118 posts tagged with Demo.
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Flying Over
The year is 1996. I'm in my neighbor's tiny basement studio. I am making my first remotely professional recording. I am earnest. I am 17 years old. [more inside]
From the River to the Sea
A rough mix of a song in progress. Constructive criticism sought! [more inside]
Eastern Legend
Mrs. Archivist and I are collaborating on musical project. Recording includes acoustic and electric guitars, synths, traps, accordion, and cello. [more inside]
Back on my Back Again
Another slice of 1995 Big Star/Television influenced indie ephemera from my 4-track cassette box. I still really love this guitar riff and the herky jerky power pop stuff at the end of the chorus. A song about not wanting someone to feel bad for dumping you.
When I first heard Sloan, I thought 'man, they stole my sound' although really we both stole Velvet Crush's. [more inside]
Darker Shade of Blue
Another semi-autobiographical 1995 slice of cheerful melancholia. But a pretty guitar riff and one of my favorite choruses to sing, even if I never really could hit the last note. There's an electric version of this with more of a Big Star / Matthew Sweet feel, but darned if I can find it and anyway I like this one. [more inside]
Circles
Really old demo recording that I recently found on a decaying tape. [more inside]
WT Fuck
A rehearsal demo of a rejiggered older song, meant for my Irish-American garage band, The Peter O'Tooles. [more inside]
Do You Kiss My Girlfriend With That Mouth
A whole lot of naughty in two minutes in this practice demo for my Irish-American band, The Peter O'Tooles. [more inside]
Uh Uh
Another RPM demo, this one a super-upbeat thing about neurotic fears about what one's ex is getting up to. [more inside]
Sleep in the temple
I recorded my first band. ( Nessie James & The Unknowns) Was my first paid studio gig time. This is the 2nd mix of sorts. Still more to add. [more inside]
Andrita Street
Demo for a song about my neighborhood here in Los Angeles...with mouth trumpet!
snake (demo)
Another entry in my recent demo series of posts. I posted a not-quite-done version of the track here, featuring piano and overly heavy drums. It's a song about the old classic video game "Snake". I'm sure I'll revisit the "proper" recording some day, but in the meantime, this is a nice performance. [more inside]
come careening (demo)
This is the demo I recorded for this song posted earlier. I slapped some kind of distortion effect over it to approximate the feel I wanted in the final version. Although it's too hazy-sounding and the vocals are nearly unintelligble, I really love a lot of things about this recording. It sounds like some kind of important uncovered secret to me. Anyway, this post is part of an "evolution of my songs" series I started here and here.
the vase (demo)
As a follow-up to this post, here is the demo I recorded for the song I posted a long time ago here. As before, the idea is to share something about the evolution of my songs for anyone who might care.
undulate underling (demo)
A demo that I later recorded and posted here. I'm posting this as a contribution along the lines of what others have done before me -- providing a window into my songwriting. Plus, I wouldn't be surprised if some prefer this version.
Not Nice
Another from the waste-bin of demos that never went anywhere.
Gauging from the effects unit, I'd say 1996; at least pre-1997.
Money (not a Pink Floyd cover)
Hey, times are tough, money is tight, and posting Hallelujah to Mefi Music sure ain't gonna pay no bills. So, lately I've been putting together a demo, with an eye toward getting a little voiceover work. Here's an outtake...
Syllogismobile (demo)
Transuniversal love story. [more inside]
The Garden of Forking Paths
Just another folk-rock song about Jorge Luis Borges. [more inside]
The Magazines of the Modern World (Demo)
This is a demo of a song I wrote for my band. [more inside]
Inauguration Day
A simple ambient pop song I wrote and recorded today with my organ, Macbook Mic, and some instruments lying around the house.
if only you had waited
Weird demo. Probably 10 years old. Releasing it to the ether; good riddance.
I Know
A little something I whipped up. It's about the town I live in called Lüneburg. [more inside]
i will (radiohead cover)
Spur-of-the-moment lo-fi live cover of the Radiohead song off Hail to the Thief, to which I added a couple of equally rough overdubs and some reverb. The guitar is out of tune and poorly played, but the vocal melody tweaks are kind of fun. [more inside]
monster
demo/demonstration [more inside]
What About Tonight
You won't care tomorrow. [more inside]
The Ballad of Daisy and Jay
I've always loved The Great Gatsby - it, and F. Scott Fitzgerald, have some significance here in Minnesota. I tried to get some personal elements into the characters for this. [more inside]
Things I Used to Know (demo)
"Our minds are permeable to forgetfulness; I myself am distorting and losing, through the tragic erosion of the years, the features of Beatriz."
-- Jorge Luis Borges [more inside]
Spider Song
A demo recorded in a hurry. [more inside]
The Last Time I Saw Moscow
A very lo-fi one-take recording by The Grandma Sylvias. Acoustic guitar and vocals only; all apparent distortion is coming from knobs turned very high.
[more inside]
Ambient Evil
My husband and I are writing and playing music together. We're just starting to do some recording. Here's one of our first attempts. [more inside]
Storyline
A song about friendship. [more inside]
Alone
A song of loneliness and betrayal - sounds fun, right? [more inside]
Out of It (singalong demo)
This is the title track for my next album and I need some backup vocals! [more inside]
You Promised There Would Be Girls [demo]
I wrote and recorded this today - it's basically a stream-of-consciousness account of one of the stranger and more entertaining parties I've attended.
Fumble
Part 2 of my extended musical apology to mathowie. I have to earn my return.
Late Century
An apology to mathowie
The Least You Could Do (demo)
Sorry for this one. Sometimes things just come out of my mouth...
Chicago or Bust (demo)
This quick demo was made on my pocket tape recorder right after I had finished writing the song, and I was really pleased with the way it sounds... like it's a recording from a long time back.
The Jackal
This song is not exactly new (it's only slightly younger than Forwards/Back), but I didn't properly finish recording it until tonight. The levels/panning in a couple places could maybe use a little more tweaking to help everything in the mix stand out, but it's correct enough for now.
How I Roll (Demo)
at the marriot the proletariat
can find himself a bed
he's been workin' day and night man
was better off dead
Time In The Sun
Mostly instrumental. (I'd keep the repeated line, but replace the wordless vocal bit with some horns if I had access to any, and have them carry on through the rest of the song.) Much, much more guitar layering than I usually do. Strangely (?), I think my favorite parts of the song are skittering electronic bits of the drum track and the bass line.
Emma Lane
Another laptop song. I'm not sure I like the vocal melody enough that it will will stick. I didn't really "write" it so much as I made it up on the spot several weeks ago at an open mic just after I'd finished the words (which I do like) and the backing track (which I also quite like). I get the feeling I'll get annoyed with it in six months and go back and make up another melody (which has happened several times before). It's the only song I know of about a thief who steals weather.
Forwards/Back
Beep beep beep. The main keyboard line in this song and much of the chord structure started life as a guitar part. This is the first thing I wrote that uses nothing but my laptop. I was watching it snow, and the basic idea(s) for the song just sort of ... popped in there.
Monkey
At empyrean's request.
I needed a break from mixing my own songs anyway, so I threw together this quick & dirty cover of the Counting Crows song in 15 minutes, and uploaded it warts and all - one take off the top of my head, complete with missed notes, words, and chords. Enjoy.
Burn Bright (Burn Out)
I think this is still probably the best thing I've written. It's arranged sparely. It's really not anything more than a more nicely-recorded version of the two-track sketch that I record immediately after finishing writing a song just to have a rough sketch of the structure and main vocal melody. I haven't got a more full recording, because... Well, every time I try to flesh out the song, I end up feeling like I've bludgeoned something delicate. I'll get it some day, but for now, I think it works best when played simply.
Dissent
This arrangement still needs some embellishment, though I think it works okay as is. Probably one of my better vocal turns.
Haunted Houses
The poltergeists that you can't see will come for you while you sleep.
Circling Wolves
The oldest song I've written that I'm still willing to play, think about, work on, etc., etc. It's also changed rather radically from its even shorter original form, and it's gone through a couple lyrical rewrites. It grew a beat about six months ago. I think this is probably the final form structurally and lyrically, but I'd probably work on it more if I thought I could improve the sound quality significantly.
Cancer Patient
Mmm, 6/8 time... The vocal's less questionable than the other songs I've posted, but it is quite raspy in places because I ended up doing it in a couple takes after already having spent an hour two whipping the screamy bits of M.A.D. into shape, so my voice was a bit shot.