My Ashes, off @PorcupineTreeOfficial 's 2007 album Fear of a Blank Planet, has the distinction of being the one and only song that has nearly moved me to tears. Thanks to @StevenWilsonHQ 's immaculate production, Gavin Harrison's propulsive drumming, Richard Barbieri's lush soundscapes and Colin Edwin's smooth bass, it's a ballad that hits perfectly at every note and word. I wasn't planning on doing my own rendition...until I saw the Gothik Serpent subscriber count suddenly climb to 500 and then 600 and thought this would be a good way to celebrate those milestones.

From a production perspective, My Ashes was a chance to record with and mix an acoustic guitar for the first time. While more challenging to play compared to my PRS, its richer tonality was better suited than the PRS's piezo system. The key change that happens at the second verse onwards was accidental; a result of me unintentionally moving one of the midi tracks a step up. I decided to keep it that way as it gave the track a different spin, and also better accommodated Olivia's vocals during the chorus. Finally, I introduced a few additional synthesizer sounds to accentuate the spaces between the singing.

Unexpectedly, the path to this rendition was fraught with a number of issues that all occurred at once. First, one of Tau's overhead mics decided that the recording of My Ashes would be the perfect time to just die. Second, the acoustic guitar I used developed an issue at the nut that caused the high E string to buzz, necessitating repairs. Third, while recording Olivia's vocals, my computer, for no reason I can imagine, locked up every time she was about to sing the final "sails" at the end. Fourth, an eye problem that I thought was past me decided to manifest after years of dormancy, making me unable to work on the song for a few days. The fact that I had to get all this done in a couple of weeks before going overseas made these problems all the more infuriating.

Problems aside, I'm happy with how it turned out and hope you enjoy it. And thanks to all who have subscribed to this channel; you're a huge factor in this channel's progress!

Kerwin Tsang - Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Synths, Mixing, Mastering, Video
Olivia Jean Kong - Vocals, Camera
Tau Bowyer - Drums, Additional guitar, Camera

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