s and 80s, it is likely to come back...if we don't annihilate our planet first! I really like fadeouts if I can't get Band in a Box to do exactly what I want. Know what I'd really like to do with vocals? Have Solohead (Vladimir from Ukraine) sing it. He's the one I used on "Summer Day." His fee for doing lead and harmony comes to (with tip) about $140, about 200 to the Australian dollar. That an expense, though, I try to save for my really catchy tunes.

I've run into timing issues before but my biggest problem is not noticing them. Usually someone else points them out. I'll have to listen very carefully to see if I can pick them up. Cutting and rearranging clips or stretch markers have been my favorite way to deal with them. I love Melodyne! That program has saved me from having a vocalist redo a part where they seriously didn't follow the melody. I think I picked up a couple subtle places where Melodyne would work well in "Greyhound Bus" though I suspect there's several more.

Thank you for listening and your comments!
Best to you, John