Wanted: Opinions on best format for demos to send to small venues

tspring · 03-13-2017, 10:27 AM

In addition to running his studio, my son plays in several bands, each of which has its own niche. One of the "bands" is actually a duo that performs cover songs. This duo plays smaller venues that often cannot accomodate a full band for one reason or another. As there are a lot of these smaller venues, there are lots of opportunities (even when cherry-picking the best paying ones). So what is the best format for demos to provide to small venues? Shea (my son) and Mike recorded the following excerpts from some of the songs that the play:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8ntms4pqgd...0Demo.wav?dl=0

There are no over-dubs, and no studio polish. The idea is to be able to say 'this is what you will get', and to hope that quality of the raw performance will be compelling enough to convince the venue to hire them.

So here are some questions:

(1) Would it be better to provide links to full songs instead of the excerpts?
(2) Is it better to follow the 'this is what you will get' concept, or would more polished studio processing lead to greater likelihood of being hired?

Give the demo a listen and tell me what you think.

T

karbomusic · 03-13-2017, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tspring

(1) Would it be better to provide links to full songs instead of the excerpts?

I've found (for a few decades now), that small 30 second sections faded in/out for a number of tunes works best. It's difficult enough to get a fan to sit through an entire song/record, much less someone booking bands who has very, very little time to do so. You can always offer lengthier examples if they request them but I've found that is rarely asked for. The last time I did this I just had MP3 links on my own website so I could literally just email links they could click on directly in the email and just hear then and there, vs. dicking with anything portal wise YMMV.

tspring · 03-13-2017, 12:46 PM

Thanks Karbo,

I certainly see the logic in what you say. What do you think about providing the excerpts without a full studio treatment? On the one hand, I can imagine that if the excerpts have the full studio treatment with overdubs and substantial processing, listeners might be thinking "well this is all well and good, but what do they sound like in person?". On the other hand, with the full studio treatment there might be more of a "wow factor" so that the listener never gets around to questioning whether the live performance might sound different. I'm not sure how the psychology would work given that impressions gained in the first few seconds of listening could play such an important role in thought processes.

T

karbomusic · 03-13-2017, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tspring

Thanks Karbo,

I certainly see the logic in what you say. What do you think about providing the excerpts without a full studio treatment? On the one hand, I can imagine that if the excerpts have the full studio treatment with overdubs and substantial processing, listeners might be thinking "well this is all well and good, but what do they sound like in person?". On the other hand, with the full studio treatment there might be more of a "wow factor" so that the listener never gets around to questioning whether the live performance might sound different. I'm not sure how the psychology would work given that impressions gained in the first few seconds of listening could play such an important role in thought processes.

T

I wouldn't worry about it too much. If the band is good, you are already 95% of the way there. The last gig I did this for which was my acoustic duo a couple years back, I just recorded live shows for a couple weeks then made a few snippets of songs from those recordings to send.

I didn't do that for any reason really other than it was the easiest to do vs. a more formal recording. I do think as long as you decently represent the band's abilities you shouldn't have any problems at all in my opinion.

Bass6 · 03-14-2017, 03:50 AM

I'm the other side of the pond to you, but have been playing in a covers band for *ahem* near on 30 years and have encountered the same issues time and again. For what it's worth, and repeating some of Karbo's comments:

Short clips are fine - no venue owner/manager will have the time or inclination to listen to full tracks. If they even listen to the first one you've had a result.

Forget the 'studio polish'. The quality of these 'demos' is absolutely fine - they're clear, well-played/sung and well-recorded. Adding bells & whistles won't increase the chance of an initial booking. Turning up without loads of extra bits will probably reduce the chance of a repeat. Performance quality and audience reaction are the prime movers, and the latter is greatly helped by having a good rapport with the crowd - some (not too much!) chat and banter in between songs will get more engagement than a simple 'thank you' between each song.

Choice of songs is obviously critical, but it sounds like your guys have that well covered - good range of styles and artists (Floyd..Yay!).
My one niggle is that I'd love to hear some vocal harmonies. The guitars are really well counterpointed and arranged, but material like The Beatles sounds a bit bereft without that second voice. If the other guitarist can sing, I'd say spend some time rehearsing some BV's - it would add a whole other dimension to the overall (already good) sound.

Hope that helps a bit. The very best of luck to Shea and Mike - kudos for keeping it live.

tspring · 03-14-2017, 06:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bass6

My one niggle is that I'd love to hear some vocal harmonies.

Thanks Bass6. Mike does sing harmonies with Shea, and he does a credible job at it. I have not yet asked why they didn't record them. But you are right in saying that the recordings would benefit from the missing harmony.

Having folks like you and Karbo provide experience based perspectives keeps me coming back to the Reaper Forum. There are not many places where I can get opinions that I have confidence in.

T

BCF1 · 03-16-2017, 01:24 AM

In my experience of three decades and counting playing live in clubs, halls and even coffee shops in the western third of the country playing original material as a band and having done the cover thing as well, what karbo and Bass6 have conveyed is DEAD ON.

Be it a booking agent for larger venues or the owner/operator of a small bar, restaurant or coffee shop. These folks are busy like everyone else and will not want to spend the time to read a leangthy bio that includes the 5th grade talent show. Nor will they want to listen to your amazing cover of "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" in it's entirety.

They'll make their decission quickly. Make it easy for them.

A short clever, catchy, informative blurb with all the essential information in an email with a hyperlink to a short medley of choice bits of the material and possibly a small picture, will get it done.

If you have a web page for the band, that's great. If your going to use that as the link you provide in an email or on a business card make sure the link opens a page that is just like stated in the paragraph above with the added touch of having the audio sample start to play when the page opens. Don't make folks hunt for the information, have it all there,
quick and easy.

You'll be golden !!

tspring · 03-17-2017, 08:16 AM

Thanks PCF1,

Great advice that I will pass along. I like your idea for a website (or page) just for venue operators. That makes a lot of sense, as they will want different things than a casual listener who you want to convince to be a follower. Right now Shea and Mike communicate with the public mostly via social media. I don't think that is the optimal platform for presenting themselves to the venue operators.

T