If your goal is to get any type of publishing deal or to pitch songs to recording artists you need to create a "song demo" usually consisting of your 3 best songs.
Consider recording song demos in any of the following:
1. A Piano/Vocal
2. A Guitar/Vocal (Electric or Acoustic)
3. Any instrument/Vocal
4. Any instrument playing only an instrumental
5. A full arrangement/Vocal or Instrumental
Singer/Vocalist and or Musician(s)
If you're not a great vocalist, then you need to hire one for your recording or you run the risk of not being able to effectively pitch your song demos. If you can't play the piano or the guitar well enough to get your song across cleanly and polished, then you need to hire a musician. Please Bookmark This Site
To find a quality vocalist and/or musicians for recording your own song demos look in your local musician's union, your local periodical classifieds, and clubs around town. Another great approach is to approach and ask recording studio owners and personnel because they usually have access to a network of talented people who are routinely hired by artists and producers.
Choosing A Recording Studio
An overwhelming majority of songwriters have built or are building their own little recording studios at home to make song demos and their songwriting and pitching process has become easier and less expensive. See Build Your Own Studio>>>
If you're not one of these then you need to choose a quality recording studio with decent rates. Expect a 50-100 dollars an hour fee for a budget-minded/quality recording studio.
The best way to find the most cost effective recording studios are by recommendations and/or word of mouth. Most studio owners are always looking for prospective customers and many are willing to offer discounts on block rates. At times the rates are negotiable so do your homework here before you dive in to record your song demos.
Song demos, complete with a great vocalist and other musicians, professionally done in a budget/quality recording studio, can end up costing about $1000-$1500 dollars for each song.
Also, if you're not a producer you may have to hire one for your recording. Some producers are good at cutting costs by planning and developing a budget, saving you money and time, and helping you record great song demos, but these can sometimes be hard to find. Again, ask recording studio owners and personnel.
If you've never produced a song but plan to sometime in the future, you've got to start somewhere. Why not start during your next studio project?
How To Make The Most Of Your Recording Sessions
1. Think "preparation" and have a written outline/plan of what you expect during each recording session. This can save you a lot of money because although something unexpected always comes up, at least you'll be able to make cost-effective decisions based on your timeframe for your song demos.
2. Have a lyric and/or lead sheet ready for the vocalist and/or musician(s).
3. If you're contributing anything musically besides the song itself, rehearse, rehearse, rehearse before you get to the studio to record your song demos.
4. Be open to suggestions from engineers,vocalists, other musicians, etc. You want to keep an open mind in order to make the best song demos possible, but at the same time, stay true or close enough to how you envisioned the recording project. If you are the producer you have to know how to deal and work with people, but you also have to know when to take the bull by the horns!
5.Don't show up on time! Always try to show up at least 15 minutes before your scheduled time. Aside from showing professionalism and reliability, this helps prevent the fifteen to thirty minutes eaten up by conversation between producers, engineers, singers, and other musicians before actually recording. Time is money.
As you can see, recording in a studio can help you record great song demos but it can be really expensive.
Food for thought : Two medium priced (75.00/hr) recording sessions can pay for your brand new home studio, which, these days, can actually rival an actual recording studio once you learn engineering and production.
