When is a demo not a demo?

I used to avoid making demos of my music.

I feel like once you’ve recorded a song, even a demo, everything going forward is just a different iteration of how THAT sounds. You effectively can’t remember your original vision for the song - it’s been replaced by the demo.

But while that could be true, not demoing your music also takes away your opportunity to write every part of the song - all the instruments and any sounds used to occupy space in the mix.

Leaving that up to an engineer/producer can cost you money by burning away studio time on writing, time you could have spent recording. Or you might even end up with something you didn’t want because a lot of the writing happened in the studio.

Making the record myself has given me the opportunity to tinker with every part [oh matron] and even get some engineering experience, as my demos will eventually turn into the finished songs as we track all the parts I’ve written with better gear and better sounds.

It begs the question - am I making demos or am I just recording the tune, bit by bit, until it's right?

So get stuck into making demos even if it’s just to find out the tune doesn’t go anywhere - at least the idea won’t die with you!