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-- Making a demo tips
Making a demo tips
In relation to track selection and mix buildup, how do you do it?
When mixing live is easier cuz u get to see the people's reaction, plus you probably want to tell a story (the whole fairytale thing), so you start out mellow, less banging, and once you see the crowd asking for more, you give it to them, yes. Now, when making a demo I've had my confusions. I usually start out mellow, with an intro track or making my own intro, and then I might have my doubts ho far into the demo should I place my big hitters. I usually do it a bit after 40 mins if I'm doing an 80min demo. Throw a couple quality hitters and then wrap it up nicely.
How do you do it?
Sounds about right. 
For some reason though when I'm recording at home I always trainwreck it!
If i'm playing out and once even recording live, it's fine. No idea why.
Do it your own way. That's the best way.
I do think it's important to have your own style, and express it in the demo.
I have a very wide style: i can (and will) play anything from progressive to trance to techno in a 2 hour set. But since a demo is usually about one hour, i really have to be careful what records i pick.
A demo should not be to hard (don't throw in all your floor-fillers(, but not to soft either, it still has got to grab the attention.
Recording a demo is one of the things that come along when you are (or want to be) a dj, and I think it takes some practice to get it right.
I guess starting softer and then working up to a climax would work.
Go ahead and check some of the demo-mixes around here, see how they are build up.
I usually pick out about 20-30 (usually) recent songs that I have been digging. I'll narrow the list down to 10-15 tracks by observing the path the CD takes. Start out with a nice mellow intro and just use my instincts and what would work well next, pick from your song pool. I always have an idea or a vision of where I want to go and how I plan to get there. And just feel the energy of each track, see where it would fit in your mix and how it would contribute to the mix. There's some people that like to start out trancey even and go into dark and deep progressive. Some start out proggy and build into big stormers. What I've also seen work is the rollercoaster type CD, with 2 or more peaks, coming down to less energy after each peak and continue to finish it off. It all depends on your style for a demo. But definitely try to tell a story, like you said.
Personally, I tend to build up to higher energy levels towards the end (ie. uplifting trance) and starting out with more progressive/breakbeat/house tracks. It seems more natural that way to me. But it's all a matter of personal taste.
It really depends on who might hear the demo that I'm making make sure to make yourself stand out for some reason wether its your super smooth transitions or your nice track selection make sure that your as different as you can be from everyone else. The other thing is that you should make sure that your demo sounds the best it possibly could, master it and make sure its pristine and sounds amazing lots of punch etc.
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| Originally posted by DJAntSmith Sounds about right. For some reason though when I'm recording at home I always trainwreck it! If i'm playing out and once even recording live, it's fine. No idea why. |
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| Originally posted by Boomer187 When you mix live you can get away with more mistakes than when your recording at home. At home you want it to be perfect... I actually started making a demo that starts off bangin, then it mellows out, then gets bangin again.... |
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| Originally posted by dinoXpress kick it off with a bang, make it interesting |
One thing's for sure, everything is more transparent on a recording. You're fully exposed, the slightest mistakes can be heard very easily.
I always try to follow this pattern when cutting a demo:
First track should be VERY mellow, something that doesn't even fit the BPM you're going for in the set is cool.
Now, against what you said, I prefer to bring in the hard hitters all throughout the set, there's nothing more boring than popping in a mix cd only have to listen to boring shit for 40 minutes until you hit the good stuff. Always try to keep people coming back. I find that if you rotate off between hitters and (for lack of a better word) missers, you can keep people with you longer.
Not to brag and I've been told I've gotta sixth sense when it comes to track selection. My mom is a TV producer and works a lot with editors so thats probably where I get it from. I can throw together a nicely flowing promo in my own style in about 10 minutes usually (less if I have new records to work with). Its totally something you can develop, but finding your niche definately helps. I've gotta style that starts off with slow progressive trance and grooves its way into progressive house and breaks, then kicks in and finales with bangin trance. Its seemed to work pretty well, but since I'm often moving from 130bpm to 137+ in less than an hour, I've gotta be careful when pitching up and down.
Try to find which records feed off others, you'll get to know what I'm talking about eventually, its all about the flow
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