Country Music Songwriter Demos

[zeke]

Cameron,Wonderful information.I sent you a PM.Great advice.Kind Regards,Andy

[bete]

Thanks Marlin. And now that I understand how to send a PM, I'll try to stick to the topic at hand.Bette

[holypipebomb]

I am also very new to this forum, and I am curious, does it happen very frequently that songwriters get forwards without using a demo studio?
Will a good home recording of just vocal and guitar be enough?
I really don't have the cash to have someone demo my songs for me, and it seems like I get bogged down on the production end of things, so I don't concentrate on writing more songs.
I have a couple of songs that I have been spending a lot of time on the production end of things and not writing. I have also been submitting these songs just recently, but I haven't gotten any responses yet.

[slowride]

I make all of my demos here at home. I have a powermac G5, pro-tools and a yamaha keyboard and my own vocals. I can't really play the keyboard but I can pretty much make it play itself while utilizing the editing functions in pro tools to maneuver things around a bit. Lord knows I'm not a producer either.

I just joined TAXI and have submitted three songs to a country listing. I'm not sure I could possibly hope for a forward right out of the chute but who knows. I'll let you know if anything gets bumped along. If you read some of the success stories, many songs were forwarded and eventually accepted by a publisher that were recorded on the fairly basic equipment.

If your like me (and probably like most) you don't have the money for high dollar demo production....you just use what ya got!

Slowride

[Bad Monkey]

Hello Marlin,
Certainly a professional demo is a good idea if you feel very strongly about a song. If you happen to live in a community that is known for its music scene ( Nashville , New York , L.A ect.) you cant beat what a professional that does it every day can do for a song. That being said , these days alot of people have opened "studios" because the price of recording gear has gotten so much more reasonable,but just because someone has some gear doesn't necessarily mean they got the ears. I have read on this very forum of taxi members who have been rejected because "not broadcast quality" eventhough they recorded at a "Proffessional Studio",and of other members who get forwarded with stuff done at home. It all starts with the song itself and certainly if you have the ears you can do alot at home. I like working at home because I can mold the clay and get things the way I like without looking at the time and if something bugs me even months later I can fix it.Good luck to you....

[brianpeet]

I just got my first Country forward last week (discussed in "Forwards"). I also used nashvilledemostudio.com for the tracking, although I mixed it myself.

I actually make part of my living as an engineer and producer in a full-on ProTools facility (neptonerecording.com). I do a lot of my own demos, as well as finished productions; but we don't have many solid country players where I live.

Having my demo tracked at NDS was some of the best money I've ever spent. There is NO substitute for seasoned players interpreting your song all together in a room.

Here's how I look at it… If you TRULY believe your song has a shot at the charts, spend the $ to have it done right. If you're not totally confident, keep working on the song until you are. Then spend the $ to have it done right!

Just my opinion…

Brian Peet
http://www.brianpeet.com
http://www.myspace.com/peetbrian

[johno]

I'm new to Forum and trying to figure out how to join discussions. So please bear with me. I would love to write country songs but so far they all turn into blues, novelty, show tunes, children's and cabaret. Anyone want to collaborate? I can share some of my songs to show you why TAXI forwards some of my work -- but no country.Bette

Hey Bete,

I'd love to hear some of your tunes and see if I could add anything to them.

Thanks
johno

[zeke]

I have a decent studio set up as well. I can sing, play slide, guitar, bass, and piano. However, the studios that offer the services of recording and producing your songs have incredible singers whose voices are much more commerically appealing than mine. In addition, the musicians who play on my songs are off the charts! I recommend at least giving it a try for one of your songs.

It is worth price.

You can send me a PM and I will give you the website of the studio.

All the best,

Zeke

[grandsoul]

I do most of the tracking at my home base. When it comes to tracking the potent vocal parts (ala: vocal pitch demos), I go to a studio (as the budget allows ).

The studios have isolation booths and better mics than I have. And also mic preamps, etc. Then bringing the right vocalist. Generally takes about two to three hours of studio time.

Of course, having the song tooled up like you want it helps as well.