Make Your Own Music Demo

In this modern day of technology, it has never been easier to record your own music demo right in your own home. Many songwriters have made the move to recording their own music demos themselves.

At one time there was a piece of recording equipment called a 4 track cassette recorder which songwriters and musicians would use to keep track of their ideas so they would not forget them.

However, there were some people who would actually record demos with them as well. While the quality of sound was lacking, you could still get something decent enough to present to someone so they could hear your song. As a kid, I used a Tascam recorder myself and made some decent recordings along the way, but as technology changed I realized I had to progress as well.

Now as we fast forward through a couple of decades from the mini disc recorders as well as the CD workstations and hard disk recorders, we have come to the age of the computer and recording software.

Such companies as Logics, DigiDesign, CakeWalk, Nuendo and more have now put you on somewhat of an even level of some of the big studios. For years it was only the big time studios who had these computer related recording systems, but now these companies have made it very affordable for virtually anyone to own and have a nice little recording studio in their own home.

And even some lesser feature oriented software, like Magix, Sony, etc... can be found at a local electronics retailer such as Best Buy or Circuit City etc... And truth be told you can still make some really decent recordings using those programs as well.

First of all I just talked about some of the recording software companies and now I'll expand on a little more of the programs themselves and which ones you may like to check into.

First off, Pro Tools has been an industry standard for years and is probably the one I would suggest would be best if your just starting out. I feel it has a user friendly interface and many editing features that are easy to understand and simple to use. Like everything, you'll have to learn how to use it before it becomes simple but once you know it, you'll be fine.

Another one to check out would be Sonar from Cakewalk. it has a similar user friendly ability and some nice editing features as well. This is something you'll have to check out for yourself however. You may find that you like something totally different like Cubase or Logics, so make sure you do your research and ask questions before you decide which software you are going to use.

Let's quickly go over a few other things you'll need to buy. First you'll need to get yourself a decent microphone for singing. You could use a dynamic mic or a condenser. For the most part condenser mics are a little more expensive than a dynamic mic but believe it or not you can still get a really great sound with a cheaper mic if you know what you're doing when it comes to recording and mixing.

You should get a nice set of headphones that are for digital recording. I've tried many different ones and I really like the Sennheiser HD 280 pro. I just find that in the studio they fit tight to my ears and do not allow noise to get into the microphone as I'm singing in to it.

Another thing you definitely want to get is a nice set of studio monitors. These are the speakers that you will listen to your music mix in. Just a few brands to check out would be KRK, Mackie, Alesis, Tannoy M-Audio and there are a great deal of others. You want to make sure that the frequencies are pretty standard.

You don't want to try and mix your music with monitors that have a heavy bass frequency, because you may find yourself compensating to cut those frequencies within your mix and then when your mix is played in a regular stereo it will sound all tinny and have no low end.

That is why you want to have monitors that have pretty true frequency response in the highs, mids and lows. Never mix anything on a Bose speaker system with that huge sub woofer. Your mix will sound terrible.

If you just take a look a what we've talked about so far, it could be pretty costly to outfit your own studio set up and we're talking the basic setup. There's a lot more you could add on but for the most part what I've told you will get you going on a rather modest budget. So let's break it down and estimate what we've come up with so far.

First of all you must have a computer in order to use any of this software, so let's start off and say you have a computer already so we won't count that in the cost.

1. Recording Software $300-$1000

2. Mid Range dynamic microphone $50-$200

3. Mid Range condenser microphone $200-$700

4. Headphones Senheiser HD 280 pro $100

5. Mid Range Studio Monitors $400-$1,500

As you can see depending on what you would choose to buy, you could get by pretty reasonably or pay a little more to get better quality items thus helping to produce a better quality recording.

A Lot more goes into recording and producing your own music demo then just buying equipment. You must learn how to use all the equipment and use it correctly in order to get the best sound possible that you can.

You need to understand about mixing and editing, using effects properly and understanding how frequencies enhance or destroy your mix if you don't know what you are doing. The learning curve of basic audio and placement using reverb and compression can take a long time.

Sometimes not being able to get a sound that you want in your mix can become quite frustrating and time consuming. It can even cause you to lose interest and get bored and lose the desire you once had.

So as you see, there are many more related costs to making your own music demo then just financial. Be sure you are the type of person to stick it out and that you have the patience to last through the frustration if you so choose to record your own music demo. Realize that it's just part of the learning and you'll be fine.

If you're a songwriter and you're trying to get a demo made of your song in order to pitch it for the possible chance of being recorded, there is another solution. One thing is to get help from a local studio or another thing is what is called mail order demos or online Songwriter Demo Services.

What they do is simply take your song and record it and produce it in a way that you will then be able to pitch it for publishing or to be recorded. Of course you will have to pay for their services, but in most cases it's very affordable and these people are good musicians who can give your songs a real good chance to be listened to by the bigs in the industry.

One of the worst things you can do is not get your songs out there to be heard because you're fumbling around trying to learn recording software and producing your own demos. The main thing is that you have a good singer. If you are one yourself that is great but make sure your songs make the best first impression that they can.

Chances in the music industry are rare and you're not given many so make the most of what you get. If you feel a Songwriter Demo Service would be best for you then great. If you have enough confidence to produce your own music demos, go ahead, but always remember make a good first impression with your music demo.