BELIEVE IT OR NOT

https://www.reverbnation.com/kaynemusic/song/34351239-believe-it-or-not

Leon Russell once said he dont write songs for himself, he writes them for others to cover.
This is another attempt to write a Standard, a Wedding Song that can be covered.

The idea for this one came from one of my friends who was getting re-married after a long bad divorce. I wrote this from her point of view, so naturally I needed a female vocalist: Synth V Sheena with Natalie and Solaria on backups.

BIAB Backing, Cubase 13 DAW, EZ Drummer and Audio Loops Drums, Midi Strings, Horns, Trumpets
Vocals Synth V,

****** Song Summary *************
Title: Believe it or not
File:Believe it or not.SGU
Key=Bb , Tempo 120, Length (m:s)=5:04
4 bar intro, 146 bar chorus, from bar 5 to bar 150. Repeat x1 chorus
No Melody
No Soloist track.
Song is saved with Volume, Pan, Reverb, Chorus, Bank0,
Style is _HEATWAV.STY (Heatwave Latin Funk with Horns)

RealTracks in style: 1434:Bass, Electric, JazzFunkPoppy Ev16 110
RealTracks in style: 1959:Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm Guajira Ev 120
RealTracks in style: 1960:Tres, Rhythm Guajira Ev 120
RealTracks in style: ~2292:Horn Section, Rhythm Pop Ev 130
RealDrums in style:JazzFunkPop^2-a:Snare, Hihat , b:Snare, Ride

*******************


I thought my life was all over
Time just seemed to slip away
I was lost without direction
Now I find that I Can live another day

Believe it or not I'm in love again / Opened up my heart
Believe it or not I'm alive again / Another brand new start
I know what I feel (2.nothing to fear) (3. know this is real)
Believe it or not I'm in love

I was just going through emotions
Living only day to day
There was rain and never rainbows
Now that I have you I found another way

Whoa I don't believe it I never thought I'd love
Whoa I believe it Now that I found love

I was not taking second chances
I don't believe in love at first sight
Now I know how nice romance is Just one look from you
I found my paradise

This is awesome, Elliott! I'm amazed at how good the synth vox sounds. GREAT melody line and the lyrics suit the style and hook well. The trumpet sounds too midi for my taste but it doesn't detract from my love of this one.

Dewey

Hi Elliott,

This is the first time I've heard Sheena in any of the vocaloids thus far. Sounds terrific! And the harmony is wonderful. You are very talented with these synth vocals!

A real nice song well put together and equally nicely delivered. And that's a great percussion track! Nice lyric, too!

I liked almost everything about this very much. The only thing that I thought was not quite as good as everything else was the staccato lead break (trumpet?). Everything else was smooth as butter, and I thought the staccato effect interrupted that gentle flow to some degree. Perhaps a minor point, but thought I'd give my thoughts on it.

But everything else is just so good. And I can see this as a piece of wedding music. All in all, very nice, indeed!

Take care,

Alan

Elliott, those voice sound so real it is scary.
Loved that groove and chord progression.
Super backing band.
Outstanding harmonies.
You are correct, this is a great song for a wedding, right up here with the song "Feelings"

This is the first time I've heard Sheena in a real song, and I think she fits the genre quite well.
Your great backing tracks certainly help her sound good.

Is that a vocoder at the beginning of the chorus?

Not a Vocoder, it is 8 tracks of harmony vocals singing together.

Elliot, nice tune with an outstanding arrangement! Everything sounds really crisp and light. The special part to me is how you pieced it together to sustain interest over nearly five minutes. LOVE your instrumental and vocal arrangements, and how you make everything ebb and flow. The only element I wasn't crazy about on first listen was the somewhat abrupt ending, but that might grow on me. Super job, maestro!

I remixed and changed the trumpet part, it still sounds midi, but a bit better. Thanks for the input

Elliott,

You have a great sound here. Love the song and the arrangement is superb.

Excellent mix as well.

Bob

Elliott

This is one of the very best presentations of the synth vocal I have heard! To me it's got a more authentic sound than many of other songs using his tool have! More importantly than that is the fact that this is such a cool song! So smooth yet vibrant! You've created a lovely laid-back sound here! I still have to say though, that after being familiar with a lot of your past work, that you could have sung it equally as well but from your description I get why you went for the female sound!

Thanks, TB

Hi, Elliot.

Mellow song, catchy chorus, nice harmonies, good lyrics. I like the 70's trumpet riff.

Nice song!

Very nicely done. I loved the grit in the voice. Eight tracks on the vocals.... I think I'm going to the edge with 5 vox tracks.... I can't imagine how much work that was. Well, yes I can which is why I tend to do 3.

Very cool bossa feel and well done.

Elliot, you have done a masterful job with the vocals. The song is perfect for a second marriage scenario and is very well written. You achieved your goal and I believe your friend will be thrilled, Tom

Yes, this is a very beautiful song Elliott.

You have quite a knack for this kind of thing and I think you should keep doing it.

Sooner or later someone's going to use one of these in a soundtrack.

A really marvelous arrangement and just a great song.

This shows an enormous amount of craftsmanship.

There are quite a few people on this forum who are shining as bright as stars and who are producing high quality commercial music.

There are a lot of talented people on here.

And this song proves it beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Very 70s. Great lyrics, arrangement and mix, though I thought that particularly at the beginning it lacked having a piano. Superb use of SynthV voices.

This would be very good for a second wedding (or third or fourth as one of our friend’s had 😆) and the latin rhythm works very well.

Sheena sounds great and even better when joined by the excellent harmonies from Natalie and Solaria.

Excellent track selection, arrangement and mix.

Well done!

J&B

Oh, I'm a beliver (and not the Davy Jones kind). I like how youy bring it from sadness to that special happiness only a second wedding can bring. "Love is better the second time around." Quite a good production, Elliott. That trumpet was the perfect choice for solo, too. Love what you did with Natalie, and that's some fine harmony. So well done. The perfect send-off for your friend. I wish for her happiness to continue.

Hi Elliott,

Very attractive song you made with those vocals!
Especially the chorusses are very good!
I was amazed to read you used 8 vocal tracks for the lead singer.
And then read someone was amazed too, he 'only' uses 5 tracks.
And I thought, something wrong with me. I use 2 tracks...

As I said, a very lovely song, but I like your vocals too!
A duett with -say- Nataly???

Hans

I didn't use 8 voices just for the lead singer ... I used them on the backing vocals, by doubling the 4 part harmony with 4 different singers.

Very impressive song!
Good write and arrangement, and those vocals are crazy good, especially when you bring in the harmonies.

Really well done, enjoyed.

Hi Elliot,

Very pretty, well-constructed melody. The singers' voices are pleasant. Synth V is astonishing in its possibilities. I appreciated. Well done

Jani.

New Mix Posted ... changed the Rhythm tracks, and improved the Strings, Horns, and overall balance.

Hi Elliott wow! love this so well done !! great mix sounds awesome on my rig sorry for late response thanks fmm
synth vox sounds great !

Elliot,

Nice Pop groove.
Very cool harmonies.
Excellent mix.
Nice use of BIAB.

Cool idea to attempt the "standard wedding song". Typically, those will be slow-dance number. I don't think Dad would know how to dance to this one... (not sure we'd want to see him try... )

fj

I am a fan of the vocaloids. Really cool song. Loved the vocals and harmonies. Backtrack was solid. Excellent mix and production. Well done