Wednesday, March 22, 2006
The DEMO
Most bands go into the studio with the idea of making a "demo," a recording of songs that they have been rehearsing/playing live for a while. Depending upon the studio and/or the band's recording experience, the demo is primarily a live recording with vocal and some instrument overdubs. The live approach to demo tracking is popular at Lo-Fi Studios since the facility has the capability of tracking an entire band live, plus there is a certain vibe that a band has when playing together instead of individual tracking.Often bands that are getting regular gigs don't want a recording that strays too far from their live sound. The purpose is to get the songs--as they are usually performed--recorded then mixed down and burn those CDs! This particular type of demo is usually 3-5 songs, which is perfect to send to the person who books clubs and just needs to hear what kind of band and/or music is on the CD so he can figure out what night they might work well. The CD demo might be sent to record labels or to those "friends" who can get the demo into the hands of someone important. If the recording is satisfactory, the band might sell or give away CDs at gigs or upload them on their website. Such is the life of a typical demo.
But a demo can also be a sketch of songs and ideas. In this instance the demo is only the basic framework of a song. This is when musicians can make creative use of the studio. Music fans can find demos of their favorite bands released on audio and video on commercial releases or bootlegs. Rock Classics DVD: Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon shows early Roger Waters demos and interviews with the band discussing what their approach to the songs. Pete Townshend, guitarist/songwriter of The Who, released several albums with demos of both his solo work as well as demos of songs that were recorded by The Who. Pixies fans can hear early demos on Frank Black's Frank Black Francis 2 disc CD. These recordings show the transformation from demo to the final product.The demo can serve as a pre-production tool. Conspiracy of Thought, a band from Riverside, California, demo'd tracks for two of their early CDs at Lo-Fi Studios. This allowed their producer to hear their new songs before the recording session. Typically the demo would consist of 5, 10 or more songs to figure out what might be done during the actual recording of the song.
Similarly, in 2004 I recorded several "demos" for Johnny Hickman's solo project. We sat down one night and recorded the guitar and vocals simulateously and then did some vocal and guitar overdubs. These demos were sent to his producer prior to his recording dates. All four songs made it to his CD Palmhenge, with two of the demos, Friends and San Bernardino Boy, used as is with no other tracking. The vibe and the quality worked for all parties involved. (Recording Lesson #1: when recording a demo, treat it as a regular recording with good micing and tracking!) The other two songs were rerecorded with full arrangements (drums, electric guitars, piano, vocals, etc.).On the producing end, my work with guitarist Raoul Renoa's Rullian projects, having a demo prior to a project helped focus on the arrangements. Prior to entering the studio Raoul used his trusty 4 track to demo many of his tracks on his first CD, Is This an Albatross or My Guitar. The advantage for me was being able to hear what he wanted to record and plan a strategy to make this happen. At that time the studio was using 2" 24 track and beginning to work with Pro Tools. For this CD, drum tracks were recorded at the a the drummers house on a 8 track digital recorder and flown over to Pro Tools. Fortunately the 24 track and Pro Tools were sync'd up as we ended up using Pro Tools as the main recording/editing format for that project. Half way through the sessions Raoul purchased the same Digi 001 system as the studio. This made the project more efficient as he was able to record his guitar tracks at home and bring those session back for mixing.
The followup Rullian project, I had the opportunity to hear most of the songs in demo form. This time his tracks were demo'd on his Pro Tools system. We used the demo to discuss the arrangements and additional instrumentation. We recorded the drums, strings and some bass and guitar tracks at the studio. The drums were recorded to a click track--which was advantageous when parts of songs were trimmed. After laying down the initial rhythm tracks, the guitar and bass tracks were completed by Raoul on his time. After the tracking was finished, we begin rough mixes, reviewing the arrangements and remixing the songs. Additional instruments, piano, synth, organ and bass, were added and the songs were edited and remixed. The final mixes have at the core the original demos, but all the other tones and textures came out of discussions and experimentation.In the world of recording, the demo has its place. It's the starting point for bands, their songs and new ideas.
Suggested Readings:
The Beatles Abbey Road Sessions, Mark Lewishohn
Here, There and Everywhere, Geoff Emerick
33 1/3 series
DVDs:
Metallica - Some Kind of Monster
Classic Albums: Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon
Classic Albums series
CDs:
Frank Black - Frank Black Francis
Pete Townshend - Scooped
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Hello Scotty! Good point! Nostalgic Santa, as I recall, had a couple pretty cool songs! Somewhere in my collection of cassettes, there lies that demo recording! What are you up to nowadays?
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