Recording and Packaging Demos

Ando

How do you record and package an effective gypsy jazz demo? Is booking professional recording studio time necessary? What kind of information should go along with it, in the "demo package"? What do potential customers look for in a demo? Can you send a demo to a recording label? Etc.

Jack

Ando,

We're going through all this right now, so I'm sure I'll be posting some updates about what we decide upon, and what ends up working vs. what doesn't.

My initial thought when I heard we'd be recording a demo was something akin to: "Great, we'll have a disc with 6-10 tunes that can a) help us get gigs, and b) maybe sell for eight or ten bucks at those gigs." However, a bandmate with many years of international touring etc. behind him strongly suggested we have some sort of medley as well-maybe 45 seconds to a minute of each tune, strung together in the control room. His experience seems to suggest that people considering you for a gig might not have the patience to sit and listen to full-length tunes. I'm not sure I agree, but thought I'd pass it along.

The studio question is always the big debate; I think there are two big questions involved: are you going to try to sell the CD to the public, and does anyone in the band have a halfway decent home studio? The studio we're in is run by a friend of his, so we're getting a deal. I think if you can afford it, and if no one in the band has decent recording experience/equipment, a pro job will make a difference.

That said, I think the rest of the package is probably at least as important: a nice sounding CD doesn't seem so great when it's got a Post-It note attatched with a phone number scrawled across it. (Especially for gypsy jazz, which seems around here to get calls for classier gigs.) And these days, some sort of electronic press pack seems almost a must, and, once it's done, it's just a matter of emailing them to newspapers, etc.

Anyway, a lot of this is covered over in Archtop's thread:
http://djangobooks.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=615

Best,
Jack.

nwilkins

here's what we're doing:

making a combination audio CD with demo tracks/CD ROM with the electronic presskit which also includes sound and video samples. The presskit will be professionally designed, and the CD case will match the design of the press kit some how (ie same colour, logo, etc). Having a really good looking case makes a LOT of difference.

Ando

Hi Nick

What do you mean by "electronic press kit"? A CD with an HTML page linked to images and sound samples? i.e., the client pops the thing into a computer to give you a look and listen? That sounds pretty nice and efficient to me, if the client has a computer.

Ando

capilano-gypsy

try this link:

http://www.aandronline.com/

and go to the "reading room" in their main menu. tons of good info and ideas as to what a press package should be, and can do for you.