My First Demo Compared to my Last Demo

Hey everyone! So today, I’m going to talk about what my first demos were like and how they are now. 

Let’s get into it. 

My first Demo

So for those of you that don’t know what a demo is, it’s basically a sample of your music.

It’s meant to be shown to record labels, A&R reps, managers, producers, etc. etc. 

and what happens is that the real way that you’re supposed to make a demo is that you’re supposed to go to a recording studio, ask for a producer, session musicians, background vocalists, mixing engineers, mastering engineers, etc. etc. and basically what you do is you write the song, and they polish it and make it sound full. 

However, if you’ve ever been around all this music stuff, you know that the Mixing engineer alone is like 300 dollars per song. 

Producers charge a hefty price too. 

So what are you supposed to do if you’re a budding artist with big dreams and no dollars in the bank account? 

That’s right, you do it yourself. 

Now you might think you know something about music after you’ve spent countless hours practicing an instrument and perfecting your songwriting craft. 

You might’ve spent years developing your lyrics or guitar playing ability. 

However, I must say that there is a whole other world coming up with great songs that quite frankly just simply takes years to develop a great song on your own. 

Mixing alone requires years of hearing practice to develop the right ears to hear the nuances that’s required in a good mix. 

So without further ado, even though there was much ado. Let me tell you what my first demo was like. 

My first demo

So the first thing that you need to learn is what are you even supposed to use to record music. 

In my mind at the time, I was 19 years old, I thought music was recorded through tubes and microphones using special computers that you find at a studio. 

I did not know that all the recording equipment and software that I needed was all at the local Guitar Center. 

I had to first learn what these things were called, so I spent about a month just to figure out that what I needed was called a DAW. 

I didn’t even know which DAW I should get because each DAW was slightly different but they all did similar things. 

Abelton, Logic, Pro tools, FL Studio, Studio One. 

I ended up taking a studio one package that was like 250 dollars. 

However, It was complete. 

I could do literally everything with that DAW and it was so user friendly. 

Now, I say that it was user friendly now that I know how to use it, but in reality, I spent like the first 2 months learning how to use the program. 

All of the hardware that it came with was super delicate and some of the things could cause permanent damage to the microphone that it had. 

I had to buy extra accessories too which really cut into my new guitar budget. 

And then, I had to figure out how to produce. I didn’t get concepts like layering, and quite frankly I had to learn how to record on my own. 

So in the end, I had a demo, but it was a thin, half done, not even mixed, demo with bad vocals. 

At the time, I had stopped singing for a little bit and I really wanted to push my demo out already, so it straight up was rushed and amateur at best. 

I put it out online to my Facebook friends and it was sooooo bad because all of my friends heard the demo and they said that I should give up because what happened is that I had won some awards in music and I kept going to my friends telling them that i had won these awards in music and yet I only came up with this really bad demo. 

IT was TERRRIBLE.

I was made fun of on the internet by all sorts of people. 

Oh I remember those days I hated my demo, even though I had poured countless hours into perfecting the snare drum, even though I had attempted to really make the vocals shine, It just straight up SUCKED.

I think I still have that demo if I’m honest with you but I can’t remember where it is.

My most recent Demo

Now, My most recent demo

Keep in mind that this is after another 10 years of producing, mixing, getting certified in music programs, songwriting, vocals, and just overall a ton of music experience was added. 

So don’t expect the same results when you first start out. 

Now whenever I make a demo, I always put it on Facebook, and it gets several hundreds of views, and a bunch of positive feedback. 

I even got one record label hitting me up asking me for more demos. 

I’m definitely going to keep working on this. 

Remember guys, anyone can do it. They really can. 

Broadcast

I sure hope that i have been an inspiration and a hope to you all. Please remember to pray, read your bible, go to church, and love God above all else. Like, comment, share, subscribe, and I will see you all next time.

If you want to go to heaven, then believe in Jesus and you will go to heaven. (John 3:16)

Thank you all for listening in on this blog post. 

German Gonzalez, signing out!