Brian.....

Why not post a link to a few of the backing tracks you are referring to?

I have done some demo work in the past on some tunes I wrote (back in the days before BB/RB and digital stuff). Now days it is so easy to do a decent job on this at home in a small studio with a modest investment in some good gear. That said, going to a studio may help not only from the aspect of getting good tracks for the guitars and vocals but it gives you the chance to learn, to ask questions and to pick the brain of someone who does this every day.

There is, however, a learning curve involved when you want to do it at home in your own studio. Beside the cost, there is the time to learn what to do and how to do it. However, for most musicians, this is not a "far jump" especially those with band and playing experience and the desire to learn how.

You didn't say what gear (for recording) you currently have. IMHO a good interface (USB w/ ASIO drivers), a good condenser mic, and some software tools like Melodyne and Ozone will go a long ways towards getting you some very professional results once you learn how they work.

If the planned project is for fun...... do it yourself and invest the budget in some gear. Same thing if it's for selling CD's at gigs to fans. If you are looking for a professional level project to use for career advancement in the music biz.... something going to record companies etc..... get the entire thing done professionally.

Unless you have some "mad skills" already in mixing and production, the pro's can tell that the instruments are not real players. It's possible to fool them with good production but it takes some work....and having the aforementioned tools and using them.

Since you are only planning to do 2 songs in this manner, it will not be a very costly expense, and the cost should justify what you will learn in the time.

Personally, I got into home recording because as a song writer, I could not afford to drop $500 on a song in a demo studio. Plain and simple. Anyone writing songs more then the one song a year writer, would need to have deep pockets to support that habit. For the cost of half a dozen studio sessions, I have a decent home studio and can now produce all the stuff in house, and have the occasional 3rd party involved across the internet.

On my music site, Come & Go (Rose2012) The vocal was recorded in another studio in another town while I recorded the music in my home studio. Missing person, had fully half of the tracks recorded by my co-writer in Atlanta in his home studio, and the fiddle was recorded in Vermont in another friend's home studio. The internet opens all sorts of new possibilities with music.

Last edited by Guitarhacker; 09/09/13 05:27 AM.
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