105 posts tagged with demo.
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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.
M.A.D.
WE CAN DO THE MUTUALLY-ASSURED DESTRUCTION
Invocation
A long time ago, this song used to have words. They were super lame. Now it makes for a good guitar freak out. The drums were the first thing I ever made in Ableton Live. Doing the tempo changes at the end in Live was a pain (but I still love you, Live!). I think the drums sound a bit stiff and robotic (in a bad way), but it's still about the best I can do with real drum sounds. The vocal's a bit dodgy, but is Good Enough For Now.
Do you understand how I need you?
I wrote this song for my ladyfriend a few months back, and recorded it just now. Happy Valentine's Day.
At the Open Mic
A rough structural demo of one of the songs I've written this month.
Catchy, upbeat reflection on the simpler, softer times of my highschool
musical upbringing. Imagine this with a dozen people clapping and
singing along. And maybe an awesome guitar solo. I've still got three
weeks, after all.
Perfect Martyr
One of my bands, The Man So Cool, did some recording a couple
weeks ago for a demo disc. We're still working on final vocals and
proper mixes, but this is a pretty good rough mix of one of the songs.
Links to the other three songs can be gotten over
yonder.
Moving Pictures (demo)
Just recorded a rough demo of this new love song for Edie Sedgwick.
Julia
Julia / you've got a lovely uvula / I wanna take you to Florida / so please say yes
We'll start a family / play lots of D&D / and watch the Goonies / on VHS
Full of Love
Working draft of a song I'm engineering—written by friend and former bandmate Brian, who is on guitar and vocals, with keys added by moi. Feedback/criticism desirable. This is my first real effort to play producer/engineer to someone else's material.
Through The Rain
This one is really lo-fi as I don't have the master tape and it's a 21 year old rough demo -- and I do mean rough. :) Recorded Spring 1985 in dorm room A-1016, The Evergreen State College. (More inside.)
Locked in a Garage
Another discarded demo that would otherwise never have seen the light of day.
It's too long, the drum machine is just a placeholder, the guitars are sloppy (DEMO!) and the lyrics are sort of goofy.
Those aren't excuses, they are reasons. It was kind of thrown onto the scrapheap.
But why would I post it? Because I'm addicted to this now.
This one's about a nervous breakdown.
Yellow (Mic Test Demo)
An acoustic rough draft—the first thing I recorded after I bought my first condesor mic. Pretty, improvised.
Autumn Fell
Blues Lounge Rock - from my band's 2006 demo.
Color of Love
Off my band's demo.