Demo Doctor

By Andy Cahan

For the past ten years, I've recorded thousands of demos for various publishers, singers and songwriters. I've been in the music industry since 1963 and have acquired tons of valuable information I can pass on to you. If you are on the internet, please check out my website at: http://www.allentertainment.net/demodoctor.html. That will provide you with all the information about my career in the music industry. Because of my reputation with production, arrangement and vocal coaching abilities at these sessions, I have acquired the name "The Demo Doctor".

In addition to recording and producing the artists just getting started, I've also recorded and produced such luminaries as Ringo Starr, Harry Nilsson, Flo & Eddie (The Turtles), Eric Carmen, Jimmy Webb and John Wesley Harding in my studio.

In my "question and answer" column coming up in the next issue, I will tackle some of the basic misconceptions and myths that cloud the demo business. I will share with you some tips about making better demos, provide basic down-to-earth advice, will answer all questions and guide you along the right path to preparing, recording and presenting your demo. There's a Doctor in the house and I'm ready (24/7) to help.

I will cover some of the fallacies of making demos—such as how much money you should spend. You don't have to spend a million bucks in an expensive studio to achieve your goal. It can be accomplished in your home studio. Less is more, and by using the basic information covered in this article, I strongly believe that if you prepare efficiently, and use these simple techniques, you will come out ahead.

The accepted industry standard for submission of songs is a three song demo (demonstration). You should start out with your best song. Don't think that the delusion of saving the best for last will be more dynamic. Not true! Usually, that A & R person listening to your tape has several hundred envelopes of song submissions on the floor next to his desk waiting to be heard. If your material doesn't knock his socks off in the first thirty seconds to a minute, he will eject your tape and move on to the next.

Plan out your session so you don't waste time and money. Know exactly how the song goes before you record. Use a step by step procedure beginning with a typewritten or neatly written lyric sheet. This will be helpful during the recording, programming and editing processes with respect to marking locations of verses, choruses and the bridge of your song.

Rehearse all of the instrumental and vocal parts before you go in to record. This way you save studio time and should be totally confident and comfortable with your performance.

Keep the duration of your song to about three and a half minutes. Make sure the key of the song fits the vocal range of whoever is singing. Nothing is worse than having a squeaky voice, straining to hit those high notes, or running out of breath and hardly hitting those low notes . Avoid long intros and solos, you're selling the "SONG" not the solo. Try and get your "HOOK" / "CHORUS" (memorable musical or instrumental phrase) heard as soon as possible, preferably within the first thirty seconds to one minute. This procedure will turn out to be extremely effective in your presentation.

Try to "animate" the song exactly the way you want it. There are several requirements that help speed up the process and allow it to flow smoothly: I suggest that you listen to and study samples from your favorite CDs and records. Make notes on their arrangements, instrumentation, rhythms and grooves in their style of music and apply those to your arrangement in your own original style.

Start out with the basic chords on a rhythm instrument such as keyboards or guitar. This will lay a solid foundation for your vocals, bass, drums and other overdubs. Avoid over-producing your track. Keep it simple. Your final mix should be clear and uncluttered allowing your vocals to be heard.

What ever medium you decide to record on, weather it be ADAT, DA-88, hard drive, analog reel to reel or multi-track cassette, the key is to record your song as clearly and simply as possible. Be conscious of too much bass or treble on the overall tracks. And defiantly avoid any distortion in your recording. Try to keep away from a lot of effects early on. Make sure you cut everything "FLAT" (all your settings are in the default position). Save all of your effects and "EQ" (equalization) for the final mix down, inasmuch as you eventually will run into problems with frequency levels that can not be corrected, subsequently leaving no room for adjustment.

When you are finished with your demo, there are some very simple rules you should know in presentation. Make sure all of the song titles are listed in the correct sequence on the tape and the tape box. You must have your name, address and phone number on all your lyric sheets, tapes and tape boxes. Nothing is more frustrating to the A & R guy than a tape with no name! Make your presentation letter concise and to the point. There is no need to go into your life's history. Just simply explain your intentions with your songs. Make it clear that you are selling the song and / or yourself as an artist.

These are just some of the things I look forward to discussing with you in the next issue. In this day and age of cutting edge technology, the competition is overwhelming. But if you stick to your guns and constantly strive for something original in your music, your chances for success will be that much greater. Good luck and have fun!

If you have a question about recording or producing demos, send them in to the Demo Doctor. If you're on the internet, you can e-mail me at:

andycahan@verizon.net.

My website address is:

http://allentertainment.net.

Or, snail mail me at:

  Andy Cahan
  PO Box 261969
  Encino, CA 91426-1969
  Phone: 818/489-4490
  Fax: 818/728-9059

Andy Cahan is a 35-year veteran of the music industry. As a recording engineer and record producer, Cahan has worked with such artists as Ringo Starr, Harry Nilsson, Flo & Eddie and Eric Carman.

Demo Doctor 2

By Andy Cahan

Hi , this is Andy Cahan, The Demo Doctor, making another house call. During the past month, I've received a lot of questions asking me about Equalization. So I thought I'd focus part of this column on answering that question.

Equalization is the term used to describe the process of changing the balance between high and low frequencies. Equalizers allow us to selectively boost and/or cut specific frequencies or bands of frequencies. With regard to equalization of the instruments you are recording, you must first assign the range of each instrument into its own frequency so that it won't interfere with any of the other instrument frequency ranges.

There are many types of equalizers and they get used in many different ways by different people. In general, "Parametric Equalizers" allow for very specific effect with adjustable Q and frequency control for each frequency band.

"Graphic Equalizers" feature as many as 31 individual sliders centered on fixed frequencies and tube equalizers utilize vacuum tubes in their circuits as opposed to transistors ("solid state") and are often preferred for their warm sound.

All mixers provide some kind of EQ, switchable on or off, in the signal path. These days, semi-pro consoles usually feature a couple of overlapping bands of semi-parametric EQ on the low-mids(200-2K) and hi-mids(1.5K-7K), and one EQ each for the low(100 hz) and high(10K) bands with shelving switches and low-frequency roll-off. Professional consoles offer fully- parametric designs and more overall flexibility, as you might expect. Since we can't all afford Neve VR consoles at home, another option for small studios is outboard equalizers. Get a couple of good ones and insert them into the signal path and print through them to tape. This will definitely take your sounds up a notch without totally blowing your college fund.

I've also received questions inquiring about dynamics. The term, "dynamics" refers to whether a sound is "soft" or "loud". The ability of a recording medium to reproduce the difference between soft and loud is called its "Dynamic Range". Vinyl records and cassette tapes have a limited dynamic range of about 20 db, while modern CD's and Digital Audio Tape (DAT) are capable of full dynamic range- that's 100 db! The limiting factor of how much of that range you get to actually hear is determined by the speakers, amplifiers and the room you're listening in.

We've all heard terms like "bright", "dull", "deep" and "thin" used to describe music. Two major factors complicate this affair. The first is that we all hear the same thing differently; one person's "bright" is another person's "dull". The second is the accuracy or lack thereof, of our sound source, i.e. the speakers and amplifiers. Technically, the audible frequency range for human hearing is 20 Hertz(Hz) on the low end and 20 Kilohertz(Khz) on the high end. Most people's hearing range falls between 40Hz and 16 Khz and in fact, the specified frequency range of FM radio is 50Hz to 15Khz. A typical car radio, boom box or home stereo has two EQ knobs on it. The "Low" and "High" knobs are usually centered at 100 Hz and 10 Khz respectively with a broad "fixed Q".

"Q" refers to the range of frequencies affected by the boost or cut and is expressed in octaves. Their effect is not subtle but for consumer applications this is simple, convenient and usually sufficient. The loudness button is simply a low frequency boost that compensates for the apparent lack of low frequencies at low listening levels. While the human voice is the most dynamic, all of these instruments present a similar problem to the engineer. How can we preserve the performance, that is the soft and loud of it, and get it accurately on tape? With these instruments, we usually have to use a microphone.

The two main types of microphones are "dynamic", which have no active electronics involved in amplifying the input signal, and "condenser", which require either batteries or "phantom power" to power their electronics. Both types have a thin membrane, called the diaphragm, that vibrates and that physical vibration is translated into an electronic signal.

In general, condenser mikes are brighter and have a broader frequency response, but they are more fragile. That's why you usually see an SM57, a general purpose dynamic mike, in the lead singer's hands at a concert. They can withstand a lot of abuse. Classic condenser microphones like the Neumann U-47 and AKG C-12 use vacuum tube electronics and are treasured for their unique sound. They are rather large and have diaphragms 2 inches in diameter.

Ribbon microphones are another vintage design that incorporate a thin rectangular strip as its diaphragm, hence the name.

PZM designs are a relatively new invention. They work on a completely different principle and don't look anything like traditional microphones. The signal created by the microphone is very small and it is the microphone pre-amp that increases this level to what is known as "line-level" for interfacing with the mixing board. This is yet another link in the chain with its opportunity to affect the sound, and they do.

Everyone has his favorite microphones and pre-amps for different situations and most do color the sound. The important thing is whether you like that color and if it's appropriate for the particular situation at hand. Here again, we run into the concept of "flat frequency response" and again it is relatively meaningless. Most microphones are not "flat" and some are better suited for certain jobs than others. As always, you need a reference, and in this regard, frequency response charts and the like can be useful.

That about does it for this month. If you have any questions about demo making or recording in general, send them to the Demo Doctor. If you are on the internet, you can e-mail me at:

andycahan@verizon.net.

My website address is:

http://allentertainment.net.

Or, snail mail me at:

  Andy Cahan
  PO Box 261969
  Encino, CA 91426-1969
  Phone: 818/489-4490
  Fax: 818/728-9059

Andy Cahan is a 35-year veteran of the music industry. As a recording engineer and record producer, Cahan has worked with such artists as Ringo Starr, Harry Nilsson, Flo & Eddie and Eric Carman.

Demo Doctor 3

By Andy Cahan

Dear Demo Doctor:

Met you at the TAXI Road Rally Convention. Thanks for your input! My JVC Consumer cassette deck just went belly up. It records both distorted and noisy at the same time! I think it's time to spend some money on a machine that will give me consistent quality and will last a few years. My thoughts are a single cassette machine (I really don't need to dupe cassette to cassette and I'd rather spend the money on one quality deck). I'd be willing to spend a grand (or less) on it if that's what you suggest will do the trick. Any suggestions?

P.S. Any cassette suggestions? TDK, Maxell, Radio Shack Normal Bias?

Peter
New York, NY

Hi Peter,

I personally use the Denon hx pro. It's a work horse, gets the job done and it is very reliable. The price is right too, around $300. I always make my master a DAT, this way all copies won't have a generation loss. It's never a good idea to dupe from cassette to cassette. Any time you do this, you will have one generation loss, consequently losing fidelity. Also, the mechanics and quality of those high speed dupe machines is severely inferior. Just look at the width of a cassette tape and imagine it was divided into four tiny "bands" or "tracks" of signal, thus running the tape at a very high speed. These tiny tracks are the reasons for this loss of fidelity. Finally, I use TDK and Maxell, position II, 60 minute cassette tape. Don't use anything longer than 60 minutes, because the "mil" (thickness) is thinner on 90 minutes and up, and stretches out real easy!

Dear Demo Doctor:

My band is currently recording a demo at my house on ADAT. We used sm57's on the drums and a Rode for an overhead. Although it sounds bright when we run it through my EQ into the speakers the highest frequency barely moves. I believe the Rode has a pretty wide range and when I play CDs through that same EQ the highs show up very well. Why is this?

Thanks for your time.

Mike
Peoria, IL

Hi Mike,

For overheads on the drums, I recommend using an AKG 451 instead of the Rode. The AKG 451 is perfect for the job, and you definitely won't run into any EQ problems, especially if you set the mic in just the right position. Also, it is crucial that you record FLAT! Do all of your EQ during the final mix. The reason for this is simple. If you put EQ on tape when recording, you will be frozen with that setting. Of course you can try to alter the EQ, but you won't have the response range needed for total control. A very good idea for checking out your high end is to play a CD with KILLER drum sounds Then A-B them with yours.

Dear Demo Doctor:

Your Demo Doctor articles with TAXI are very interesting and enjoyable to read. Thanks. I have two microphone questions for you:

1) I am considering buying a Neumann TLM 193, and would like to know how it differs from a U-87.

2) Can you compare the TLM 193 to the AKG 414 for me as a vocal only mic?

I realize that your answers would be in your opinion, but I very much respect your musical experience, as well as your vast experience with mics of many types. Thanks for your help both with my questions, and in your TAXI articles.

Craig,
Flagstaff, AZ

Hi Craig,

Thank you very much for your compliments on my TAXI articles, I appreciate it very much! In answer to your first question, the Neumann TLM 193 is a limited sounding mic. It has a characteristic midrange frequency range and it doesn't come close to the warmness of a Neumann 47. In fact, the Neumann 47 is one of my favorite mics for vocals.

As far as comparing the TLM 193 to the AKG 414 f as only a vocal mic, I would definitely use the AKG 414 over the TLM 193. The AKG is my other favorite! It's a very crisp mic, and should be used to enhance a muddier vocal. A crisper vocal applies for the Neumann 47.

Dear Demo Doctor:

I have always thought my 4 track tunes on my Tascam 424 were very clean, but am convinced that I must invest in more expensive recording equipment (digital perhaps) or go into a studio to make a demo that people will actually listen too. Am I wrong? I do have some.

POWERFUL tunes on 4 track and I don't have a stack of moolah to upgrade. I have the 424, an ART DR-X digital effects unit, a Sansamp, MXR compressor, EV monitors with a receiver as an amp, a Shure SM57, etc. Your opinions and advise are sorely needed and sincerely appreciated.

Thanks!

Steven Van Nostrand,
Columbia, MD.

Hi Steven,

For a nice clean, broadcast quality set up, I strongly recommend you use the ADAT as your multitrack. Once you are in digital domain like that, you can bounce tracks with absolutely no generation loss, and perform your punch in and out's with extreme precision. Also, it comes in real handy if you should ever decide to bump up to a "Professional 24 track studio" I would also invest in a good mike. The Neumann 47 or the AKG 414. It would be ok to buy them used, as long as they've been totally refurbished. The rest of your equipment will do fine. I would use the Shure SM57 for live electric guitar and some vocals depending on the "color" of the individual song.

Thanks for reading my column, and keep those questions coming in! We'll see ya next time! If you have any questions about demo making or recording in general, send them to the Demo Doctor. If you are on the internet, you can e-mail me at:

andycahan@verizon.net.

My website address is:

http://allentertainment.net.

Or, snail mail me at:

  Andy Cahan
  PO Box 261969
  Encino, CA 91426-1969
  Phone: 818/489-4490
  Fax: 818/728-9059

Andy Cahan is a 35-year veteran of the music industry. As a recording engineer and record producer, Cahan has worked with such artists as Ringo Starr, Harry Nilsson, Flo & Eddie and Eric Carman.

Demo Doctor 4

By Andy Cahan

Organization is the key word when to comes to recording your home demos. The object of the game is to get everything accomplished smoothly and efficiently. These following recommendations will work whether you're a 'one man band,' completing all of the programming and performance yourself, or if you're a songwriter hiring outside vocalists and musicians.

First and foremost, make sure all your vocal and instrumental material is well rehearsed and that the performance is polished. This creates the foundation to get the best performances in your first three recording takes. After those initial takes, the energy level starts to go downhill and eventually you will lose the original feel of your performance.

Obviously, if you are depending on others to perform for you, make sure they have their parts well rehearsed. In fact, you should sit down with each musician individually and go over all of the parts in detail. This is your 'baby', and the final result should be exactly what you envision the song to sound like.

Any solos should be planned out as well. Try to incorporate melodic hooks in solos that will stick in the listener's head. Also, have all your lyric sheets neatly laid out and a separate page for the chord charts.

One very important item: make sure the key of the song fits the vocal range of the singer. As a single programmer and performer, you can adjust the pitch of your sequencer and transpose the keyboard accordingly. On the other hand, when you're depending on outside musicians, the new material must be ready and rehearsed before they hit the studio.

Pre-plan all your vocal and instrumental melodies and arrangements before you record these overdubs. Know what layers you will record first so you can build your sub mixes. Definitely take advantage of composite recording techniques and create your master comp tracks.

Lets talk about the practice of digital sampling, or copying sounds from one recording to another through use of digital technology. This has been going on for well over a decade, and is becoming more and more widespread among mainstream artists.

Sampling itself can take many forms; sometimes a few bars of an original recording are sampled, other times the whole bass or drum line from the original recording is sampled. The technology allows the separation of sounds in some cases, meaning the sample itself may be almost impossible to isolate in the finished 'hybrid' recording. Sometimes, the original sound recording is not sampled at all, but instead an extract from the original composition is re-recorded and then the recording is used for sampling purposes.

A 'loop' is a section of musical material that is recorded and then cycled repeatedly and selectively on some form of sampling tool. That 'loop' can then be stretched, reversed, or otherwise edited to create new and unusual sounds. When combined with other instruments, a loop provides an innovative backbone for songwriting and studio production. Samplers are available through companies such as Roland, Ensoniq, Akai, and Yamaha.

It's a widely known fact that the music industry at the brink of the millennium has a serious fascination with drum samples and loops. We are hearing them in all genres of music, from Hip Hop to Rock. Drum machines are not hitting the mark, and neither are most drummers, even the technical ones. What drum machines and many technical drummers lack is FEEL. Your rhythm section is the backbone of your music. If that backbone is weak, you have no chance of competing with the thousands of artists who have the groove.

By the way, always make a back up copy of all your data and tapes. In fact I usually run two back ups, that way you're totally covered in the event of any defective tapes or disks.

Contact Andy at:

andycahan@verizon.net.

My website address is:

http://allentertainment.net.

Or, snail mail me at:

  Andy Cahan
  PO Box 261969
  Encino, CA 91426-1969
  Phone: 818/489-4490
  Fax: 818/728-9059

Andy Cahan is a 35-year veteran of the music industry. As a recording engineer and record producer, Cahan has worked with such artists as Ringo Starr, Harry Nilsson, Flo & Eddie and Eric Carman.

Trying to get your Song Demos to major artists? Or your band's Demo Tape/CD, to a Record Label? Then check out TAXI The World's Leading Independent A&R Company.