Recording a Demo on a Small Budget
A demo is a sketch you can hand to someone. It needs to be clear, honest and finished enough that a listener hears the song rather than the flaws. You don't need much money to get there, but you do need a plan.
Decide what the demo is for
Before you buy a cable or book a room, write one sentence about who will hear this recording. A demo for venue bookers needs to show you can play a tight set. A demo for your own songwriting just needs to capture arrangements so nobody forgets their parts. A demo you might release needs more care. The purpose decides how much time and money is sensible.
Most bands are better served by three strong songs than eight rushed ones. Pick the songs that open your set well, show your range, and that everyone can play without thinking.
Home or studio?
Recording at home
Home recording costs time more than money. There's no clock running, so you can retake a vocal at midnight and learn as you go. The trade-off is that some things are genuinely hard at home. Drums need several microphones, a room that doesn't ring, and neighbours who don't mind. Untreated bedrooms also make vocals sound boxy.
When a studio earns its fee
A studio pays for itself when you need what you can't fake at home: a good-sounding room for drums, lots of quality microphones at once, and an engineer who has solved your problems before. If you book time, arrive rehearsed. Every hour spent arguing about a bridge is an hour you paid for.
The hybrid approach
A popular budget route is to track drums (and maybe bass) in a studio or a well-equipped rehearsal room, then take the files home for guitars, keys and vocals. Ask in advance what you'll be given. Individual WAV files for each track, all starting from the same point, are the most portable format and will open in almost any recording software.
Gear basics
You can make a perfectly usable demo with a small kit. Roughly in order of priority:
- An audio interface with enough inputs for what you'll record at once. Two inputs covers overdubbing one instrument at a time; recording a whole band live needs eight or more.
- A dynamic microphone for guitar amps, snare and loud vocals. Dynamics are tough and forgiving in untreated rooms.
- A condenser microphone for more detail on vocals and acoustic instruments, but it hears your room too, so tame the space first.
- Closed-back headphones for tracking, so the click doesn't leak into the mic.
- Recording software. Free and bundled options exist. Learn one properly instead of hopping between several.
- Reliable cables and stands. A crackling lead or a drooping mic stand wastes more sessions than a cheap microphone.
For room treatment, duvets, cushions and a full bookcase do a surprising amount. Recording a vocal facing into a wardrobe full of clothes is an old trick because it works.
A workflow that works
- Pre-production. Rehearse the songs and record them on a phone. Listen back together and fix arrangement problems now, while it's free.
- Set tempos. Agree a tempo for each song. If you'll track to a click, practise with one for a few weeks first.
- Record a guide track. A scratch guitar and vocal to the click gives everyone a map. You'll replace it later.
- Drums, then bass. Get the foundation solid before anything sits on top of it.
- Guitars, keys and other parts. Only double rhythm parts if the song really needs the width.
- Vocals last, once the singer knows exactly what they're singing over. Short sessions with breaks beat one marathon.
- Edit lightly. Fix obvious mistakes and clear noise between phrases. Don't snap every note to the grid.
- Rough mix, then rest. Leave it a couple of days before anyone judges it.
Mixing without losing perspective
Keep the mix simple: set levels and panning first, then cut problem frequencies before boosting anything. Check the mix on headphones, laptop speakers, a phone and a car. Compare it at matched volume with a released track in a similar style, not to copy it, but to notice if your low end or vocal level is way off. Name final files clearly with band, song and version so nobody sends the wrong one.
Pre-session checklist
- Songs chosen, arranged and rehearsed (to a click, if you're using one)
- Tempo and key written down for every song
- New strings fitted a day or two early; drum heads checked
- Spare strings, sticks, picks, batteries and cables packed
- Lyric sheets printed for the singer and whoever is engineering
- File format agreed, and backups planned in at least two places
- Who gets the final say on takes, decided before you start