JPF Home Page Forums General Messages Mentor Questions Forum Any Good Song Demos From The Gator Hole Or Paramount Nashville?

Hi everyone,
Has anyone here have any experience with The Gator Hole or Paramount Nashville? I might have a few of my lyrics put to music and recorded with one of these services. I would like to eventually pitch the songs to different artists to record and perform. I'm looking for a service that can put great music to my lyrics, let me choose a vocalist, let me keep my rights to my songs, produce the songs to be radio friendly and have competitive prices. If any of you have had your songs done with them I would greatly appreciate it if I could listen to some before I make a decision. Thanks for your time and efforts.

I have heard from just two people claiming they were satisfied with the demo they paid for from Paramount (and I heard one of them, and didn't think it was very good). Don't know anything about the Gator Hole, really, except that they don't have the reputation of being scam artists that Paramount does.

If you need something put to music, you might check around here. Some awfully good talent. And lots cheaper.

Joe

Darin, you would only benefit "them", for that is a different business than the music business as you think of with artist and such.

(Money to them is all it does), supporting their non music business business. Having demo houses put music and melody to lyrics will get you a generic demo, but nothing to pitch. Not knowing the business of music, including how artist get their songs, etc., has many supporting their livelihood. Think of it as doing it for them, if you are going to go that route. You might get on their Christmas Card List, if that's what you want.

I would read a lot on these boards to learn the much needed info there is to learn, to then know what it is you want to achieve, then to know how to start.

I would also ask for collaborations from like minded folks here and around your area. Get with a musician, a composer of music and melody, and work on the craft of songwriting for the genres you are interested in. The other way is Generic, and only for their business of making money apart from the music business. That's not collaborating, or improving your craft as a songwriter. And certainly not something that you can even pitch to people who could pitch to artist! That's a whole other topic!

Seek composers. Seek friendships. Seek to learn the music business. Seek to learn all that is not the music business. The easy way out (as you ask about), is not a way to learn anything other than a hard lesson.

Keep at it till you get it half right! Even that is a lifelong struggle.

Johnny

You're doing the right thing checking these folks out. I suggest searching for previous posts on both of those sites using google and forcing google to search on this site only and you'll quickly dig up many discussions over the years which should help you out a great deal. (Our site search here is limited to only the last year, but google will quickly search every single post back to day one). You should also check other sites around the web and I am confident you'll find tons of first person critiques. If you see a pattern emerging, you'll have your answer.

Welcome to the site Darin,

Brian

Darin,

The Gator hole, run by Galen Breem, who I have worked with quite a bit, is very up front and very reputable. Paramount, on the other hand tends to overpromise and for the most part do substandard work up against the standards of Nashville. Having critiqued a number of their demos I can speak personally to that.

There are hundreds of studios, Mike Dunbar and Mike Cairo here, My own involvement with Jay's Place studio www.jaysplacerecording.com, many others from Kim Copeland, The Parlor Studios, Larry and Kenny Beard, County Q, etc. There are many studios with many different budgets and services.

Again, as myself and others have mentioned on your other posts, it would seem first before you go spending money on your demos, to do some research into the market you are trying to go into, get professional critiques, check out the web sites and prices
of all and GET REFERENCES BEFORE you commit money to anything.

You sound like a very genuine guy, but seem to be a bit inexperienced on how to proceed. So a lot more research should be done first. Try not to put the cart before the horse, which is pretty much the first and most costly mistake most newcomer writers make.

MAB

Janet and I had a demo made thru galen at gator hole, and it came out awsome! I have him working on another one of mine and will be sending him more. top notch! be sure to be specific as to what you want and have a decent working tape to send. he also has some great vocalist on hand , if you need a singer.
don't know about the other place.

A good thing to do is go to people's listening rooms and web sites and hear what they do. Then decide what might work for you. Mine is always www.marcalanbarnette.com. I work with Jay Verne. This is a video of us actually recording one of my songs, Less is More, which features world famous Motown bassist Bob Babbitt.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weX_34MTLgQ

MAB

I've had five or more songs demoed by Galen at the Gator Hole, and Galen does a great job! Very cool guy and knows his stuff, you should definitely check him out:)-Dana

Heya Darin,

A belated welcome to JPF!!

Gator Hole & Paramount are two TOTALLY different things. It would be like comparing apples(Gator Hole) to cow turds(Paramount).

But if you need music set to your lyrics, then you're not ready to let your wallet near either one.

But for what it's worth, Paramount(I can't even type the name without wanting to gag) will take as much of your cash as you let them, and put your lyrics to very mediocre melodies...Gator Hole, will take your lyrics AND melodies, and record a demo of very good quality...But as others have mentioned, there are JPF Members who do the same thing, and do it extremely well.

AND, if you're looking for melodies, do some searching around here for fellow songwriters and start collaborating for, ummm,,,,FREE!!!....And THEN, start looking for demo services. But whatever you do, for the love of all things holy, avoid Paramount.

Best

Midnite

I just sat in on a friend's session at Bayou Recording on the row. The owner/engineer, George was very welcoming, showed me around, talked about the rates and told stories for the better part of a morning. They record to real (reel?) 2"/24 track through a Trident 80 and can transfer to digital for you to take home.

My buddy walked away with a real nice sounding demo in about 6 hours of work. Nice considering that he wrote it 12 hours before showing up to the studio.

This would be a good spot for me to pitch my demo services, but i won't. Instead let me recommend 2 who are extremely reputable, honest and really good. One is Mike Dunbar and the other is Larry Beaird at Beaird Music Group.

Both these guys are top drawer. Mike rarely pitches himself but he's one of the best. Larry has been in the business many years and plays on more masters than most folks have heard. His service is second to none.

I've had one done with Galen Breen http://www.thegatorhole.com/ and was very happy with the performances. He's a breeze to communicate with too, so I'd say go for it!

Others besides those already mentioned, I'd suggest you'd check out, would be:

Jason Roller at MagicSchack who makes killer work with a-team players http://www.magicshackdemos.com/

Gary Earl at http://www.garyearl.com/ ,

Scott Gerow at http://www.reddragonpro.com/ and

Gary Cotton at http://www.myspace.com/adoberoadstudio and

Marc Blackwell at http://www.marcblackwellmusic.com/site/demoservice/ .

All capable of doing killer stuff for you, if you've got the song

I worked with Galen on the demo that Sharla mentioned, and he listened to what I wanted, and he delivered. Right now he is moving back to PA, so he won't be able to do any demos till the middle of july.

He tells me that he will be using the same singers (except one female who got a record deal) and the same musicians as before.
I recommend him highly.

Janet Snow

Jason Garner, who is based in Nashville, produced the demo of my song "You Don't Know What You're Missing", track 4 at:

www.myspace.com/splitpeasongs

Jason's websites are:

http://jgarnerprod.net/

and

http://www.myspace.com/jasongarnerproductions

Mitch

Janet -- did you just say that Galen of The Gator Hole is moving to PA? Is he coming to Philadelphia?

I sent the lyrics for "From This Day On" to Galen and gave the style that I wanted. He does charge $60 for a melody write and since I'm new with him I got a deluxe demo for $350. That's a total of $410. I checked his website again and he is now in Philadelphia, just about 2 hours from where I live. He's going to use Jason Eustice's vocals for my demo. I'm still waiting for a melody vocal for approval and after that he will start on the music for me. I just ordered the demo right before he moved so it seems like it's been forever. How long does it normally take for Galen to complete demos?

Hi Darin:

I do know that when I use my guy he can take 1 or 2 weeks for the melody and I am ok with it taking a while. Better for him to think about it rather than rush it out.

The demo can take 4 weeks and if the singer is busy a bit longer.

Your guy is or has just moved so will maybe need a bit more time.

I would suggest to let him have space to do the best job.

I had a listen to Jason Eustice's voice.

Great sound... you song should kick when it's done

God Bless Roy and Helen

Thanks for the advice. So, do producers like Galen usually wait till one singer has 2 or 3 songs he wants to do and then book a day for them to record the vocals? Like you said if the singers are busy it could take even longer. I will have to learn to be patient. I'm sure it will be worth the wait in the end.

I can't speak for Galen as I have never been with him. I don't really know the answer Darin.

I do know that most studios have the writers concerns in mind and generally do their best to avoid delays.

Why not do what I do.. work on your next song and you can always email Galen and ask him if he has a schedule for your song.

But point out that you are not hurrying him.. just interested.

That's what I do.

God Bless Roy and Helen

A lot of Demo Services usually will give a time of 6 weeks to complete a demo. It may depend how busy they are. Most who have a lot of singers will try to select the right singer for your demo.

Most of the reputable demo studio websites I've been to ususally talk about a two week turnaround. It is this pretty accurate?

Do you know which who it was? It must have been about 5 weeks since I ordered the demo. I'm in no hurry though because I don't want to rush the production.

A two- three week turnaround is very normal.

MAB

Take into account it is holiday season. People seem to dissapear at this time lol..

Roy

Hey Darin,
I just got my song back from Galen, he is up and running, you will probably be getting yours soon.
he' s a good guy. I recomend him highly.

Galen told me I should have the song soon, he's running behind his schedule a little bit.

Yes, and no. (Paramount) They did a good job on the sound, but don't agree on anything but a work for hire. If you have a melody and tempo, you will probably be ok. If not, don't. If you don't like it you have to pay to redo it. I have one, sounds ok, timing is good, 3:36 or something, I have another (2 verse, 3 chorus, 4 lines each) that comes in at 5:47 I explain it best as you want to hang yourself before it finally gets to the first chorus. So, if you know what you want, use someone else...really, Mike Dunbar, Mike Caro, Kim Copeland ( I've only done one with Kim but it kicks!) Haven't worked with Mike D yet but I listen and know he does good work, Mike Caro, he's great to work with, does a great job and has a great voice.

The Gator Hole
Yes,
Galen Breen is a good guy,
He does quality demo's at fair prices.
I'm happy with what he's done for me and to recommend him to other writers.

He demoed the following songs for me.

Send Me Out
http://www.songramp.com/mod/mps/viewtrack.php?trackid=12567

God's Divine Plan
http://www.songramp.com/mod/mps/viewtrack.php?trackid=12416

Light at the End of The Tunnel (music track)
http://www.songramp.com/mod/mps/viewtrack.php?trackid=12701

Stroke of Love
http://www.songramp.com/mod/mps/viewtrack.php?trackid=26783

Faint of Heart
http://www.songramp.com/mod/mps/srplayer.php?type=hipub&trackid=12703

I happily recommend Galen for demos.



Paramount
NO
There's plenty of threads on JPF about Paramount.
Their business model is to hold contests for beginning songwriters. Beginners enter, then Paramount tells them,
you won, you're good, you have talent, and
for X$$, we'll set your words to music and publish your songs

They make money by misleading folks, but hopefully not JPFolks

their website has the following irresistable text:

Galen always had reasonable turn around when I worked with him.

his website http://www.thegatorhole.com/ says he moved to Lebanon, PA

one concern that comes to my mind is:

Now that he lives in PA, Does he still have access to great affordable singers?
Nashville has plenty, what does he do now that he's moved?

The fair thing to do is ask him, read his response and hear his new work.
I'd think he could probably work with singers via skype or ESession.
http://esession.com

Hi dtrain1234,
I checked out Paramount's sample demos. Not good.
Vic

Ande

All I can comment on is that Philly is a busy music town -- lots of local talent (and there's a musical theatre community here as well).

And I'm sure Galen, with his reputation, is plugged into the NYC community.

I'm guessing that if he wants to keep his reputation, he's got the singers to cover it.

Just my guess, though.