St Paul's

A folk-song mainly about St Paul's Cathedral and its history, with themes of love, hope and continuity.

I got new recording bits for Christmas. This is my first attempt at doing a reasonably decent demo on my own. Any engineering or mixing tips would be lovely.

• play
• pause
• stop
• min volume
• max volume

posted by howfar (5 comments total)

Lovely picking, lovely singing. I assume this is a single mic setup?
posted by Doleful Creature at 4:35 PM on January 4

Thank you! The main guitar and vocal were actually recorded separately. I'm working on ways to get drier vocal takes, for greater flexibility when it comes to mixing. Currently trying to use an old set of shelves + blankets to create a small non-reflective space. Not sure how well it's working yet!
posted by howfar at 3:10 PM on January 5

I love when lyrics tell history so clearly. Those harmonic bell tones that pop in at the end of each verse are well-placed; it's like the whole song is being performed as a church tower rings it's bells in the distance.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 3:57 PM on January 5

Thank you, I'm really glad you enjoyed that. This was one of those bits of writing where it felt to me like the research had paid off. The one thing I was a bit sad about was not having a use for the further story of Lieutenant Robert Davies, the man who drove the bomb away from St Paul's. He was court-martialled and imprisoned for fraud later in the war, and he eventually sold his George Cross in Australia. There's something really tragic in that detail of history, to me. It just a reflection of how strength and weakness live together us all, I suppose. And while the great deed he did is not debased for me when I stand in or by the cathedral he helped to save, I can't help but wonder how he felt about it all in his later life.
posted by howfar at 5:30 PM on January 5

Great voice! Love the bell.
posted by Glinn at 4:04 PM on January 10