I think the thing to concentrate on is the technique and the utilization of the keyboard. Music tastes and abilities vary wildly, but one thing I hope pretty much everyone here has is a desire to improve…. After all, why else come here?!

I always liked Don Mason’s demos, because there was usually something neat with a guitar sound he pulled off, and that was something I could look at and try to copy or adopt. I try and take that into most things I listen to. Even if it’s something I would never do, you look deep enough, there’s probably at least ONE thing worth adding to your bag of tricks.

I do sometimes wonder if we listen hard enough to our demos before we post, though. One of the bees in my bonnet is how a large percentage of amateur demos (and even many pro ones too!) swamp the backing with the solo sound, and this is one of the easiest things to fix. The critic who’s advice you are the likeliest to listen to is always yourself! Have a careful listen BEFORE you post, and see if some common problems can quickly be fixed. Try the two take system. Listen to the first take, adjust your mixes, do another… it’s 99% of the time the better take!