The Coventry Carol - Fylde Falstaff, Archtop Bouzouki, Touchstone Mandolin

Here's my arrangment of the Coventry Carol for three instruments made by the legendary Roger Bucknall MBE at Fylde Guitars. I only had two days to arrange and record the tune and make the video, so the editing is fairly basic! I'm playing a Falstaff acoustic guitar, Signature longscale archtop bouzouki and Signature Touchstone mandolin. The carol refers to the Massacre of the Innocents, in which Herod ordered all male infants under the age of two in Bethlehem to be killed, and takes the form of a lullaby sung by mothers of the doomed children. Not the most cheerful Christmas song its a beautiful tune!

[@johnperrins1980]

I've just ordered a Touchstone Signature mandolin off Roger. Really excited to play it.

[@douglasculhane3657]

Beautiful! Inspiring! Bravo!

[@dreamawaythemiles]

beautiful....

[@jonathanwinspear6232]

Bravo sire!

[@andyaskins100]

Lovely!

[@carlcurtis]

Wonderfully played--by all three of you.

[@PeteCallard]

Lovely stuff Dave! Beautifully played & recorded

[@sidewayspodcast7027]

Fabulous. Now I need a mince pie. Hope you're keeping well Dave :-)

[@bigrichpea]

Lovely! That's a fine collection of stringed instruments...

[@DaveHolmesRaw]

Indee it is! You cant have too many Fyldes!

[@bigrichpea]

@@DaveHolmesRaw As someone who has zero, I agree!

[@splitpotrose]

Who do you love more, Olivia, or Falstaff???

[@DaveHolmesRaw]

Tricky question! The Falstaff is the better instrument imo but the Olivia is much older and there is a mature openness to the sound. Probably the Falstaff, just!

[@splitpotrose]

@@DaveHolmesRaw Wow, Falstaff must be some instrument. Would you mind telling me the serial number of your Olivia please.? Mine is 1560 from 1979.

[@DaveHolmesRaw]

@@splitpotrose Mine is 1829 and I think its 1980

[@johnwilliamson6846]

Lovely playing. I arrived at this video having searched in UA-cam for Fylde Signature Touchstone Mandolin... I may as well ask, are you satisfied with yours? (Though I think I know the answer!)

[@DaveHolmesRaw]

Definitely! The combination of woods gives it a strong, bright tone. I've been a fan of Roger Bucknall and Fylde instruments since I was a teenager.

[@johnwilliamson6846]

@@DaveHolmesRaw 👍

[@petehoban1]

Excellent Dave what camera and audio did you use? great quality!

[@DaveHolmesRaw]

Peter Hoban Thanks Pete, the camera was my iPhone! The audio path is a bit more serious though. Royer and Neumann mics, Neve mic pres, PrismSound converters. And of course the instruments sound stunning