The Long Path is a slow ballad for voice and trumpet. It’s just brushed drums, upright bass, piano, and smoky trumpet. More like a quiet late-night room than a big studio production.
The title comes from ham radio: the “long path” is when a signal takes the long way around the earth instead of the usual short path, sometimes sneaking along the edge of night before it reaches the other side of the world. I liked that image of something wandering a bit, but still eventually finding its way to you.
I recorded this at home and tried to leave a lot of space in the arrangement. It’s meant to be something you can put on at the end of the day and just sit with for a few minutes.
I hope you enjoy it. The tune is free, but tips are always welcomed :)
Lyrics
CQ horizon calling out
Searching through the ionosphere
Signals fail on twenty meters
Lost between the noise and static
Where the propagation's strong
Somewhere near, on the HF bands
When the sunspot cycle peaks
I can hear your callsign breaking through
I can copy you, five by nine
CQ horizon, take me there
73
-- Trumpet Solo --
Signals bounce off the sky
Traveling halfway around the world
Twisting through the atmosphere
Fading in and fading out
Lost somewhere between the bands
Keeping watch throughout the night
When the sunspot cycle peaks
I can hear your callsign breaking through
A long-path signal finds its way
Back to where it all began
73