Only Ghosts

This song is also available on all streaming and music services including:

Spotify

and Apple

I wrote and recorded Only Ghosts in 2016. At that point, I was in the infancy of my sound design implementation. I’m still learning, but I’m much better at working my music software — dialing in the right reverb, EQ, and mastering. Additionally, I wanted to update this piece with a little more heart and sentimentality.

I’m still massively inspired by The Haunting of Bly Manor score. That music (and series) allowed me to grasp that Only Ghosts is actually a gothic love song. I think of instrumental music in terms of an unspecific journey — designed to elicit an emotional narrative. I added a section an end section to Only Ghosts which better resolves the song’s story.

The sound editing for this latest iteration of Only Ghosts is decidedly Lo-fi: an imperfect production quality that brings you closer to the guitar. You’ll hear the hiss of mic gain with the highs and lows filtered out. I’m obsessed with getting Lo-fi editing right. I love the intimate sound that composer’s Stephan Moccio and Dustin O’Halloran get with their piano performances. You can even hear the pressing of the keys.

How to play Only Ghosts | fingerstyle guitar

The guitar tab for this piece is beautifully written across three pages. I recommend this piece for intermediate guitar players and up. Enjoy, the guitar tab is available below:

You’ll essentially play straight through all 3 sheets twice without repeats. My order of play, in accordance with the guitar tab, looks like this:

Verse, Chorus, End

Verse, Chorus, End

Only Ghosts – Evan Handyside (ambient, contemporary guitar)

Only Ghosts is played in standard tuning.