Friday 30 April 2021

Stations Of The Cross (Paul O'Brien)

Song written by Paul O'Brien. Guitar & vocals by Paul O'Brien.
Additional instrument parts written & performed by John Michael Kerr.
Sound production & captioning by John Michael Kerr.

Watch on YouTube

Instrumentation

  1. Video - Paul's original iPhone recording (audio not used due to poor recording quality)
  2. Vocals - Condenser mic through Behringer UMC204HD
  3. Guitar - Fender semi-acoustic
  4. Recorders - Ableton Core "Recorder Keys"
  5. Violins - BBC SO Discover
  6. Double Bass - BBC SO Discover

Production Notes

After the 10-channel extravagance of Union Card (mixing like it's 1969!), we had a chat about our next project, and seemed to agree that a simpler, more restrained production would be appropriate. "Something along the lines of the Stairway To Govan intro, with recorders, flutes, or similar..."

Paul's original iPhone video recording had such poor quality audio, we agreed to bin it. This didn't make life much easier for me, however, as the video still had to be stitched or "warped" to ensure the guitar notes synchronised correctly with the video experience. At the time of writing we still haven't figured out why the iPhone audio has taken such a nosedive recently.

I've boosted Paul's guitar in the beginning and end sections. His fingerpicking work is good here, so I showcased it by increasing its volume and dropping out the double bass in the last 8 bars.

Vocals have a tweaked "Vocal Presence" filter applied, and Guitar uses "Acoustic Git EQ 1".

Critical Response

From Paul's Facebook page:

  • SO beautiful!!! ❤️
  • Hey, Elenor Rigby, where's ur hair shirt? ( good song)

Previously: Midnight Sky Of Blue

Next time: Don't Worry

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