General Music Chat

I've got a question for my posse of Bandmix folks...

Our band, being relatively unknown in the local circuit, gets asked frequently for an audio CD.

We're a cover band, mind you, but I totally understand this request. After all, hardly anyone outside of our rehearsal space knows what we sound like. We can think we sound good, but people oversell themselves all the time. I know if I were a bar or club owner, I would NOT hire a band without hearing them first. So the CD request makes sense to me.

The hard part is coming up with something. I've got a Zoom H2 and it does all right for acoustic stuff. In a band rehearsal situation it works, but it's not perfect by a long shot.

I've recorded several rehearsals with it now, and this last rehearsal I got the mike placed in about the best spot to capture everyone. I took the audio of one song and passed it along to my band mates; I'm still waiting for word from everyone.


My question is: If you were a bar or club owner and requested a CD, what quality audio recording would you expect? What are you listening for? Does the audio quality matter as much as the fact that we've got our sh*t together?


I might post a sample on our MySpace page later, but I wanted to get some opinions first to make sure I wasn't going down the wrong path to begin with.

All of the audio files we have posted here and on our website are "home recordings" of dubeous quality. The stuff I put up here is mostly for you guys. It,s intended as a learning tool for myself and the band nothing more.
When we get to the point of using a CD for advertisment purpose I would insist it be of studio quality or as close as I can get.
You really only get one chance to make an impression.

For me the utmost quality is standard proceedure for all of my music. You don't get a second chance to make a first impression. Personally, what little bit of music I post here, I want it to be of the utmost quality just in case someone here wants get somethin' started. I want my flute to be as exciting to you guys as a Les Paul. I hope to be posting something new real soon.

Pro studio ONLY for demo CD's. There's too much competition out there...

I've gotten a lot of gigs with a live CD we did ourselves, not pro, but a good mix and sound quality. Club owners liked it because it was live and showed what we really sound like. They've told me stories about hiring bands that had a studio CD and then the band wasn't anywhere near as good as their CD showed. I'm not saying that club owners look out for this, just that, if you do get a studio CD done, make sure it doesn't misrepresent your band.
What kind of mixing board do you use? If it's a non powered mixer, I might have a lowcost solution for you.

I dunno. I've gotten gigs with live recordings on cassette transferred to CD. Then again, I was using it to get solo gigs, so "everything" could be easily heard.

I doubt that your average bar owner expects studio quality on demos, but it certainly couldn't hurt your chances, unless it prices you out of the bar you seek.

Most venue managers only listen to the first minute of the first two songs on your CD. It doesn't matter where or how you recorded them but they must POP. The most bang for your buck is to go record a three song demo at a pro studio. Expect to pay $40-80 an hour for a good place depending on your area. Most songs I've produced are in the $300 (but I've spent $500 a few times) dollar range so you could get a nice little demo recorded for $1000. You can make the Cds on your PC to save some money.

If you go to www.myspace.com/alixmafia you can hear a band that I recorded and played in. I have a digital recorder, but the recording and mix are all analog with no computer enhancements. I think it would be plenty good enough to get gigs with. It's all pretty much live recording in my studio although I added some background vocals later on some songs mainly to get them finished and couldn't get the band back in to finish it up. I charge $25 an hour for demos and usually cut the bands a lot of slack on the time, but I'm not in it for the money, so other studios will charge more.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I really do appreciate it.

I think in the near future we're going to try something different, but I am not sure we're going to a studio. It's probably still too expensive for us at this point.

Right now I am recording practices with a Zoom H2 sort of put near the center of our room. And it sounds like a home recording, which is what it is.

I think our next step is to try and mike everything like we do at a show and run the output from the mixer to a computer or the H2. Our problem right now is finding space; our rehearsal spot is basically someone's basement, and it's real small. We can't mike stuff or we run into feedback issues.

But we'll figure something out.

seems a bar-owner just wants to make sure you are who you say you are. Seems a taped live performance would be optimal so he knows what he's getting. A demo CD isn't gonna be what he's getting.

just thinking from a bar owner's perspective.

That depends. Some bands don't sound as good as their CD live, and some sound better. But the average bar owner only knows what they hear, and if you give them a poorly recorded live CD versus a well-produced studio CD they will hear "crappy band" regardless of how good you really are.

For me the utmost quality is standard proceedure for all of my music. You don't get a second chance to make a first impression. Personally, what little bit of music I post here, I want it to be of the utmost quality just in case someone here wants get somethin' started. I want my flute to be as exciting to you guys as a Les Paul. I hope to be posting something new real soon.

Mary I find the flute way more exciting than a Les Paul for some reason!

Colors, Im not familiar with the Zoom but you may be able to record from your mixer board straight into the Zoom and get a good mix. I was going thru some old cassette tapes I made 20 yrs ago that we miced everything up and just went straight into a cassette live and they sounded good enough at the time to use for a demo tape.

As some one said if your quaility isnt there spend the money and get a few songs cut professionally. When I was a REM Major in college back in the day we would book the late night deal from 11-7 in the morning and bring in freind bands and cut 3-8 songs a night for a band then come back and mix them down and it worked for a lot of bands to get gigs. As Mary said you only have once to make a first impression. 2 yrs ago I went into a club with one of our cds and they put it in and started listening on the spot all the way thru, and then as Jimmy said some places just listen to a few seconds of a cd. Ive found thru the years that the best way for a gig is persistence. I would go to the clubs on a slow night during the week and spend some time there get a beer and bullshit with whoever books the band. I would say that most of the gigs Ive booked in the last couple of years were because I just decided that we were going to play somewhere and kept going into the places til I got some sort of opening.

Good Luck and Keep On Rockin!

I will add that if you get a gig and play it and the booking person Likes you then ask them to be a reference for other venues, this can backfire if the clubs are in direct competition, but if you have live references then the person knows you are an active band.

Colors, Im not familiar with the Zoom but you may be able to record from your mixer board straight into the Zoom and get a good mix. I was going thru some old cassette tapes I made 20 yrs ago that we miced everything up and just went straight into a cassette live and they sounded good enough at the time to use for a demo tape.

Yep, you can do that with the Zoom, which is what I think we're going to try next. It's got a direct USB and so does our mixer, so I can go USB from the mixer to the Zoom and get the recording that way.


We just need to see if we can actually do it in our normal rehearsal space without feedback issues. If we can, I think we'll be okay.

Since you have that try it and see how it does, you may do a song or two then go back and listen then change your levels to make it work out. This can be funny cause in a rehearsal space where you are used to certain volume levels you may have to cut something, like bass guitar a lot more than you would just playing.

Ive been thinking of getting soemthing like the Zoom just to have around for acoustic, my daughter playing guitar or just general song ideas.

Have a Rocking Weekend!