How to record a band demo at home

A demo isn't a finished record. It is a clear recording of the song that lets the band hear what it has, and lets other people hear it too. You can make a good one at home with very little gear.

The gear you actually need

• A computer and recording software. Anything that records several tracks and lets you mix them.
• An audio interface with one or two inputs. It turns a mic or a guitar cable into clean digital audio. A USB microphone works for vocals and acoustic guitar if you have nothing else.
• Closed-back headphones, so the click and the backing tracks don't bleed into the mic.
• One decent dynamic microphone. It handles vocals, guitar amps and snare drum, and it is forgiving in untreated rooms.

Electric guitar and bass can go straight into the interface and through an amp simulator, which is quieter and often sounds better at home than a miked amp.

Record in this order

1. A guide track. Guitar and a rough vocal, to a click, so everyone knows where they are in the song.
2. Drums (or a programmed drum part). Everything else locks to them.
3. Bass, tight with the kick drum.
4. Rhythm guitars and keys. Record a second rhythm guitar take and pan the two apart for width.
5. Lead parts and fills.
6. Lead vocal, then backing vocals.

Setting levels

Play or sing the loudest part of the song and set the input so the meter peaks well below the top — around a third to halfway down from red is safe. A quiet recording is easy to turn up later; a clipped recording is ruined.

Fixing mistakes

Don't redo a whole take for one wrong note. Punch in: record over just the bar that went wrong. Or record three takes and keep the best parts of each. Nobody needs to nail a song start to finish for a demo.

When the band lives in different places

Each member can record their own part at home to the same click and guide track. Agree on the tempo and the start point first, then collect everyone's takes into one song so they line up.

A quick rough mix

1. Set all faders so nothing is louder than the vocal in the chorus.
2. Cut the low end from everything that isn't bass or kick — it clears the mud.
3. Pan the two rhythm guitars left and right; keep vocals, bass, kick and snare in the middle.
4. Add a little reverb to the vocal so it sits in the same space as the band.
5. Bring the whole mix up to a normal listening level and export it.

Listen on headphones, a phone speaker and in a car. If the vocal is clear on all three, the demo is done.

Free tools

• Chord transposer & capo
• Key finder from chords
• Tap tempo BPM
• Song structure builder

Guides

• Write a song with your band
• Song structure templates
• Common chord progressions