PDA

View Full Version : Demo CD



djnotapplicable
02-07-2012, 02:15 PM
Hey Guys,

I am at the point where I really want to get a Demo CD going. The problem is, I'm not really sure how to structure it. I see some people posting "demos" that are anywhere from 30min to over an hour long. I was looking for any advice on any aspect of putting together a nice Demo. Length, track arrangement, etc.

Thanks,
DjNotApplicable

DJAVLive
02-07-2012, 02:25 PM
id say the following

1) newer songs --even ones not released--shows you into what you do
2) mix skills were on point - mix was flawless
3) songs were mixed fast--maybe do snippets of songs...to give and idea of what you play...
4) a couple of scatches here and there --optional
5) make the cd itself look professional

I feel like im missing a little more hopefully other members can help me out on that just my .02 cents :D GOOD LUCK!

Jason Cerna
02-07-2012, 03:56 PM
the demo should reflect what you are capable of in a live setting. thirty minutes to an hour is fine for a length of time. make sure your cd has track marks that run seamlessly to the next track.

B.Frank
02-07-2012, 04:36 PM
Not sure if it's the same Sigma from these forums that wrote this, but here's an article for you.

http://www.djtechtools.com/2011/07/27/a-guide-to-making-a-multitracked-mixtape-part-1/

g-sep
02-07-2012, 04:42 PM
Not sure if it's the same Sigma from these forums that wrote this, but here's an article for you.

http://www.djtechtools.com/2011/07/27/a-guide-to-making-a-multitracked-mixtape-part-1/

That is a good article, but do you think that would be almost kind of like "false representation" of yourself? Like being able to go back and layer parts after, if you can't do it live, why put it in a demo for a live gig.

Unless I'm just being a total jerk and the OP means to just give this out to people instead of using it to get gigs. :eek:

Sigma
02-07-2012, 05:38 PM
Not sure if it's the same Sigma from these forums that wrote this, but here's an article for you.

http://www.djtechtools.com/2011/07/27/a-guide-to-making-a-multitracked-mixtape-part-1/
That was written by me, but as I said in the comments section of that article, the article isn't aimed at people making demo CDs for clubs, because of this: -


the demo should reflect what you are capable of in a live setting
And that's not what a multitracked mix is, so as Jason said, it needs to reflect your live DJing skills, therefore it needs to be recorded live.

If I was a club owner, I'd pay attention to the following: -

1. The music. Obviously it depends on the club, but I'd want to know that you can cover the latest tunes, classics, and maybe the odd track that you feel is a banger, but isn't so well known. If you gave me a mix CD of just the latest top 40 hits then I'm probably going to hear a lot of CDs like that, so you need a little something to set you apart - just a little something - don't try too hard to stand out.

2. The mixing skills. Being competent is fine. Being really skilled is even better. Trainwrecks and sloppy mixing would probably have me binning your CD pretty quickly. Also, if you can trick mix or scratch, then I would want to hear just a little taste of that, but obviously I wouldn't want to hear you cutting up "fresh" for 5 minutes straight, haha. Basically, what I don't want to hear are bad technical skills and overuse of things like scratching, effects and so on. I'd rather hear you just fade between tracks than that.

3. Overall professionalism of the CD. While this is far less important, putting a minimal amount of effort in can go a long way. Split the mix into tracks so I can skip around, instead of it being one long mix. Include a track listing and some contact details. A well made CD would make me think "this guy has done this before and obviously has some experience with it", compared to if you just hand me a CD in a plastic wallet with "demo" written on it with a sharpie. It's just an impression thing, but I think it's worth doing, even if the contents of the CD itself are far more important.

monomer
02-07-2012, 10:21 PM
the demo should reflect what you are capable of in a live setting. thirty minutes to an hour is fine for a length of time. make sure your cd has track marks that run seamlessly to the next track.

This.


I hate polished over mixes.


I'll be in the process of making mine soon. No pre-planing, no do-overs. Just me and my crate.

DJ Highline
02-08-2012, 10:20 AM
Yea you definitely want to make it reflective of what you do as a DJ. I think one big thing though is to do something in the beginning to get the attention of the person that's listening. Maybe a 2 or 3 minute quick mix that leads into the main mix or maybe a little scratching if you do that...just something to get their attention.

I also think its important to drop your DJ name in the mix for two reasons. One to remind people of whose CD they are listening to and secondly to keep shady bar owners from playing your mixes in their club without giving you cred. You don't want to go overboard on the drops...like one at the beginning and then another 2 -3 depending on the length of the mix.

I think its good to plan out your demo's too. Don't just hope on the decks with the plan to make a demo, plan it out so that it flows really nicely and then record it live. If you mess up, record it again. Now how flawless you want it depends on you...I wouldn't worry about a slight drift in the beat matching as it proves that it was live, but obviously you don't want it to sound like shoes in a dryer either.

Finally, I would say have a stock demo CD that you can just give to someone on the fly, but also if there is a specific place that you have in mind, then make a special demo for them. One that will show them that you can cater to the type of crowd and atmosphere they have.

kickassDJ25
02-09-2012, 05:33 AM
1.How do u guys record a mix?

2.How do u separate the tracks?

3.How would u get voice over/drops for it?

thanks:)

DJ Highline
02-09-2012, 10:53 AM
1. Most Software packages have a recording provision to just record from the program itself. Or if you are not using software, you can plug into your computer and use Audacity which is a free program and just get a mini to rca cable and plug the mixer into the line input of your computer and off you go. Finally you can go old school and get a stand alone recorder to record to CD or MP3. IKey makes a really nice stand alone MP3 recorder that's like $150.

2. If you record it as one big track, you can use Audacity to split the tracks. Just google or youtube it. Most CD recorders if you press record while you are recording will split the track as well. I like to use Audacity because you can split the tracks exactly where you want to.

3. You can record them yourself using (guess what?) Audacity or you can have them professionally made using a service like www.yourdjdrops.com. Then if you have an extra deck (or sampler decks), you can drop them in as you are recording or use Audacity to go back and drop them where you want them.

So I guess the bottom line is to go download Audacity and get to recording.

Rek_Aviles
02-09-2012, 11:14 AM
1.How do u guys record a mix?

2.How do u separate the tracks?

3.How would u get voice over/drops for it?

thanks:)

This news (never posted the thread) post goes through the steps needed to make a CUE sheet for your mix. Loading the CUE into certain CD burning software will creat the seamless splits and add the title info to them also.


EDIT:
made thread for it:

http://www.djforums.com/forums/showthread.php?956-How-to-make-a-demo

kickassDJ25
02-09-2012, 11:47 AM
1. Most Software packages have a recording provision to just record from the program itself. Or if you are not using software, you can plug into your computer and use Audacity which is a free program and just get a mini to rca cable and plug the mixer into the line input of your computer and off you go. Finally you can go old school and get a stand alone recorder to record to CD or MP3. IKey makes a really nice stand alone MP3 recorder that's like $150.

2. If you record it as one big track, you can use Audacity to split the tracks. Just google or youtube it. Most CD recorders if you press record while you are recording will split the track as well. I like to use Audacity because you can split the tracks exactly where you want to.

3. You can record them yourself using (guess what?) Audacity or you can have them professionally made using a service like www.yourdjdrops.com. Then if you have an extra deck (or sampler decks), you can drop them in as you are recording or use Audacity to go back and drop them where you want them.

So I guess the bottom line is to go download Audacity and get to recording.

I downloaded Audacity. I have an Audio 8 sound card, so how would I set up it with audacity?

kickassDJ25
02-09-2012, 11:48 AM
This news (never posted the thread) post goes through the steps needed to make a CUE sheet for your mix. Loading the CUE into certain CD burning software will creat the seamless splits and add the title info to them also.


EDIT:
made thread for it:

http://www.djforums.com/forums/showthread.php?956-How-to-make-a-demo


this is great, thanks :)

Jason Cerna
02-09-2012, 01:22 PM
I downloaded Audacity. I have an Audio 8 sound card, so how would I set up it with audacity?

http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Splitting_recordings_into_separate_tracks
once you split the tracks, put them in itunes and burn with a zero second gap in between tracks.

rule of thumb when you're setting a track marker, put it during a break in the sound or right before a kick.

Rek_Aviles
02-09-2012, 01:30 PM
http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Splitting_recordings_into_separate_tracks
once you split the tracks, put them in itunes and burn with a zero second gap in between tracks.

rule of thumb when you're setting a track marker, put it during a break in the sound or right before a kick.

I use to chop sets like this, until I ran into a player that (for whatever reason) skipped to the next track, instead of playing through, leaving a noticeable pause. After that I asked for some info here and Sigma had posted a wiki link to the CUE sheet method. Worked perfectly on that same player.

Sigma
02-09-2012, 04:20 PM
To minimise the chance of getting slight clicks/pops when you cut a mix up, zoom right in and try and cut where the waveform crosses the centre line for both channels.

For instance, in these images the horizontal dark red lines are the centres of each channel and the vertical dotted yellow line is the marker where you'd make the cut (it's hard to see the yellow line in the first image, but open the images in full size in a new window and you can clearly see what I mean).........

Good: -

http://i.imgur.com/a437f.jpg

Bad: -

http://i.imgur.com/dU4uS.jpg

DeadPhr0g
02-09-2012, 06:20 PM
Hey Guys,

I am at the point where I really want to get a Demo CD going. The problem is, I'm not really sure how to structure it. I see some people posting "demos" that are anywhere from 30min to over an hour long. I was looking for any advice on any aspect of putting together a nice Demo. Length, track arrangement, etc.

Thanks,
DjNotApplicable
Demos are dead, in my opinion. You're better off networking.

DJ Highline
02-10-2012, 10:07 AM
Demos are dead, in my opinion. You're better off networking.

Yes...but while you are networking, someone is bond to ask you if you have a mix that they can listen to...that's where the demo comes into play. You can have mixes posted online, and I highly recommend that you do, but I think that people also like to have something tangible in their hands to. Plus if you do it right and get a good label on it, it will also show how professional and creative you can be.

Rek_Aviles
02-10-2012, 10:29 AM
Yes...but while you are networking, someone is bond to ask you if you have a mix that they can listen to...that's where the demo comes into play. You can have mixes posted online, and I highly recommend that you do, but I think that people also like to have something tangible in their hands to. Plus if you do it right and get a good label on it, it will also show how professional and creative you can be.

:school:

Adzm00
02-10-2012, 11:26 AM
I never plan ahead in anything be it a demo or a club set.

I make a conscious decision because I never plan my club sets (I just go off what I feel people want), I never plan a demo. As said before it needs to be a representation of your true ability, not practicing the same mix 50 times and the editing all the recorded files into one perfect one, that really isn't how things tend to flow.

DeadPhr0g
02-11-2012, 05:27 AM
Yes...but while you are networking, someone is bond to ask you if you have a mix that they can listen to...that's where the demo comes into play. You can have mixes posted online, and I highly recommend that you do, but I think that people also like to have something tangible in their hands to. Plus if you do it right and get a good label on it, it will also show how professional and creative you can be.

While I see where you come from, I still think a demo won't help you land a decent gig. With the amount of DJs flooding the market, chances are the good promoters have an abundance of demos that sound the same. A promoter now a days won't take the risk of booking DJs based off of demos -lots cheat-. You need to get to know the promoters and bullshit them on why they need to let you spin. Charm and charisma go hand in hand with DJing. My two cents.

Andrew B
02-11-2012, 05:29 AM
While I see where you come from, I still think a demo won't help you land a decent gig. With the amount of DJs flooding the market, chances are the good promoters have an abundance of demos that sound the same. Like I said, while your logic holds some sense, I still dont think you wouldn't be able to get anything good with a demo. A promoter now a days won't take the risk of booking DJs based off of his demo -lots cheat-. You need to get to know the promoters and bullshit them on why they need to let you spin. Charm and charisma go hand in hand with DJing. My two cents.

Yes, and you need a demo too. A demo is no longer about landing a gig, it's about having one when they ask for one.

And yeah, most gigs now are booked with a handshake. But you still need a demo, just to have.

DeadPhr0g
02-11-2012, 05:30 AM
Yes, and you need a demo too. A demo is no longer about landing a gig, it's about having one when they ask for one.

But a business card with a personal website looks moar better.

Andrew B
02-11-2012, 05:32 AM
But a business card with a personal website looks moar better.

Those are great. But a bro can't put a business card in his car stereo.

DeadPhr0g
02-11-2012, 05:36 AM
Those are great. But a bro can't put a business card in his car stereo.

Bro can def pull your site up on his iPhone/Smart phone and jam out in his car to your production/mixes. -which I guess would be considered "demos"-

So don't make demo, just have a demo.

LeFresh
02-11-2012, 09:14 AM
Just attach the business card with the demo.

When you hand over your cd have a business card and tracklist included in the envelope.

DJ Highline
02-11-2012, 12:11 PM
I never plan ahead in anything be it a demo or a club set.

I make a conscious decision because I never plan my club sets (I just go off what I feel people want), I never plan a demo. As said before it needs to be a representation of your true ability, not practicing the same mix 50 times and the editing all the recorded files into one perfect one, that really isn't how things tend to flow.

The difference between a recorded studio demo and a live set is the crowd. You can go into a club a be prepared to play one set and the crowd makes you play another set. When you are doing a demo (or any studio mix) you don't have the benefit of the crowd responding to what you are playing. This is a blessing and a curse. Its a blessing because you are free to do whatever you feel is right creatively, but you don't have the feedback of the audience to guide you. That's why I say, plan your demo set out. That way you can think about it both from a creative point and then also think of what the demo's potential audience will be.

I'm not saying go practice this mix 50 times (although if you have to to get it sounding right then do what you have to do) and I'm definitely not saying go into protools and edit it. I'm just saying, plan it out so that it flows the way you want it to flow. Maybe its just me, because I can start with a Guetta song and end up in a 50 cent hip hop set.

DJ Hi Def
02-19-2012, 03:12 PM
IMO i think you should think of your demo as a unofficial Dj resume, Its not always about what YOU want to hear but more along the lines of you showing them that you can do what THEY want you to. I think a flawless mixtape is a good idea, having a mixtape with errors shows the owner that you were ok with the amount of mistakes you made and that you believe that it is 100% acceptable and should be considered a an actually representation of your skill.

Make is shine, look nice, presentable and official and you should be fine.

Jason Cerna
02-19-2012, 06:14 PM
a demo to a dj is like a portfolio for a visual artist.

yes, in this industry most deals boil down to who you know. but you will still need something to represent yourself.