Thank you Phil and welcome to the journey! Really glad to hear my videos are helpful. What are your goals on the recording side? Are recording your own songs and wanting to release them? Something else?
You missed two of the most important things about a pre-production demo. Tempo. Is it fast enough or slow enough? Key. Can I actually sing it? Even if you are the writer sometimes you can quite easily write things outside of the best key for you. 80% of my demos usually reveal that my tempo is not quite right and 20% of the songs I write need a keychange. Even though I am the songwriter and the singer!
Absolutely, those are great points! Key and tempo are very important and preproduction is definitely a great time to make those adjustments when they pop up. I've definitely written songs outside of my vocal range before. I've adjusted my workflow to find the right key for me during the songwriting stage. I find that helps keep me in check because I'll quickly start writing melodies that span too large of a range and/or get too high because it would sound epic! 🤣 I've also learned where my range starts to top out and I use that as a guardrail. For tempo, my songwriting writing process usually involves EZdrummer grooves at some point and I am usually tweaking the tempo during that stage as needed. But I've definitely bumped the tempo a few BMP on occasion. Thanks for your comment 👍 Do you usually write your lyrics first or start with the music first?
Great advice! My big thing that’s causing me problems is tempo as they always vary from one part to another in each song. How/when do you determine what tempos work for your song?
That’s a really good question! For me tempo is all about the feel, vibe, and groove. And how I decide depends a bit on how I start writing my song. I’m a music first, then lyrics guy. This is what generally works for me: If I start writing my song on acoustic guitar, then usually whatever naturally feels comfortable when playing and singing it is my tempo. I’ll open my metronome app (MetroTimer) on my phone, play the song on guitar and sing for a bit, settle into the groove, and then tap the tempo on the app. That’ll get me pretty close. Then I’ll use that tempo in my preproduction project and start with an EZdrummer groove. That’ll usually help me dial it in. If I feel it grooving and my head starts bouncing with the music, then I know it’s the right tempo. Sometimes I start writing songs by just starting with a groove from EZdrummer and jamming guitar over it while making up vocal melodies. Whatever tempo that starts out usually ends up being the tempo. I might adjust it a bit as I’m jamming along. Again, once it feels right, then I stop. My songs don’t usually change tempo during the song. I’ll do half time or double time, but that’s essentially the same tempo as far as I’m concerned. But if I were to actually change tempos during the song, I’d probably start with finding the tempo for the most important part and then adjusting the tempo for the other sections until they feel right. That is a little trickier. Also, in Studio One, I can always adjust the tempo. Even after I’ve recored audio. Though if you change it too far, it can start to degrade the sound. So if I want to see what it feels like 5 BPM faster or slower, I can. I’ve never tried, but I’m pretty sure I could adjust individual sections as well - slower verses and faster choruses for example. Another great reason for the preproduction demo song. Some other DAWs may be able to do that as well. Hopefully that helps some. Just curious, how much are you changing tempo within a song? Is it just a few BPM faster for the chorus to add energy or is it more varied than that?
During this demo is when you determine that your tempo is wrong. And if you want to get technical, most daws will allow you to alter the speed without altering the pitch. So you can bounce down and run some tests
@@DadRockAndGuitars dude thank you very much, this really helps. I’ve been writing my own stuff for many many years (acoustic + voice) and I have a good groove. It’s just those tempos aren’t that easy to dial in because when I actually play the song I go faster for the voice melody, yet I would play the riff or section alone slower work more feel, so it’s always a fine tuning between the two I need to find for the perfect tempo. As for the different sections, it varies, but it’s never just one across the whole song.
@@cozxmos Glad that helps! Tempo is one of those things where there isn't a formula for the correct choice. For me, I'm very much a music first songwriter, so I tend to set the tempo more according to that than the vocal. But as you said, it's definitely a balance. Thanks for watching and really appreciate your question 👍
🔥Get better mixes with "7 Recording Mistakes That Ruin Mixes!"
www.dadrockandguitars.com/7-recording-mistakes-that-ruin-mixes
Thank you. Really enjoying your content. I'm just starting my own recording and video journey and finding your stuff very helpful.
Thank you Phil and welcome to the journey! Really glad to hear my videos are helpful. What are your goals on the recording side? Are recording your own songs and wanting to release them? Something else?
Great video, Bro. I dig it. I might suggest bumping the level a bit on the Choir of Greg. The world needs more Greg.
Ha ha! There’ll be plenty of the Choir of Greg in the final mix 🤣 Thanks for watching and appreciate your comment! 👍
You missed two of the most important things about a pre-production demo. Tempo. Is it fast enough or slow enough? Key. Can I actually sing it? Even if you are the writer sometimes you can quite easily write things outside of the best key for you. 80% of my demos usually reveal that my tempo is not quite right and 20% of the songs I write need a keychange. Even though I am the songwriter and the singer!
Absolutely, those are great points! Key and tempo are very important and preproduction is definitely a great time to make those adjustments when they pop up.
I've definitely written songs outside of my vocal range before. I've adjusted my workflow to find the right key for me during the songwriting stage. I find that helps keep me in check because I'll quickly start writing melodies that span too large of a range and/or get too high because it would sound epic! 🤣 I've also learned where my range starts to top out and I use that as a guardrail.
For tempo, my songwriting writing process usually involves EZdrummer grooves at some point and I am usually tweaking the tempo during that stage as needed. But I've definitely bumped the tempo a few BMP on occasion.
Thanks for your comment 👍
Do you usually write your lyrics first or start with the music first?
That’s Incredibly Awesome! Thank You So Much!
... good stuff. Thx for posting
Thank you! Thanks for watching and appreciate the comment 👍
Really helpful advice!
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching 👍
Great advice! My big thing that’s causing me problems is tempo as they always vary from one part to another in each song. How/when do you determine what tempos work for your song?
That’s a really good question! For me tempo is all about the feel, vibe, and groove. And how I decide depends a bit on how I start writing my song. I’m a music first, then lyrics guy.
This is what generally works for me: If I start writing my song on acoustic guitar, then usually whatever naturally feels comfortable when playing and singing it is my tempo. I’ll open my metronome app (MetroTimer) on my phone, play the song on guitar and sing for a bit, settle into the groove, and then tap the tempo on the app. That’ll get me pretty close. Then I’ll use that tempo in my preproduction project and start with an EZdrummer groove. That’ll usually help me dial it in. If I feel it grooving and my head starts bouncing with the music, then I know it’s the right tempo.
Sometimes I start writing songs by just starting with a groove from EZdrummer and jamming guitar over it while making up vocal melodies. Whatever tempo that starts out usually ends up being the tempo. I might adjust it a bit as I’m jamming along. Again, once it feels right, then I stop.
My songs don’t usually change tempo during the song. I’ll do half time or double time, but that’s essentially the same tempo as far as I’m concerned. But if I were to actually change tempos during the song, I’d probably start with finding the tempo for the most important part and then adjusting the tempo for the other sections until they feel right. That is a little trickier.
Also, in Studio One, I can always adjust the tempo. Even after I’ve recored audio. Though if you change it too far, it can start to degrade the sound. So if I want to see what it feels like 5 BPM faster or slower, I can. I’ve never tried, but I’m pretty sure I could adjust individual sections as well - slower verses and faster choruses for example. Another great reason for the preproduction demo song. Some other DAWs may be able to do that as well.
Hopefully that helps some.
Just curious, how much are you changing tempo within a song? Is it just a few BPM faster for the chorus to add energy or is it more varied than that?
During this demo is when you determine that your tempo is wrong. And if you want to get technical, most daws will allow you to alter the speed without altering the pitch. So you can bounce down and run some tests
@@DadRockAndGuitars dude thank you very much, this really helps. I’ve been writing my own stuff for many many years (acoustic + voice) and I have a good groove. It’s just those tempos aren’t that easy to dial in because when I actually play the song I go faster for the voice melody,
yet I would play the riff or section alone slower work more feel, so it’s always a fine tuning between the two I need to find for the perfect tempo.
As for the different sections, it varies, but it’s never just one across the whole song.
@@BrockBarr i never knew Logic could do that! So it stretches my take along with the tempo. Thank you!
@@cozxmos Glad that helps! Tempo is one of those things where there isn't a formula for the correct choice. For me, I'm very much a music first songwriter, so I tend to set the tempo more according to that than the vocal. But as you said, it's definitely a balance. Thanks for watching and really appreciate your question 👍