So you have printed your business cards on the PC, and you know a guy who can design eye-catching posters for your band. Do you really need a demo? You bet. One of the best calling cards that a band can have is a recorded demo of your sound. It is not only a vital component of a good press kit; but it will also stand on its own. A demo will display your style of music, level of proficiency, and will capture your bands unique sound.
You should have your demo ready before you start looking for gigs. If you are seriously looking for work, a promise to have a demo in a few weeks will do you little good. A demo does not have to be an industry masterpiecethe majority of demos are home grown Recordings. Although they do not have to sound like million dollar productions, it is key to understand is that they should be performed well. People listening to the demos will be looking for the talent within and not necessarily the quality of the Recording.
So what do you need to get ready to cut a demo? Start with three songs that will showcase your style, and soundthat is what you want recognized (sometimes referred to as your brand). Three songs is the industry standard; most venues that accept demos will want no more than three songs. The essence of any entertainment venture is of course practice. This is critically important when laying down your sound on tape. Have your songs performance ready for someone who will want to put you up on stage. From a technical perspective, do not wait until you are Recording to test adding new parts to the song, or trying new ideas. Determine how the song will sound before you begin to record, and then the job of Recording becomes a great deal easier. The task then will be to accurately capture your sound.
Ok, I probably havent told you anything that you do not already know so far, so I will get more specific. When it comes time to record, there are two avenues to take: a professional Recording Studio, or your own home Studio. The professional Studio will no doubt produce a superior sound, but it may not be necessary for your demo. Having worked in a Studio for a few years, I have witness many bands that came in with only a vague idea of what they wanted to sound like, and left with their own style. This of course comes with a high price tag.
The money spent on professional Recording maybe better spent on acquiring your own equipment. You will have it at your disposal for years to come. You can find your sound in your own environment and when it comes time to record a commercial CD you can then take you sound to the pro Studio.
There are many varieties of home Recording units on the market today ranging in price from reasonable, to outrageous. There are two basic forms of these units: DAWs (digital audio workstations also known as PCs), and self-contained units (stand alone multi-track recorders). The quality of each is comparable, that is relative to the price of the unit. I personally prefer the stand-alone recorders because they are portable. If you dont have a high powered laptop DAW, y ou will be limited to where and when you can get together to record, but with a stand alone unit, you can move it from place to place to record tracks. A good place to learn about features and the price you can expect to pay is on the internet. Also a stand-alone unit will have several interfaces (places to plug instruments and Mics in) built right in it, whereas a DAW will need a separate interface (be it a PC card, or a box of some sort that will adapt an instrument cable or Mic into a USB port, a firewire, port, or the Mic port on the PC).
Other than the DAW, and the interface, or the Stand-alone unit, you will probably want to get at least one condenser Microphone. Performance Mics will do for Recording drums, and amps, but for the vocals they probably will sound dull and somewhat distorted.
When its time to record you have two basic options: to record as a band performing the song, or to lay down the song in tracks. Each option has benefits and drawbacks. T he benefits of Recording all together is that the song can have more energy, and will take less time to record, but it will be less flexible. If something inside the sound needs adjustment, the whole song may have to be done again. Tracks offer that control, but sometimes at the expense of sounding contrived; perfection at the price of liveliness. You can have the best of both worlds, but you have to plan out, and prepare what you want to do.
How do you prepare? Well, as I have mentioned have the song tight, and experiment with all your sounds before you record. The best songs are the freshest. If you keep Recording your track over and over, of if you have to sit for hours while you drummer bang a tom over and over you will not be in the correct frame of mind to perform your best. As a rule of thumb limit all takes to three, and have people who need extra time to set up their Recording environment to arrive before everyone else. That way the band can get playing when t hey are freshest. An energetic song that may not have sonic perfection is ultimately better than a lackluster performance where all the instruments sound perfect.
After all this is a demo, and youve got better things to do right? Like gig.
If you have specific questions or comments about this article please email me:
Good Luck!
Gary g-man Wesselhoff is an Acoustic Blues Writer/performer working the Chicago Metro area. You can contact him at: gman@gmanBlues.com
Please Visit my site: http://www.gmanBlues.com
Author:: Gary Wesselhoff
Keywords:: Blues, Rock, Acoustic, Live Perfromances, Singer, Writer, Recording, Indie, Studio,
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