Lighthouse Song (Live Demo)

This is a live demo of a new song called Lighthouse Song. It was recorded in my old apartment just before we moved and the lyrics are a reflection of it being a turbulent time in my life. The song was recorded live onto my Tascam Model 12 and I am playing my Yamaha YC61. The mic is an AKG C1000S.

To create the file, I imported the raw tracks into Logic, added some compression and a little reverb to the piano and edited a small section to remove a really bad timing issue caused by the fact I was still learning to play the song while I recorded. The vocal is completely dry with only some compression added. I exported to an AIFF file and then converted to mp3 to allow me to upload it to micro.blog within the data limits.

Even though it is only a rough demo, I like the sparse arrangement and the somewhat loose tempo. I also like the descending motif in the verses and the way it switches to an ascending motif in the chorus.

One final thought. I was recording with the door open and I like that you can hear a bird calling outside. It was a complete fluke, but it really helps to reinforce the nautical theme of the song.

I look forward to recording a more complete version in the future, but think I will always have a soft spot for this original demo. Please do tell me what you think. I am very much an amateur songwriter, but I do love making something myself that speaks to me in some way. 🎶

The Life of Brian

Finished reading the chapter “The Swish of the Curtain” from the Mark Lewisohn book “Tune In, The Beatles: All these Years Vol 1” today. The chapter details the early life and career of Brian Epstein. While Brian certainly had many triumphs in his short life, it is so sad to read about how tortured he felt about being gay and the shame that accompanied this. Even more sad to think of the innumerable others that must have felt the same throughout much of history. 📚 🎶