Recording

"A demo tape is probably the best way to present yourself, your band, or your material to people who can give you work or further your career"(112). When creating your demo tape, you need to decide who your audience is going to be, or who you want them to be, and target them(Weissman 30). Pick a nice studio, don’t shell out cash for expensive studios. Eight track studios are usually sufficient for demo tapes(Suzanne, Stein, and Niehaus 113). Four song tracks are the standard for demo tapes. Make sure you pick four songs that sound relatively the same putting the strongest song first(113-114). Another thing you can do for your demo tape is to record exerts from a lot of songs instead of a couple of whole songs(Weissman 31). The main aspects of creating a demo tape is preproduce everything before spending money and make sure everyone knows what they’re doing(Suzanne, Stein, and Niehaus). When recording, you might find out that your voice isn’t always so great, or your guitar doesn’t always sound like you’d wish for it to. You might be able to solve this problem by trying different microphone placements. After recording for a while, listen to your material and consider if you’ve accomplished the sound you want. If not, consider going into a better studio(Weissman 31). If you are unsure of your tape, ask prospective employers or booking agents to judge it. Avoid having family members or friends judge it(32). Don’t mix the same day you record, and pay extra attention to the mixdown. This is the most important phase(Suzanne, Stein, and Niehaus 114-117).        "A producer is someone in charge of the session who did not write the music(most often) but is responsible for representing the music properly on tape"(Verheyen 147). "It’s a huge responsibility dealing with the music, getting good performances out of the players, overseeing the engineer, managing the budget, and coping with all the personalities involved"(147). There are two types of producers. There’s the type that is a very good musician. These producers are usually enjoyable to work with because "communication is much less abstract"(Verheyen 147). The other type is non-musician but very organized. They usually come from an engineering background, and they ask for sounds instead of giving you "music direction." "Learn what to expect from each type of producer and know your boundaries. There are often politics involved, just as there is in any other workplace"(147).        A producer that Carl Verheyen(the author of the article this information came from) had great success with was Eddie Kramer. Eddie has worked on the albums of many classical greats such as Jimi Hendrix, Julian Bream, John Williams, and Led Zeppelin. Carl expected a guy with so much musical success to be completely full of himself, but that didn’t happen. Eddie gave him room to develop his own ideas and suggested new ones(Verheyen 147).        Listen to what the producer has to say. You might learn a new technique by "not volunteering your favorite way of doing something"(147). "There will be personalities you don’t click wit that that’s just life. I’ve left a studio hating a producer only to hear a track later and really dig it. That can’t all be Eddie Kramer, just like we can’t be all be Jimi Hendrix"(147).        There are several ways of making demos for very little or no money. You can find a college student majoring in audio engineering and let them make your demo as a project in a college recording studio(Weissman 32). Also, there are people who love experimenting in a studio and buy profession gear, through another career. They may rent it to you for virtually nothing(32-33). Another way to make a cheap demo is to find a new recording studio that needs people to test their equipment(33).        Making a video is expensive, but there are several ways you can save money. The Musicians’ Union allow members to make free videos. This program is currently operating in Santa Ana, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Spokane(It’s probably operating in more places now since the book that provided this information was written 8 years ago). The downside of this is you can’t take possession of the video. They use it to show to prospective buyers(Weissman 33). So, any contract you sign will be a union contract(34). Another way is just as with an audio demo, find a student in a local college(34).        The downside of making cheap videos is that they don’t give you much editing facilities. Also, probably only one camera will be used(34). If you can’t make a great video with the free or low-cost strategies above, don’t make one until you have a solid finical foundation. You don’t really need one, unless you have $25,000 to spend(34-35).        The first step to creating a video is to determine whether the video will be for employment or airplay(Suzanne, Stein, and Niehaus 119). Then, you need to pick the concept. There are three basic formats, live performance, studio, and animations. Most videos use a combination of all three(119-120). Next, you will need to pick the studio and director. Pick the studio and director to suite your needs to accomplish your goal(121). The most important thing you probably need to do when making a video is to meet with the director or cameraman ahead of time and tell them what you want, because your fate is in their hands(122).        There are many disasters that can happen when recording. It is easier to illustrate this with a story so I’ll summarize an article that appeared in Guitar magazine. "Harley Wurking had been waiting for this moment for months"(Bienstock 153). He and his band finished recording a five song CD as part of the deal the band’s manager/investor made. He paid Wallit Picker $10,000 to produce the five songs, with a promise of an additional $5,000 as soon as the band signed a major recording agreement. Also, they paid the studio $10,000 upfront for studio time and an extra $15,000 when they signed a deal(153).        As Harley listened to the CD, he wondered if it was a good idea to record the first four songs the band wrote. "He knew the newer songs were better..."(153). The fifth song was a ska version of "Toll Road to Heaven." Although the band didn’t really play ska, the producer suggested the song.        Juan A. Bee, the band’s manager, knew a lawyer named Sans Taste who knew someone at Candlestine Records. A month later, Juan and Harley met with Sans. He told them that Candlestine "didn’t hear a hit"(153). Juan asked Sans what to do next, and Sans told him that they should first pay the law firm’s $5,000 retainer and send out fifty more CDs. Juan said that they couldn’t afford either, and "Sans Taste responded, ‘Well, then you are out of luck’"(153).        "After you’ve recorded, get out and sell"(Suzanne, Stein, and Niehaus 126). Define your goals, what you want to happen with your video or tape, and make your goal reachable. "Since your tape or video is essentially another tool to be used in your drive for advancement in the music industry...refer back to your five year plan to see how your finished recorded product can be used to push you from where you are to the next level you hope to attain(125).        After you’ve recorded, use your finished product to get what you want. If you are trying to get a gig, present your product to as many agents, managers, and owners as you possibly can. If you want to be recognized or want finical gains, present it to A&R men. Since you might be throwing your money away, do careful research(Suzanne, Stein, and Niehaus 123). If you’re trying to sell your songs, make a list of the artists that you think might want to buy them. Contact agents, publishers, record companies, etc., etc.. "...If you’ve put all your best efforts into your product just to send it through the industry production line, plan on spending a lot of time waiting around to find out you’ve been rejected"(124).        You can either distribute your record yourself or hire a distributor. If you decide to distribute yourself, you will have to put the record in store, pay them 20-25% of the selling price, keep inventory of what is in store, and collect money. If you hire a distributor, you will have to sell your disk to the distributor at half the retail selling price. They sell it to stores for one dollar more(Weissman 123) and the store raises the price two dollars. You won’t be paid until the distributor gets paid(124).        When promoting your album, make sure you include a press release with every disk. The press release should include where and how the disk was recorded and plans for merchandising(Weissman 123). Send your disk to radio stations, TV stations, daily papers, entertainment weeklies, neighborhood papers in different sections of the city or areas surround town. Also, tell fans about it onstage(123). Remember, when sending your tape to radio stations or papers, always send it addressed to the proper music critic, or it will probably get trashed(124). You can force radio stations in your town to play you if you deliberately concentrate on towns 50-100 miles away(125). A couple of other ways to get radio stations to play your songs are to personally deliver the record to the station, always write thank-you notes, and build a strong mailing list. Don’t make a record until you have a good plan for promotion and distribution(125).