I wrote this song in 2015 and posted the original version on Users Showcase in early 2016.

Since then, I've learnt a lot more about mixing and production. I now also have some better music finishing software than I had back in 2015. It was thinking about these tools and techniques that inspired me to revisit this song.

Here's where my journey took me...


♫♫ Can You Imagine?


Please feel free to comment on any aspect of the song and/or its presentation.

Regards,
Noel

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Tracks were generated using the Audiophile version of BIAB. To polish the production, I used...

• Ozone 8 -- 'Greg Calbi Presets' on the overall final mix
• Nectar 2 -- vocals
• Waves Renaissance Bass VST -- bass guitar
• MAutopan VST -- electric guitar
• Waves CLA Guitars VST -- electric guitar
• Waves CLA Uplugged VST -- cello
• Waves CLA Drums VST -- drums
• MIDI Choir -- Miroslav Philharmonik

The BIAB Ensemble

• Bass Guitar 1759
• Electric Guitar 1764
• Acoustic Guitar 1596
• Piano 1767
• Cello 1856
• Drums - RockBritDrivingEv16^1-SnCH,RdCym

Lyrics

Can you imagine a scene like this?
We're standing with one another, side by side
And singing together in harmony
With confidence, heart and a mountain of pride

Can you imagine a sound like this?
An ocean of people who sway and sing
In chorus together, friend with friend
Making the heavens reverberate and ring

It all begins with a single voice
One voice to lead the way
Sooner or later another joins in
Then it starts to grow
And hundreds join the show

Can you imagine the power and strength
If a world full of people were singing strong
Flooding the planet in the sounds of peace
And everyone singing the same song

[Instrumental]

It all begins with a single voice
One voice to lead the way
Sooner or later another joins in
Then it starts to grow
And millions join the show

Can you imagine the power and strength
If a world full of nations were singing strong
Flooding the planet in the sounds of peace
And everyone singing the same song
Everyone singing the same song

©2015 Noel Adams, words and music, all rights reserved

Oddly, I heard/saw this on your Vimeo not too long ago. Loved it the first time I'd heard it. Love it now. I like the way the power builds with the introduction of the backing vocals in the same way that the lyric builds from one, to hundred, to millions, to all the nations. One day it will be true, I believe.

What a tune! Love the progressions, and your vocals are stunning on top of this. It sounds really lush and professional. Some really captivating lyrics as well. It sounds really powerful to me and is nicely catchy too.

You should be proud of this one - thanks for sharing

Great song & production...
The lyrics are really thought out...
With a pleasant melody to emphasize those lyrics of peace & hope...
Your outstanding vocal & harmonies sound very professional...
Heck... The whole composition sounds very professional...
I believe you are correct...
You've learned "a lot more about mixing and production"...
It shows...
I really enjoyed listening to your remix.

Everyone singing the same song

what a peaceful and hopeful message

excellent mix, I always love your vocals

harmonies shine!

Kenny

Hey Noel,

This is awesome man! I love it.

Such a strong song and superb vocals. You outdid yourself on this one. More please!

Thanks for listening again, Tangmo. Thanks for visiting my Vimeo site, too. Much appreciated. I'm presently in the process of updating the Vimeo video so that all versions of the song align. (Glad you noticed that lyric development! At the time of writing, I wasn't sure that it would work so I threw a coin... heads won )

All the best,
Noel

What a great job you did on the vocal here Noel! Overall sound on this track is awesome! Thanks, Torrey

Noel,

I remember this song - very uplifting and beautifully produced...

The remix is great. Gives it a very "Hi-Fi" sound.

Bob

Noel,

This mix is SUPERB!

The vocal is amazingly clear and present and sits PERFECTLY in the mix. Can't emphasize that enough. It is PERFECT. Pro-mix kind of vocal placement.

The bass is sublime. Punchy, present, commanding - without any muddiness at all. This is a bass sound I have been trying to achieve myself...

Drums and piano are clear, present...nice... The cello and background vocals right where they need to be.

...and, of course, a truly uplifting song to begin with.

Excellent.

fj

Like John Lennon, we can imagine...and, we'll add, hope. It's so nice to hear such a positive write delivered with a fine vocal performance.

We loved this the first time around and the redo is stunning. What can one add to what floyd wrote?

As a bass player I'll join in with floyd's comment. I (Bud) have struggled for years trying to get both acoustic and electric bass to sit in the mix as he described. Neutron 2's masking feature and a couple of Waves plug-ins have helped but I'm not "there."

And that bass is just one aspect of a mix that simply sparkles in clarity. I so often, perhaps too much so, write of our love of open and airy mixes. A listen to this will better define what we are trying to say than a thousand words.

Superb!

J&B

This song has a really easy-to-listen to vibe. The vocals are also quite lovely, and I really enjoyed the lyrics, especially loved "Can you imagine the power and strength if a world full of people were singing strong". A really lovely message.

Hi Deryk,

Thank you for taking the time to have a listen. Really appreciate it. Thanks for the comments regarding the remix, too. Learning how to mix effectively has been a long slow road for me. I'm still traveling it but it seems to be a less bumpy road these days. It's good to know that I'm getting somewhere.

All the best,
Neol

You've done a nice remix effort Noel. Your mixing has never been an issue for me though, I'm jealous to how easy you write top notch song after song. I always look forward to your latest posts and I've learned quite a bit from you over my time here on the forum. Enjoyed my listen. Good mix by the way...

Really enjoyed this one Noel. Lovely lyrics and gorgeous arrangement

The melody is majestic without being pompous. Excellent vocal. Beautiful piece!

Hey Jim.

Thank you for dropping by and having a listen. I appreciate your comments greatly. Learning to mix effectively has been quite a slow process for me. This forum has also been fantastic because I've heard some pretty amazing presentations over the years and all of them have shaped my understanding and have given me goals to achieve.

All the best,
Noel

Thanks Kenny.

I appreciate that you had a chance to visit and listen.

All the best,
Noel

That's a really good remix Noel.
Polished without being buffed into anodized oblivion.
Nice arrangement and structure as well.

Hey David,

I always smile when I see that you've visited one of my threads. I really appreciate your comments and your listen. Thanks heaps.

All the best,
Noel

Great vocal, it was different and drew me in. It was so clear yet it sat in the mix, that was what I liked about it.

Noel,

Always a fan of your stuff—just beautifully produced and your vocal is just so easy on the ear—distinctive, but familiar, calming and warm. Really sweet listen!

Hope all is well in your world,

Deej

Hi Torrey,

Thanks for giving the remix a run-through. I really appreciate it.

All the best,
Noel

Loved this Noel. Beautiful song. Awesome lyric. Such a cool message. Well done

Hi Bob,

Thanks for visiting the thread. I also appreciate the comment a lot. "Hi- Fi sound" is something I always strive for but, hen it comes to mixing, it seems to a bit elusive most of the time! Fortunately, the CLA plugins help a great deal.

All the best,
Noel

Good song, I love the positive message!

I don't remember how it sounded originally, but this sounds really good to me. Great vocal and harmonies! Choir sounds really good also.

I get lots of use from those CLA plugins myself, one of the best investments I've ever made. CLA Drums and CLA Unplugged are my favorites, sometimes I use CLA Guitars but often I find I like Unplugged better on the electric guitars.

Nice to hear this one again!

Hi floyd,

Thanks for dropping in. It's always a pleasure to read you. I really appreciate your comments. Thank you again.

All the best,
Noel

Noel, your mix is as good or better than anything that I hear on the radio! Your vocal is perfectly set in this mix. The backing tracks a superb! Your lyrics are also excellent.

This is radio ready!

PS - those Waves plug-ins and VSTis are great arn't they.

HI Noel ...

This is magnificent. I don't recall the original but this is wonderful. A positive message married to a fantastic production. As has been noted previously, the vocal is standout ... so clear and vivid. Your mix is to die for and I simply loved the vocal choir that appeared at times in the latter half of the song. Those choral background singers gave a renewed power ... but gentle power ... to the song and made it fresh again.

Great work, Noel! Best to you ...

Alan

Hi J&B,

Thanks for taking so much time to listen and to comment. I appreciate it a great deal. And Bud, I disagree... the bass in your productions definitely sounds 'there' to me. The Renaissance Bass from Waves is a great plug-in. It has a number of preset sounds that help give the bass line a little bit of an edge.

I think I've mentioned this before but before I add any plug-ins to the bass, I always use a pre-fx envelope to shape note volumes so that they sound pretty much the same volume for all notes. While I do this manually, I believe a bass rider plugin does something similar. Then when all notes have a similar volume, I use the Renaissance Bass to add a touch of compression and adjust sonic character.

Thanks again for taking the time.

All the best,
Noel

Just so good Noel, love this it is so refreshing and bright!!! Cliff

Hi Ember,

Thank you for having a listen. Appreciate it.

Regards,
Noel

Hi Charlie,

Thanks heaps.

When it comes to learning, these forums are a two-way street. That's what I like most about them. I've learnt a ton of stuff from the contributions of others too. You gave me a golden idea just recently in THIS POST about using three random words to generate ideas. And a few years ago in THIS POST you gave me wonderful advice on writing a chorus.

Thanks again for the visit. It's always a pleasure
Noel

Hi Graham,

Thanks for finding the time to have a listen. Appreciate it.

Regards,
Noel

Hi Scott,

Thank you! Really appreciate the visit.

All the best,
Noel

Noel,
I did not hear the original version, but this one is excellent! Very good choice of tracks and arrangement! I think one of the most challenging aspects you achieved is making vocals sit somewhat deep in the mix and still sound clear and eligible.

Thank you for sharing!

Misha.

Sorry Noel a bit slow to catch this one.
Love the melody and the chord progression.
Great mix. Really well done. Rob

Hi Ray,

Thanks heaps for visiting Soundcloud and having a listen. I love that phrase "buffed into anodised oblivion"! I wish that I could think of things like that

All the best,
Noel

Hi Tunemonger,

I appreciate that you had time to listen and to comment. It's taken a while for me to get the hang of getting instruments and vocals to sit comfortably in the mix.
As far as I can tell, one of the the tricks seems to relate to getting a good balance between slapback delay and reverb.

Thanks again,
Noel

So good, Noel! I always enjoy the "positivity" of your songs. You always write with such hope and expectancy. That's inspiring.

This is really well done. Like Floyd said, your vocals fit perfectly in the mix.

Very well done, my friend!

Steve

You never fail to inspire Noel!! This is beautifully done in all regards....writing, arranging, and mixing are all right where they should be. AMAZING!!! Take care. Greg

Hi Deej,

Thank you for such "bring a smile to the face" comments. I really appreciate those. I also appreciate that you had the time to visit Soundcloud and have a listen.

All the best,
Noel

Hey Scott,

Thanks once more for your support. I always appreciate your visits. I'm glad you had to have a listen.

All the best,
Noel

Hi Dave,

Appreciate the visit. Thanks for giving the remix a listen and for the positive feedback. Like you, I'm huge fan of CLA Signature Series plugins too.... so easy to use and so effective!

All the best,
Noel

Hi Mario!

It's always good to see you. Thank you for taking the time. I appreciate your comments very much. An yes, those Waves plugins are the best! I don't know why it took me so long to discover them. I wouldn't be without them these days.

All the best,
Noel

Hi Alan,

Thank you for taking the time to listen and write so many thoughts. I sincerely appreciate it. Now if only I knew how to arrange music as well you do... You have such a wonderful flair for creating.

In relation to the MIDI voices, as mentioned I created them using Miroslav Philharmoik. Once done, I used the MIDI to generate a wav track and I then used volume shaping on the wav to add phrasing so that the voices sound a little less MIDI and a little more realistic.

May a million good things come your and Di's way,
Noel

Very uplifting song Noel. Love the choir at the end.
The production sounds great.
Cheers,
Mike

Thanks, Cliff.

I really appreciate the visit and comments.

All the best,
Noel

Hi Misha,

I haven't listened to it after doing this but I reckon that this one would sound much better. My mixing ability has been a work in progress for a long time and I wasn't all that great to start with! Thanks dropping in and playing the song. Appreciate it.

All the best,
Noel

Hey Rob,

Thanks for dropping in. You're always welcome. Thanks for the listen and comments too.

All the best,
Noel

This is certainly a beautiful and timeless song. I was imagining an actual choir singing the last verse..

Hey Steve,

It's so good to see you back in the forum. Thanks for taking the time...

Really appreciate it,
Noel

Hey Greg,

Thank you for your really kind words. I very much appreciate them.

By the way, I always look forward to your songs. Your creations are always of the highest calibre and thoroughly enjoyable.

All the best,
Noel

Hi Mike,

Thank you for passing through the thread and taking to listen and to comment. Appreciate it lots.

All the best,
Noel

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for dropping in. Glad you liked it. I found that when I added some volume shaping for phrases, the Miroslav vocals gleamed!

The most important thing though, is that none of this could have happened without Band In A Box. Without fail, I spend around 2 - 3 hours nearly every day using the software. Without all your, Peter's and the development team's programming, I would still just be sitting here at home, trying to write average ballads with my piano.

Thank you for all you have done and all you continue to do!

Regards,
Noel