A sample song

The Demo CD 1

I've handed out quite a few of these CDs, and most of them have the address for this website on them, so I should probably tell the story behind the CD.

The recording and intended use

I recorded the songs in my living room during two days around May 22 1999.

The intended use for the recording was to give away tapes (cassettes) to some friends who'd asked me for a recording of my voice - since there were no tapes available. I also wanted to give tapes to some old aunts who I knew would be blessed by hearing me sing. All of those people were old and wouldn't be bothered by some technical imperfections or mistakes.

The recording equipment

The equipment I used was an old Shure dynamic mike on a stand (far away so I didn't get too much bass on it) and a synthesizer with sequenced music. That went into a Fostex Hexamix (very cheap basic mixer with no EQ. The results would have been better with EQ, believe me!) and an ART reverb (also very cheap and small). The whole thing was recorded on a Sony MZ-R50 Minidisc recorder. No overdubs, which is why there are plenty of mistakes on the CD. I'm fully aware that the levels are all wrong, but I'll have to wait until next time I record before I can make a better product. I suspect I'll do it in a studio next time, though, and it'll cost me enough so I don't know when it'll happen.

Why CD

Finally it dawned on me that CDs would be a better way of distributing the music, and then I could give it to more people. I started making a list of people who might enjoy a Christmas gift, and started burning CDs. I found some cheap CDs, so I knew I could burn more CDs than I needed.

Next time

Next time I'd like to record with multitrack. If you read this and you wouldn't mind helping me a bit (if you're close to Oslo and have some multitrack equipment), send me an e-mail! I'm adept enough so I can get fairly good results (for a demo) with simple equipment. Maybe we could learn together? I'm talking about something newer than 4 track cassette though, those machines are outdated!

Distribution

By now I've given away so many CDs I've lost track of where they've ended. Especially the day my mom grabbed a stack of them and handed them out at a party!

The songs

The CD contains three songs in English and four in Swedish. None of these songs are mine, I didn't have any backing for my own songs at the time. Hope to change that soon and hopefully include more songs in future "editions".

Right now the CD is in its third revision. It's called Demo CD 1c, and contains the same songs as before + two demo songs. I recorded two songs around 10 years ago in a studio. Some of the first songs I wrote. And instead of letting them stay in the drawer on cassette tape, I included them on the CD.

More background info about my equipment and music