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What You Can-and Can’t-Do with Your Finished Song DemoRunning a recording studio for the past two decades, I’ve recorded songwriting demos for GRAMMY-winning songwriters, major music publishers all the way down to first-time songwriters. One of the things I’ve noticed is that for newer songwriters there’s often confusion about what a demo can be used for. Strictly speaking, your professional song demo is |
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Five Ways Cheap Becomes Expensive with Song DemosI’m not going to sugarcoat it. Professional demos aren’t cheap. Part of the business of songwriting has been – and always will be – presenting your songs in the best possible light for the music industry decision makers. These folks are used to hearing – and expect to hear – high quality recordings of the |
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What Great Musicianship Looks – and Sounds – LikeIt’s my pleasure to introduce you to George Marinelli. As a founding member of Bruce Hornsby’s GRAMMY-winning band, The Range, George has worked at the highest levels of music for several decades. As a long-time member of Bonnie Raitt’s band, George not only tours and performs on Bonnie’s albums but has also collaborated as a |
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Four Questions When Choosing A Genre For Your Song DemoSo, first there’s the song. Generally speaking when we sit down to write a song it has more to do with the groove, melody and the lyric than it does with which categories and/or boxes into which your new song will eventually fit. It has also been my experience that most songs don’t necessarily announce |
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Mindful Drumming On Songwriter DemosGlen Caruba is one of Nashville’s most in-demand studio percussionists, Glen has not only recorded with Jimmy Buffett and on countless jingles and soundtracks but is also the author of three percussion instruction books & videos distributed by Hal Leonard. Glen’s insight into what drummers and percussionists should be thinking about in the studio is |
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Four Demo Tips For Songwriters Who Don’t Play an InstrumentIf I’ve learned anything in my years of studio work, it’s that there’s no such thing as a “typical” songwriter. While some songwriters are highly-trained session musicians, others have never picked up, let alone played, an instrument in their entire lives. I’ll be speaking to this second group in this post. Not playing an instrument |
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Essential Tips for Mixing Your Songwriter DemosOnce you’ve decided to up the ante and put your songwriter demos out there for the world to hear, it’s in your best interest to pay close attention to every step in the recording process. One of the most vital of these steps is the mix of your song. It’s not enough to have a |
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The Benefits of Stripping Down Your Song DemosLet’s begin at the beginning. You’ve written a song and, hopefully, you’re thrilled with it. So thrilled, in fact, that you want to record it right away and use every instrument in both the Western and Eastern musical traditions on the song demo. I don’t blame you one bit. There’s nothing more fun than dressing |