StereoType Records

Recording your first demo (part two)

In last week’s post about recording your first demo, we covered a few points that you should consider if you’re recording a demo using backing tracks, which usually applies if you’re recording a cover version.

In today’s post we look at some of the points you should think about if you’re recording  a demo which has your own compositions on. More often that not, this process involves recording instruments like guitars or keyboards. If you’ve had a track produced for you and will just be doing vocal work, then check out last week’s post.

1. Think about what you’re going to put on your demo.

Sometimes less is more. We all have one or two songs that we feel are the really good ones, and some which aren’t so great. Rather than put everything you’ve ever written on to your demo, select which of your songs will show you in your best light. Your demo is your business card, and just like you can’t put your life story on your card, don’t try and cram your demo too full.

2. Decide on how you want to record

Now that you know what you’ll be recording, it’s time to think about how you’re going to record it.

If you’re recording instruments, there are two basic ways to record

1. Record live

This means that you get your group or band together and record everything at the same time. While you can get some great results from this (the old school way of doing things) it does mean that you need a big space and plenty of the right equipment. It also means that your whole band will need to be very well rehearsed.

Watch Chad Saaiman live in studio recording his single “Thinking About You”

2. Multi Track Recording.

This basically means that you’ll record one instrument at a time and lay down multiple tracks. The pro here is that you can record as many times as you like and fix up mistakes and errors quite simply. The con is that it does take a lot of time as you’ll be doing it one instrument at a time.

Now that you now a bit more about how the recording process works, let’s consider your options when it comes to the actual recording. There are three basic ways to get your recording done:

1. Do It Yourself
2. Book someone’s home studio
3. Book a pro studio

1. DIY

Doing it yourself is a great option. You can work at your own pace and and work whenever you like. But all of this comes at a price. The price of the gear needed and also the time required to get a good product. If you’re able to work some basic recording software, then this may be the option for you.

Try out the very cool and very free AUDACITY software or if you’re able to spend some cash, check out Sony’s ACID Pro. It’s about R700 at Incredible Connection and will let you do almost everything you need to. Other DAWs to consider include Cubase, Nuendo, Fruity Loops Studio and Logic.

2. Book a home studio

With the price of gear coming down, there are more and more project or home studios mushrooming all over the city. The great thing about using a home studio is that they’re a lot more affordable than booking a big studio and a lot easier than having to do it yourself. The thing to look out for here is quality. Just because a friend of a friend has a PC and a mic doesn’t mean that the end result will be good. Ask for some examples of past work and use that to decide if you’d like to go ahead.

3. Book a pro studio

Lots of people assume that the only way to record a demo is in a pro studio. You work with professional engineers and producers and get a great sounding product at the end. In an ideal world, this is how you would record all your work. The downside is that you pay for what you get. As with anything, paying for the best is never cheap. If you do decide to go the pro route, it’s essential that you have all your ducks in a row.

The two biggest things here are making sure that you’re well rehearsed and knowing what you want the end product to sound like. Since you’re paying for every minute you spend in studio, it’s definitely not the place to rehearse your bridge or get the chorus going,The faster you can work, the more you can get done. It’s also vital to know what you want the end result to be. Get some reference material together (songs you think sound similar to what you want) and hand these to the engineer. Explaining how you want the snare to sound or what the piano should be doing can be hard in plain english. Music is often a better translater.

StereoType Records records at Cape Town Sound studios. Get in touch to book your recording session.

I hope that this post has helped answer a few questions and more importantly, inspire a few more. If you have any questions, drop a comment below and I’ll do my best to find the best answer.

Till next time, thanks for listening,

Lester

P.S If you have a demo and would like to get your music heard, simply upload it using the Uploader on the right.