From: lizzit@silver.lcs.mit.edu (Lizzette Xixxo)
Subject: Re: How good (production-quality-wise) do demos have to be?
Organization: MIT Laboratory for Computer Science
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1992 02:22:08 GMT

In article <1992Nov2.233627.19736@news.media.mit.edu> ereidell@media.mit.edu (Evan A. Reidell) writes:
>
>I have all these nightmares that a demo has to be radio-quality,
>infinitely listenable, perfect audio-production quality.  Are there
>people out there who have made demos for Real Studios?  Did they work?
>What is required?  I take it that a great sung melody with chords on a
>piano isn't enough... or is it?
>
>- evan

give the man a gold star! or better yet, a rock star....

evan, the answer is, "who will be listening 2 yr demo?"

if it's a record exec/label, make it 24-track QUALITY (which has been done
on 4-track and 2-track even nowadays).  what u want 2 get across 2 these
guys is how awesome u sound WITHOUT their help, so they can say, "gee, 
imagine how good he'll sound WITH our help!"  (NOT!)  it's also so that 
they can see you are capable of handling yourself in a studio.  3 songs,
1st 2 should be punchy and the last one should be somewhat different, either
in feel or tempo (maybe a ballad, for instance).  short intros, short space
between songs, & don't 4get 2 give a lyric sheet.  they probably won't 
listen 2 more than 10 SECONDS, unless they know u or they actually LIKE it.
in the off-chance they actually keep it on past 10 secs, have the volume
boosted at about 10 to 15 secs in, so that it's like u r there in the room
with them, turning it up saying, "oo, listen, here's the goood part..."

if it's being sent out to artists as a songwriting demo, use a male voice
whenever possible.  women have an easier time imagining themselves singing
a "male" song then men do with a "woman"'s song.   the quality should be 
just as good, in case the artist or their manager doesn't really have a 
good ear for filling in the gaps.  if u know which artist it's being sent
2, demo it in their key with a sound-alike singer.  keep the demos short,
1 or 2 to a tape.  lyric and lead sheet, since they mite actually read.

if it's to get yr band hired by clubs, make sure it sounds fairly good.  it
needn't be perfect because they probably will never listen to it nor 
remember it if they do.  16-track is about the quality sound you'll need.
they pay much more attention to yr graphics, mailing list size, and other
marketing items.  whole songs, instrumental solos, segues, and audience
reaction caught from a live performance will work 2 yr advantage here.
the 1st song should be your best, w/a very short intro.

if it's to be hired by a band, make it super varied, with lots of snippets
of all the different styles you can do.  u don't need 2 have whole songs,
just bits that show yr technique and writing.

if it's to teach musicians parts, it can be ulti-crud, because u wouldn't
want 2 work w/someone who can't compensate for the lousy eq, mix, what-have-u.
try 2 have the final arrangement on the demo tape.

if it's being sent 2 management, again, the best u can do.  the better yr
demo, the more accurate picture s/he can form of how much work they will
need 2 do w/u.  whole songs work well here, but give them punchy numbers
without extended intros/solos.  they aften listen 2 the whole tape, so u
can put more songs on it than usual, but have the first 3 be the best.	
lyric sheet only if u r singing or wrote the lyrics.

hey, u just got 4 yrs of Berklee in 1 post.  congrats.

--lizzit
 

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