why i demo 🎧

the magic behind recording and producing your own music

Dearest Making Audio Magic Fam,

As I prepare to teach let’s make a demo starting next week (Monday 11/10 at 7P eastern!), I’ve been reflecting on why I believe so deeply in making demos. So, let’s begin with the basics:

What is a Demo?

According to Google, “A music demo is a preliminary recording of a song, created for internal use, to pitch to record labels, or to serve as a blueprint for a final, polished version”

Why would I spend my time teaching an entire class on making a dang blueprint?

Well, without the blueprint, you can’t build the house. And, as the saying goes, you have to start somewhere.

Learning to record and produce my music has been the gateway to learning music theory, composition, songwriting, and has even made me a better performer.

It all began for me back in 2018 when I went to record music with my then band in Western MA. I had never recorded before and my bandmate had been telling us for months that we needed to make demos before going into the studio. In my head I was like, “yeah yeah sure, I think we’ll be fine.” Low and behold, when we arrived to the studio, we couldn’t finish any of the songs we hadn’t made demos for. It was a hard pill to swallow. Yet was also the moment I decided to get my MFA in music production and audio engineering.

Before I got into my grad program, I had been taking lessons in Ableton Live (my recording software of choice) and was trying my best to make demos, but every time I sat down to record I was confronted by an onslaught of technical issues.

If you read my other publication or know me personally, you probably know that I’m a luddite at heart, so recording doesn’t come naturally to me. It took me countless late nights of recording for my grad school classes to feel like when I sit down to record a demo it’s like holding creativity’s hand.

So, why do I demo?

Because the process itself of recording a demo is a threshold that brings me closer to the dream of being a musician each time.

I wanted to close out by sharing a demo of mine that’s been dusty for a few years.

I wrote it in 2022, and soon after found out I had a vocal health issue that I would later need a procedure for, so I didn’t finish it at the time (yes, as we know life can get in the way), but I love that I have a fully fleshed out time capsule of a creative idea because I’m able to record my own demos.

That’s the magic of demo building — you capture the full creative essence in the moment, despite being in the messy middle of life and then return to finishing and releasing the song when it’s time to do so.

It’s called The Sky:

To Your Creativity,

Melissa, Founder of Making Audio Magic

www.makingaudiomagic.com