Hi there

My name is Andy and I am a demosong maker.
I have watched with a certain masochistic horror at some of the comments concerning demosongs in recent posts and felt that it would be a good idea just to clarify a few things. I do this as an individual rather than on behalf of one of my clients - the locked post below is your point of reference, and in no way is representative of them, or their point of view.

Most demosongs are composed, programmed and performed by just me. On a lot of occasions they are edited by one of my best friends (he's better at it than I am). Most are played by me in realtime - Super Articulation Saxophone and Nylon guitar for example, occasionally something will be programmed only. I am given a "picture" or reference for what is considered the right direction and then I conjure up the piece. There is some back and forth discussion, sometimes there are complete rewrites. It is my job to deliver what my customer wants.

Sadly it is not a recording studio full of musicians - I would be very happy if it were - it is me and my imagination, a brief or specification, and the desire to try and make the instrument sound as realistic and inspirational for the buying customer as possible. This is quite a challenge but I think that I am getting a bit better at it now.

There are many retail outlets that are unable to provide staff with enough in-depth knowledge or skill to present a product as perhaps it might be shown to best effect, so it is the function of the Demo button to replace or enhance the face-to-face relationship. Lets face it, how many shops could afford Peter Baartmans or Michel Voncken on their books for 5 days a week?
Or even, how many Peters and Michels are there out there in the world?
(The answer is - less than 2)

I strive to deliver a piece of music that combines musical, arranging and programming integrity whilst achieving the desired effect specified by the client, just as I do when composing for TV, corporate functions or producing records. If you dislike the melody - fair enough - I am not a huge fan of Mahler myself. The aim is to make it sound as good as it can be. Do we not all strive for this everytime we turn on or tune up?

It is an immense privelege to be offered the opportunity to work with such great people as I do. The small team that I work with frequently go way beyond normal physical limits in order to get this stuff to you. If you saw it from my position at, say, 3 in the morning for the 4th straight week you would be as in awe of them as I am.

I hope this sheds a little light - I thought I would like to let some steam out of what appeared to be trench warfare - I can hopefully consider removing my flame resistant apparatus now and go back to work.

On an additional personal note, I had the further privelege of visiting Domenico at his Lionstracs factory in Italy a few years ago, and I can tell you, he is a real hero. With the resources he has to hand compared to the market leaders he is doing an incredible job.

Ciao Domenico

and peace to all you keyboard lovers out there

Hi Domenico,

Please tell us what demosongs (what brand(s)) are yours, just to listen at your tracks and have a clear view at your work.

Roel - if you press your T2 Demo button you will hear me several times

So Domenico are you currently working on Tyros 3 Demos...or others also....Like Roland?

I have not had the pleasure of working on a Roland Demo. It is not possible for me to discuss what I am doing presently - I just wanted to clear a few misconceptions about how Demos have been made in the past as there were some surprising things being stated that I felt needed more information.

I personally would rather hear demo songs on Kb's that reflect what a average player would be able to do on the KB in question versus some trumped up sounds & songs that were done in a studio that can never be replicated at home....its just more marketing HYPE to me. But thank you anyway for enlightening us on this topic.

Hi Dnj - thank you for your comments - I understand where you are coming from.

Thanks Domenico.... those sound great!

Domenic your very welcome.....btw can you share briefly the process for making these demos & gear used?

Hi Dnj

Basically as I mentioned above a discussion takes place concerning musical direction. Once agreed I turn to my trusty PC and Cubase (either SX3 or Cubase 4) and start to compose, looking at what keys are good for what instruments. If a theme is involved then it requires coming up with a piece that can be used in several ways for different instruments - a kind of Variations on a Theme approach.

For instance the T2 Nylon guitar Demo is all about what makes the guitar sing in the way it does - E min is usually a good key. I played it remembering the limitations of the source instrument and attemted to think in a guitar-like manner. As I play (the guitar)a little bit it is slightly easier to visualise what is valid - chords and inversions - and to try to emulate the behaviour of the real thing as accurately as possible. This approach is carried forward to everything else, whether it be Accordion, PanPipe or whatever. Understanding how the source instrument is played allows me to try and recreate that. Of course it's not perfect and the limitations of Midi mean finding odd solutions sometimes.

For programming Drums or Bass I had the privelege of working with some top class UK musicians in the 80s and 90s and so I try to think like them (or rather my memory of how I thought they played) mixed in with the many influences in my life - Drummers like Gadd, Weckl, Coliauta, Omar Hakim, Bass players like Nathan East, Jaco Pastorius and Marcus Miller, Piano players from Art Tatum through Duke Ellington, Oscar, Thelonius, Horace Silver, Elton, Bruce Hornsby, Keith Jarrett, Lyle Mays etc. Each has a definitive way of playing and articulating and as I am a kind of Musical "sponge" it all gets soaked up and spat out.

I spent a few years working on the first GM midifiles for Roland SC55 and Yamaha TG100 when the standard was invented and implemented, and as a consequence learnt to deconstruct records to their base elements in order to work out how they were put together, understanding the interactions between all the elements. This was an invaluable exercise, however it forever changed how I listen to music and as a result I find it very hard not to disassemble records when I listen to them. I find minor tuning discrepancies particularly painful.

Hope I am not waffling on too much. Thanks for letting me share.