This blog is more than just about making demos, but right now that is the most important thing to me because I am finally prepared to spend money for good demos and I am worried. I am already a preformer who can sing and play but I do not like the tedium of laying down tracks and after about 5 takes I just want to scream.

The nightmare outcome for me would be to pay someone $600 for a demo and it not being even as good as my own.

There is a talented fellow in my songwriters association who had a local production house do his "Album". After spending a couple of kilobucks that he couldn't afford, the "product" was a mess. The only thing good about it was his voice and his own guitar playing. It sounded like someone played base and piano on a $100 Casio keyboard. The electronic drums were just plain annoying. He would have been better off just recording his jam session at open mic, because all the personality was sucked out of his songs in the recording studio.

On the other hand, another friend used the services of a plumber (by trade). This fellow has a home studio and is a master at crafting my friend's talents into a "product" that is commercial. My friend recoreded his project over a period of months and paid as he went, averaging about $150 per song. Every single song could be played on the radio right now and no one would suspect it was done in a plumber's garage. The plumber had a "George Martin" sense of what to enhance and what to leave out.

The problem for someone like me is that I don't have a plumber willing to do that for me. The plumber just does it for friends. I guess I answered part of my own question here- network and make lots of friends 'cause that offers you the best possiblity for a good outcome.

"Imagination is more important than knowledge." - Albert Einstein