You will already know Alex from reception, he’s the big skin head guy who looks like he could do serious damaged but he is the nicest person you could possibly meet. Plus he is also super talented. He is currently in his third year at DMU studying Music Technology, he’s a wicked guitar player and he also produces the dirtiest drum and bass tunes I have ever heard!
Alex’s new studio, situated in Room 8 is purpose built to provide high quality demos for just £15 a hour! So I thought I would ask him what demos are and what we can do with them.
What should I expect from a demo?
“In a general sense; a demo recording serves as a sort of ‘placeholder’ version of a song, EP or album. This is not to say that the quality of the recording would be any worse than what you might get at big commercial studios – but perhaps the song hasn’t yet reached its final stage of writing.
As part of the process, I will also be mixing the tracks to the best of my ability though without spending days upon days focusing on the minutia. It will be a ‘broad-strokes’ approach to mixing.”
What can I use my demo for?
“Demos have multiple purposes; a demo recording could be taken to other studios to be used as the foundation for a full production, mix and master at a commercial studio. A demo recorded with me could also be released as is and distributed to get some of your music online and to drum up some fans. Another great use is to send it off to promoters to get gigs! You’ll sound a million times better than a band that’s sending in rehearsals recorded on a phone. “
Room 8 is a small studio but fear not, Alex’s studio equipment is “portable” allowing him to move the essentials to any of our rehearsal rooms to record bigger instruments and still get a full 8-channel drum recording. He also is able to book outside of our usual opening hours to ensure a silent space all round. Other instruments and vocals can be recorded in the control room. The small size allows for the room’s sound treatment to be perfect for intimate vocal recordings and clean guitar recordings.
So how long should we expect a demo to take? Well this is always a piece of string question, the more prepared you are before hand, the more efficient your recording session will be. Suggesting that you are on it and organised, Alex expects that it would take 4-5 hours per song, including the set up time. Mixing can be done separately to that
If you have any questions about recording a demo in Big Al’s Studio, you can contact Alex directly on:- 07889429700
Or give us a call on 0116 2230303 or catch up with him when he’s next on reception.