There were several aspects in this video I found interesting in comparison to my BB workflow and equating the session musicians to RealTrack/midi/Supermidi BB musicians.

Their workflow in the video begins with a rough outline of a song, they listen, evaluate and rehearse the song, finding and developing the groove of the song along the way. Once they find the groove, they can quickly record the actual sound/vibe into the demo. I think this part of the session is similar to most recording sessions, be it demo or tracking a major cut.

Whereas, I begin a song, lyrics, melody and chord progression and proceed to the demo or final recording stage all in a single BB song. Sometimes because of all the evaluating and auditioning of styles and instruments, my final version is not a recording of the song initially created in my head. Not in style, instrumentation or even time signature and tempo. Band in a Box itself becomes an integrated co-writer/producer of my original song. That's completely different than what this video portrays.

It makes me wonder how my outcome is affected by this in the area of commercialism and accounts for the Band in a Box sound that is sometimes easily identifiable.

The video also mentions another interesting topic regarding the speed of production. Here, it is pointed out that in the Demo stage, a session usually works to complete 3-4 different songs as opposed to a release recording where it's illustrated that Lionel Richie had 3 three hour sessions per day for three days having 27 hours in the single song, "Stuck on You". I recall an earlier video post here on the forum a few months ago with Alan Parsons on recording vocals. In the video, Michael McDonald relates how he normally has to sing for 3-4 hours before he gets a vocal suitable for a recorded take. It was mentioned in a documentary about the day John Lennon was killed that the work scheduled for the studio on the day he was killed was to overdub and punch in vocals. Nine hours of a major studio with top level engineers, producers and artists just to tweak vocals. Amazing to me.

Finally, I recommend if you have the opportunity, to take time to view one of the YouTube recommended videos that are attached to the above video. It chronicles Shania Twain, developing a demo of one of her original songs with David Foster. It is also an excellent 'development of a demo' from the professional point of view. Shania Twain's self imposed vocal insecurity as she has struggled back was surprising.


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