Hi all.
My now original band has been around for about 2 years, with a couple lineup changes. About 2 months ago our guitar player took on lead vox, and next week we're adding a lead guitar player (who's skill and experience is superior to ours). I was really lookin forward to really getting things rolling this summer, our songs are coming together and with the absence of our annoying ex-lead singer and a great guitar player coming things were looking up.

However last practise our drummer announced he is moving away for about 4 months because of work. He is leaving around July 8, which gives us a little over a month with our new complete band.

My question is should we quick record a demo before he leaves? There are lots of ppl in the area very interested in us (although they are almost all friends of ours more than fans of the music i suppose) and I think it's hi time we get a half decent marketing tool. We have never been to a studio. 1 month seems pushing it tho for us to get our stuff together well enough (our singer/guitarist isn't very fluid with his parts, so we'd be looking to our new axeman to do most of the guitar work)

We only have 2 shows booked for the summer, both right before drummer leaves, and i'm afraid if he leaves and we have nothing the shows will be a hard time coming once he comes back and we'll have to start over again.

Another thought, probably the best one, is that wait to record, and get a fill-in drummer for the 4 months and just go with it till our drummer returns around november and then hit the studio well prepared.

Sorry for being so long, I guess the question is how important is the first ever studio visit for a demo?

p.s. a local recording studio (has seen some fairly now big names in there)has a demo deal for bands: $300 for 10 hours of studio time with the producer, so I dont feel there is a big financial risk here.

I rushed into the studio once, and ended up with a $1200 pile of **** we all hated. Make sure you're ready.

oh btw...we'd try and record 3-4 songs, not an entire album. Just some demo songs.

Hi all.
My now original band has been around for about 2 years, with a couple lineup changes. About 2 months ago our guitar player took on lead vox, and next week we're adding a lead guitar player (who's skill and experience is superior to ours). I was really lookin forward to really getting things rolling this summer, our songs are coming together and with the absence of our annoying ex-lead singer and a great guitar player coming things were looking up.

However last practise our drummer announced he is moving away for about 4 months because of work. He is leaving around July 8, which gives us a little over a month with our new complete band.

My question is should we quick record a demo before he leaves? There are lots of ppl in the area very interested in us (although they are almost all friends of ours more than fans of the music i suppose) and I think it's hi time we get a half decent marketing tool. We have never been to a studio. 1 month seems pushing it tho for us to get our stuff together well enough (our singer/guitarist isn't very fluid with his parts, so we'd be looking to our new axeman to do most of the guitar work)

We only have 2 shows booked for the summer, both right before drummer leaves, and i'm afraid if he leaves and we have nothing the shows will be a hard time coming once he comes back and we'll have to start over again.

Another thought, probably the best one, is that wait to record, and get a fill-in drummer for the 4 months and just go with it till our drummer returns around november and then hit the studio well prepared.

Sorry for being so long, I guess the question is how important is the first ever studio visit for a demo?

p.s. a local recording studio (has seen some fairly now big names in there)has a demo deal for bands: $300 for 10 hours of studio time with the producer, so I dont feel there is a big financial risk here.

$300 for 10 hours with a producer is good deal if the band is tight enough to lay down the songs decently. I say do it if the song you want to play can be played smoothly at practice with only minor glitches. Even if it comes off like a steaming pile $300 is not bad.

Just find out how much he is going to charge you for the masters and and all that if he isn't just going to hand you a done CD.

There are lots of ppl in the area very interested in us (although they are almost all friends of ours more than fans of the music i suppose) and I think it's hi time we get a half decent marketing tool. We have never been to a studio. 1 month seems pushing it tho for us to get our stuff together well enough (our singer/guitarist isn't very fluid with his parts, so we'd be looking to our new axeman to do most of the guitar work)


Hmm, so your sitch is this: a bailing drummer threatening to leave you in long-term limbo with a sub, a struggling guitarist/singer, no market for your recordings beyond friends, and few gigs at which to sell recordings.

Sounds like you could make a sentimental case for recording a few songs to document the band and give to friends. Doesn't seem like there's a business argument for recording now, though.

+1
If you really want to make recordings on the cheap and on the fly, get a laptop and Cubase and a decent A/D convertor (sound card). You don't even need a mixer, as mixing can be done inside Cubase, or using the utility functions that come with the sound card. And many sound card units these days even contain mic preamps, so it's all-in-one.

That way you can make as many mistakes, and do as many do-overs, as you want without it costing any more money each time. You can even have your drummer and your guitarist both quit, and record their parts over with other musicians, at a later date with no added expense or trouble booking a studio.

Plus once you've done it yourself a few times, and learned where your limitations are in terms of recording/mixing skills, then you'll have a lot better idea how to use your time wisely (and get help as needed) when you eventually do go into a proper studio.

Oh, You're rushing to do a demo! By the title of your thread, I thought Geddy and Alex were producing your CD!!!:p

Oh, You're rushing to do a demo! By the title of your thread, I thought Geddy and Alex were producing your CD!!!:p

yeh, i thought the same. :)

to the OP: one part of me wants to say don't do it because [insert reason here]. but, y'know, if you have $300 to blow, then why not? it will be a good lesson on what (not) to do next time around.

have fun! recording is tedious but awesome.

Sorry for the confusion guys...least it got you looking at the thread i suppose!

We've tried recording ourselves with cubase already, good suggestion tho :) Definitly nothing pro sounding there...then again it's a good learning process tho.

I'll have more of an educated idea after we get our new guitarist rolling. See how/if things really start gelling. Unfortunatly...a couple weeks might not be enough notice for studio time....

Hmm,

I'd stay out of the studio if I were you. You don't sound prepared for it.

Barry

Hmm,

I'd stay out of the studio if I were you. You don't sound prepared for it.

Barry

But it'll still be a learning experience for them if they've never recorded in a studio before. This will get them experience recording in the studio and will better prepare them for the next time they go in to record.

$300 is a great deal.

If you can afford to write that off between you as a fun day out, to capture the band as it is now, and as some experience then go for it. At that price it's probably worth it, just so you go back next year and know what to expect.

If you're looking to produce a polished recording (and/or $300 is going to hurt you) then maybe wait.

As you're not really prepared pick one or two tracks and get them ready - even at $30 an hour you don't want to spend time rehersing.

Ian

+1
If you really want to make recordings on the cheap and on the fly, get a laptop and Cubase and a decent A/D convertor (sound card). You don't even need a mixer, as mixing can be done inside Cubase, or using the utility functions that come with the sound card. And many sound card units these days even contain mic preamps, so it's all-in-one.

That way you can make as many mistakes, and do as many do-overs, as you want without it costing any more money each time. You can even have your drummer and your guitarist both quit, and record their parts over with other musicians, at a later date with no added expense or trouble booking a studio.

Plus once you've done it yourself a few times, and learned where your limitations are in terms of recording/mixing skills, then you'll have a lot better idea how to use your time wisely (and get help as needed) when you eventually do go into a proper studio.

+100 on this. thats how i did it for my band. and i really say you better record before everyone goes as you would have something to start from the next time and also, if you audition new members then you can give them the demo cd to learn the parts. you can use any computer if not a laptop and the sound card would serve your forever. one more thing, recording drums would be a problem if you do not have a decent studio so you can try programming the drums in a decent sounding software too

You're not going to get 3 or 4 songs done in 10 hours, you'd be lucky to get one done in 10 hours, my bands 2 track EP has taken 2 days so far and we still have a fair bit to record and then it needs to be produced.

since you want a demo try asking around. Usually there is someone who can record your band on the cheap in their basement. 10 hours sounds like alot of time but you will be lucky to complete 1 quality sounding song in that time. I have been lucky we found a guitarist in a local band who records demo. We record a demo listen to it then go into the professional studio. Good luck

You're not going to get 3 or 4 songs done in 10 hours, you'd be lucky to get one done in 10 hours, my bands 2 track EP has taken 2 days so far and we still have a fair bit to record and then it needs to be produced.

really? wait, are you talking about tracking AND mixing?
we're usually able to track about 3-4 songs in an 8hr session...:confused:

I also do not think that you will get 3 or 4 songs down. I think you might get 1 or 2 down because its a demo. Time will start when you get there. Getting drums setup and eq can be pleasnt to a real nightmare. It could easly take you 2 or 3 hours just to get everybody setup and levels right. Then after you record you will have to do aleast alittle mastering and if they burn you a cd copy after , well, that takes alittle time too. So you are looking at maybe 5 hours of actual recording time. An ep would take alot longer but i am assuming that you mean a demo. 300 is not alot of money to try it out and see. I would pick 2 songs that we knew the best and rehearse them with the new guy and see how it feels. Then maybe set a date to record. It could be a farewel thing for your bandmate. Expect to only get one song done but have the other one just in case. If you pay 300 and it is horrible well just look at it and decide what about it you dont like and try to fix it next time.

Oh, You're rushing to do a demo! By the title of your thread, I thought Geddy and Alex were producing your CD!!!:p

Yeah no kidding! And I was thinking that Rush wouldn't produce for them, but he's in Ontario so it did seem plausible!

Wow Rush is going to do your demo? Say hi to Geddy for me

:hiding:

You're not going to get 3 or 4 songs done in 10 hours, you'd be lucky to get one done in 10 hours, my bands 2 track EP has taken 2 days so far and we still have a fair bit to record and then it needs to be produced.

This isn't necessarily true. If you're tight, if you lay down all the instruments together without a lot of overdubs and aren't too terribly picky, I think you could do 3 songs in 10 hours. Remember he's looking for demo quality here.

As far as the advice to do this yourself with a laptop and A/D card... I don't suggest it unless you either already have some experience with recording or have a very active interest in it.

You don't have a lot of time, focus on the band and being ready for your up coming shows. You don't want to spend all your time learning to work cubase. You probably want to spend it making music with your friends.

Thanks for all the advice and opinions so far guys. Tomorrow night we're getting together with our new guitarist so Ill hafta see how promising a speedy chemistry looks

It's me again, much later...and our drummer is still here! His departure keeps getting delayed. He's likely to leave in a few days tho... so here's a little update.

Guitar player is slowly adapting. It's taking longer than I expected. He's a great rhythm player, but not the lead skills i expected. I think my expectations were to high...but...once he gets stuff down it should be pretty rawkin!

...yesterday we actually hit the studio! Thanks for all the advice guys. It's a studio in a guy's basement, but he's been doing this for years and years, worked with some big names...so he's awesome, coolio guy :) We were there for the afternoon..got the drum tracks down for all 3 songs. Bass down for one.

He actually gave us 1.5 hours of free setup time...so we used up 6.5 hours of the 10, BUT...he said we can buy another chunk of 10 hours at the same rate so that's what we're gunna do.

So, the goal is now a $600 demo in 20 hours. 10 hours wouldn't have been enough for us to get something half decent, I am quite sure! So kudos to all you suggesting likewise. IF we all woulda known our parts really well we could've pulled it off tho...however even I don't know quite how I wanna play everything yet. Next time we go in...hammer down!

His mastering rate is $75 a song...another good deal. We'll hafta see how the songs turn out and decide if we want to get them mastered. We would like to sell this recording so he recommended mastering.

Maybe once it's all done I'll update you again :)

Cheers

ps. Studio man loved my Lakland 55-01 tone! Yeaaa

I'm back again, over 4 months later.
Live and learn...what more can I say?
This whole demo idea has pretty much turned into an EP..we've finished recording and our cd's are currently being printed.
Final cost..$2100 before taxes. Ouch..I know, no where near our $600 goal!

How'd this happen? Quite simply...we recorded a lot of tracks. Also we spent time getting guitar tones, loops/samples, and keyboard patches.
Most times we have at least 2 guitar parts going on..plus a couple keyboard tracks. This all takes time...everything was recorded one at a time. If our guitar and keyboard tones would've all been ready to go when we entered the studio we coulda possibly cut the time in half.

If we were just a guitar-bass-drums outfit we could've maybe pulled it off...but not with our style. At least the whole studio experience has been a great time of learning and growing for us as a band.

Hopefully we sell enough cd's to cover most of the cost.

Cheers, hope this helps other young bands. I guess you don't know until you try.
I'm quite happy with how it turned out..for a demo it's pretty good, for an EP a little on the weak side...i'm quite happy with it. If we were to do the past few months over again...hmmm....I don't know what we'd do!

www.myspace.com/unifiedonline

Oh, You're rushing to do a demo! By the title of your thread, I thought Geddy and Alex were producing your CD!!!:p

Oh yeah, me too. I was also thinking "what sort of connections does this guy have?".