DEMO-CRACY!

MAKING DEMOS

When I started writing songs and making demos in the late 80s,

I used a Fostex 4 Track cassette recorder. I used this for over a decade, then

I started recording to Hard Drive. As you know digital recording can make life a

hell of a lot easier but then again you can get lazy. What I mean by this is you can loop,

cut and paste sections and do all that trickery that is at your fingertips. I got a mad notion

last March when I saw the two Microphone inputs on a Technics RS-BX404 cassette

deck I bought second hand and I thought "What if I made a demo on this in a 2 track style?"

Well, I did and not only was it fun again to play a guitar and sing a rough song from

start to finish it sounded really, really nice. There is something about going direct

to tape. After the first few songs which were done with just an acoustic and vocals

I got more adventurous and ran a drum machine and a Telecaster through

an amp with some effects pedals and put that in to one channel.

Then I ran the vocal mic into a Roland Jazz Chorus amp and used that to

effect the vocals. The results were surprising to say the least. It sounds

warm and deep and much more musical than recording to PC.
I might just get the old Fostex 4 Track out soon for a laugh!

These demos were recorded over 3 weeks.

The L and R inputs on the deck

The set-up for maximum direct to cassette fun!