SoundCloud: The Colors Of Nature (audio)
YouTube: The Colors Of Nature (video)

I had composed chords and melody for this song five years ago but hadn't written any lyrics and there was no form yet. This year there was an Autumn song contest on a local forum, and I felt this song had suitable Autumn mood, I kept the working title and wrote the lyrics inspired by the title and the beauty of nature during early October days. I have tens of unfinished songs just waiting to be finished, luckily BIAB is a great sketch pad and an archive for them

You may get into the mood also by watching the video (I have captured all animal video clips except the bear and humans during the last two years here on my walking trips).

I originally planned to use Natalie for vocals, but at the same time I had acquired also Weina and I had both of them on different tracks. Accidentally, I had left Weina's voice one octave higher than Natalie's on the first verse and when I heard Weina singing, I immediately fell in love with her voice and selected her as the lead singer. She sounded even better than I could imagine a real vocalist to sing. I can't hear anything artificial in her voice, please tell me if you hear. And she sounded that good without any modification on her voice settings, Natalie seemed to need modifications on her vibrato settings. Of course, I had to work hard on the timing of notes, this is not an easy song to sing, but I'm happy with the end result. Still, I'm interested in hearing comments on possible fluency issues.

Natalie and Weina are singing the second voices in the choruses. By default, Synthesizer V uses la syllable for each note and when Weina and Natalie were singing together after the bridge part after the second chorus, those la-la's were so harmonious in my ears that I didn't want to write any lyrics for those notes, amazing technology that could sing a phonebook and it would sound the sweetest thing ever I probably will write a song for Weina in which she is singing her love to me, just because it is possible and she feels so real (similar to the movie Her...) I love also the Chinese color in her accent. I really hope you like her voice as much as I do

(BTW. this song won that contest)

RealDrums: MalletsFolkSlow8ths
RealTracks:
2474:Bass, Acoustic, Held Ev 085
3669:Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm NewAgeArp16 Ev16 090
2773:Harp, Rhythm Celtic16ths Ev16 075
3262:Cello, Rhythm CelticReelChoppingNatalie Ev16 110
3418:Jaw Harp, Rhythm FolkSw16Roots Sw16 070
3876:Tin Whistle, Low, BackgroundSoloist Folky16thsGeoff Ev 085
3381:Fiddle, BackgroundSoloist OldTimeSadBalladAndy Ev16 065

Vocals: Synthesizer V Weina (lead, 2nd voice), Synthesizer V Natalie (2nd voice, double), Synthesizer V Solaria (double)

Mixed in Cakewalk by BandLab

Lyrics:

A squirrel is caching
acorns in a tree
looks at yellow leaves
wags her tail
feels relieved and carefree.
Days are getting shorter
in the black eyes of a stoat
afterglow tells
time to put on
the white winter coat.

The colors of nature
it's time now to prepare
the spectrum of autumn
signs for a bear.
Store fat in your body
find a den, hibernate
winter is approaching
there's no time to wait.

Mushrooms woken up
their caps dyeing the ground
chlorophyll retreats
leaving orange,
red, purple hues around.
Waxwings in the rowans
they enjoy those red fruits
when berries are consumed
food becomes scarce
it's time to change the route.

The colors of nature
below a flying herd
the spectrum of autumn
signs for a bird.
Follow your instincts
spread your wings, migrate
winter is approaching
there's no time to wait.

For the colors of nature
sing la-la-la-la-la-la-la
sing la-la-la-la-la-la-la.

Fields are blood-red
soldiers are starving
how to keep warm
when there is no fuel?
Brown in boxes
shelters for homeless
the colors of nature
are sometimes cruel.

-----------------
Janne

I can see why this won, this is an excellent song!

Great mix and instrumentation

I did not hear any artificial artifacts in the vocal

Great video!

This is a beautiful song, you indeed create a nice autumn mood with a nice Irish flavor, and both the instruments and the vocals support it very well.

The first verse is maybe a bit too high sung, but the rest fits Weina very well, she sounds great


The timing of the notes, or more precisely, the individual syllables, is the most important (and as you said, difficult and time-consuming) part when using synthesized voices. The right vocal rhythm makes or breaks a song.
You did it well!

Great job, Janne, I felt like I was listening to something by Celtic Woman. Intriguing lyrics as always and it's easy to hear how this became a contest winner. Jaw harp can be tricky, it can stick out like a sore thumb, but you tamed it admirably. Mix was a pleasure to listen to. Congratulations on winning the contest!

Oh, yes, this is a no-doubter for the contest winner. Man, it has it all. Great feel of walking through a forest of colors with a happy-to-be-alive vibe. Love the video, too, Janne, and the way you brought each one in and out. Excellent choices for the band and the whole production. Yes, I agree that Weina is probably better than most singers on this planet. and it was a terrific decision to add then together. Such a fun song. Got my vote!!

Hi Janne
Wow. How cool does that sound ?
The whole song is one unit
The vocals unite so well with the song
This is a masterful work Janne !
Very great
Many greetings
Andi ;-)

Excellent track, Janne! I also really enjoyed your video.

The vocals sound good to my ears, especially when they are both singing together.

Enjoyed!

Thanks Mario, I appreciate your pleasant feedback

Janne

Thanks B.D. for you kind and supportive words I agree that Weina's voice may get too high, but despite that it sounded so celestial and beautiful in my ears that I fell for her Glad you think I succeeded in timing, I have heard quite many Vocaloid/Synthesizer V songs where the notes may be correctly timed, but it just doesn't sound good when the corresponding syllables are sung.

Janne

Thanks TuneMonger for your congratulations and the positive feedback Celtic music is close to my heart so I'm glad you think the singer sounds Celtic too!

Janne

Thanks Marty, it is a big pleasure to read your kind words You found the essence of the song. Glad you liked Weina also, so I'm not alone with her

Janne

Congratulations on the contest and we can see and hear why you won!

Those are beautiful lyrics and Weina, Natalie and Solaria live up to your praise. They sing with soul!

Lovely band and the fiddle is wonderful.

We love your video (great clips by you) and felt right at home in your woods. As we hike or bike daily we are often stopping to photograph flowers, trees, birds and other critters. Those squirrels with the tall, pointed ears gave us both big smiles.

Thoroughly enjoyed it!

J&B

what a great unique song.

it has this excellent 'middle ages' centuries ago vibe imho.

superb songwriting.

om.

Janne,

Beautiful composition.
Voices are top notch.
We understand what you mean by the Chinese colour of the accent, we noticed it too.
Lovely video too!

Rob and Anne-Marie

Hi Janne,

I can only agree with all others here. You earned two, no three, no four huge compliments on the song;
1. A very nice melody/ composition
2. Very beautiful lyrics
3. So nice vocals used here. You can't hear AI shortcomings. You have made wonderful progress on that!
4. Winning that contest, but of course you had to win that.

Oh, and almost forgot nr. 5; the very nice, entertaining video you made!

Enjoyed the song a lot. One day I might use AI / Synthesizer as well,
Hans

Thanks Andi, I appreciate your warmly rewarding words

Janne

Thanks Dave for your pleasant feedback I'm really glad you liked the vocals.

Janne

Very lovely celtic music, Janne; interesting lyric details, a vocal right in the tradition and perfect instrumental choices.
You are doing amazing work with the synth voices; the result here is more than human!
Well done on your contest win.

Robert

Thanks Janice & Bud for your congratulations and the beautiful comment "they sing with soul" couldn't agree more, finally AI has reached that point Glad you loved my video and the squirrels, I know you live close to nature, so it means a lot to me to hear about your surroundings.

Janne

Thanks om, I appreciate your kind words Glad to hear that 'middle ages' vibe is popular also during this apocalyptic age

Janne

Thanks Rob and Anne-Marie for your kind comment

Janne

Really cool video Janne. Excellent HD shots. Beautiful countryside. Loved the song. Vocal and lyric were excellent as well.

Thanks Hans for your huge compliments It's a great honor that you found so many kind things to say about my song.

I'm really glad you liked the vocals, I hope to hear your work on Synth vocals one day, but do not replace your gorgeous voice, just add some nice lady backing or do something inventive with them

Janne

Thanks Robert for your kind comment I'm glad you found the vocal working in the Celtic tradition, it is amazing how she can sound so authentic (even being originally a Chinese singer), Weina also sounds bit like a Finnish singer of a band called Auri. I agree that the result is more than human, that's how I think also, but it is not my merit, the synth voices just don't require much work anymore to sound excellent.

Janne

Nice song!

Weina has a lovely voice, and her personality shines through here. As a native speaker (and user of the software) I'd prefer the accent be gone, but it does no damage to the song.

I also thought that the first verse felt like it was pitched high for her, but I suspect part of that is that I'm just not that used to hearing someone sing that high.

Another factor is when SynthesizerV "humanizes" pitches, it pulls the vocal slightly out of tune. It's a delicate balance - too perfect is robotic, while too imperfect sounds off because we're so used to hearing everything auto-tuned to perfection.

Adding Natalie helps balance out Weina's high pitch.

Sounds good!

Janne,

It's a beautiful song with a Celtic feel. The video also fits the mood of the song perfectly.
I was impressed with how skillfully you used the vocal synthesizers.
No wonder you won the song contest. Congratulations!
Enjoyed my listen and watch a lot.

Best regards.

Shigeki Adachi

Terrific work with the syth voices.
A well arranged piece too.

Thanks Scott for your nice comment Glad you liked the song and the video, not actually countryside shots, all inside the city area, but there's still lots of nature.

Janne

Janne,

Congrats on the win.
An interesting, colorful write.

Excellent use of BIAB. You always show new possibilities with the software.
Great job with the synth vocals. Truly Amazing. You do that as well as any I've heard.

A very solid mix.
Well done.

fj

Thanks David for your kind and professional comment Because I'm non-native speaker, the accent is more natural to me and besides I like exotic voices and make exotic music The Eastern music seems to have tendency for women to sing quite high, maybe that's why there are so many high-pitched voice banks... and maybe the use of autotuning as an effect get Western people more used to unnatural sounding vocals.

Janne

Thanks Shigeki Adachi for congratulations and the kind words Glad you enjoyed the video also.

Janne

Thanks Ray for your nice feedback

Janne

Thanks Floyd for congrats and the very pleasant comment BIAB is a very creative tool, and it inspires creativity. I just wonder how boring my music would be without it...

Janne

Janne, this has a lot of sound to it. What a lovely production. Glad you won, you deserve it. Loved the way you worked those harmony voices. Very impressive.

Thanks Brad, I really appreciate your kind words Glad to hear you liked the harmonies, that's something that I usually do manually, although I know I could also use BIAB to generate them.

Janne