Be sure to post your results in the Songs forum when you're done, Ken. Lots of experienced songmakers there who'll happily offer advice.
BTW, bit RATE refers to the sample rate, how many samples per second, e.g. 44.1 KHz. Bit DEPTH, or wordlength, refers to the number of bits in each sample, e.g. 24 bits. So it's bit DEPTH that you've adjusted, not bit rate. Not to nit-pick (bit-pick?), but getting the terminology straight will help in future conversations.