• 07 Nov, 2025 *

Everyday Music Every Day #4

Demo of the week! burns pt.2

A bit of a diary and record for me — and maybe some help for anyone else trying to figure all this garbage out.

This one’s built around the SP-404 mk II. A week before I started it, I had the idea to make really simple recordings and stay away from Ableton. I wanted it to sound like a demo — a demo-sounding demo.

I read something from Jon Landau saying that recording changed the moment we could see music on a computer, and not for the better. His point was that seeing the song while you’re making it isn’t good for the songwriter. This entire track is basically my way of agreeing with that. It’s an argument for not seeing.

I’d also been listening to a few records with a lot of panning, so I put the bass mostly left, guitar mostly right, and brought synths in only for color and melody. Think early Cure — simple, dumbed-down lines. Used a brass sound from the OP-1 Field because it just sounded right.

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Vocals

I ran vocals through a 610 into an RE-301 that’s currently half-broken, which makes it sound crazy in the best way. So that worked. Maybe not the performance — oh well. It doesn’t sound good, but it sounds good in the right way. I’m pretty out of tune, but whatever.

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Bass + Guitar

Mainly, I wanted to play bass. Real bass. I just got a new-to-me one and love it. Recorded that and one SG Junior guitar — nothing precious. No overdubs, no wanking, and no chords — just single lines, kind of Billy Duffy style.

The secret weapon turned out to be my old C-2 chorus pedal. Guitar: rate 50%, depth 100% Bass: rate 0%, depth 100%

Nothing to change there. Maybe I could run the bass through the 610 for some saturation, but overall it worked beautifully.

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SP-404

Turns out I didn’t know much about this thing. Sad older-guy home-studio moments. I might’ve been the first person in Austin with one, too. I finally figured out how to pattern-chain and realized how one-dimensional I’d been using it. But I learned a lot, which felt great.

I was limited by how many things I could chain, but I’m sure there’s a workaround. I’m growing with it week by week, track by track.

I’ve been using the same system I learned from the EP-133: A = drums B = bass C = guitar D = synths / vocals

Didn’t do much resampling, but pattern-chaining clicked this time. It’s a really satisfying way to record — portable, too. I carry the SP around the house, which somehow keeps me in the music and out of my head.

One nice thing about the sequencer is you can replace parts while the sequence loops. And since I didn’t know how to play the pattern while recording, I just tracked to a metronome — and when I finally synced it all up, it worked better than I expected. Happy accident.

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Ableton

I tried re-doing it in Ableton for a few hours. It was awful. Trashed everything. I just mastered the original SP mix with the built-in Wide and Warm preset. Simple.

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Base Demo

I ended up keeping the first 404 pass as the backbone of the demo. Used one four-bar beat that sounded good. It’s crunchy and noisy, but that’s what worked.

You’re never going to win the “sounding great” contest — and it’s not a contest anyway. My only goal was to make it sound like me, and that’s the win.

Everything eventually came together — the guitar lines, the feel, even the roughness. It’s not a keeper, but it’s close. Give me a month of singing it, and I think it’ll become something worth keeping.

#creativepractice #everydaymusiceveryday #learningmusic #musicianslifelessons