Demo CD - couple of questions

[MikeyB]

Hello all,

We're going to record a demo CD for our promo pack. The only purpose for this is to get us gigs. The guitarist and I were discussing the best format for this, and realizing that the booking personnel don't want to listen to a huge production we came up with some questions:

What is the optimal number of tracks?
We're thinking 2 to 4 right now.

Should we record full-length tracks or shorter portions of several songs that fade-in/fade-out to each other?
The thought was to make it short enough that they actually listen to it, highlight the best parts of the songs, and keep 'em wanting more.

Anything else uber-important we need to keep in mind?

Thanks!

-Mike

[Remsouille]

If you don't play variety, I wouldn't do fade in/fade out stuff... This is very amateurish IMO.... I think 3 different flavours songs is best.... 2 is two short if the guy likes your music, and he won't listen to 4 anyway... With 3 different songs, you get the chance to offer him something he likes.

[MikeyB]

We are a covers-only band and do play a bit of variety: classic rock, modern rock, funk, pop, new country.

My top picks for our demo right now are:

Brick House (funk)
Second Chance (modern rock)
Before He Cheats (new country)

Don't have a song picked out for classic rock yet.

Our thoughts are to showcase the vocalist and show we can do fun stuff that draws a crowd.

Given that, do you still think we should avoid the fades?

[Remsouille]

Ok I thought you did originals!!! Then I think the fade stuff is appropriate, I would even say necessary.... But I would put more songs in there...

[Atticus]

Have you considered writing medleys of the various songs you do? It sounds better than fading in and out, and lets you showcase a large number of songs without using a large number of tracks.

[MikeyB]

Thanks guys... good info!