Originally Posted by John Walradt
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.
Thank you for taking my suggestions with the goodwill they were intended John! I've been thinking all morning that I hoped you would. This forum really is full of wonderful contributors that are very encouraging and supportive, and I've learned a lot. From what I hear, other non-BIAB forums are not so - one either hears crickets or receive rather harsh feedback. You're spending some time on the forum so I've assumed you're enjoying your experience - good to hear a lot of your own contributions in music and feedback!

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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.
When I've seen people mention FivRR I have often wondered what the going rate is - I guess it varies according to demand and supply. I can understand being choosy about when you use it.

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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.
I will often double track (sometimes triple track) my vocals and often end up with different phrasing. I will sometimes monitor this visually by looking at the waveform in my DAW to find which track best keeps to the beats, then time-stretch or punch-in to get the other track(s) to match.

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Thank you for listening and your comments!
Best to you, John
Always good to see what you're offering in new songs, John. Always variety!
Andrew

Regards,
Andrew D
Adelaide, Sth Aust
Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/SQE4btVvNVkLq74e9
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@andrewoftheantipodes