How to make a song demo at home

A demo is a recording that lets other people hear your song: the melody, the words, the chords and the feel. It does not have to sound like a finished record. This article shows a simple order of work that keeps a demo quick and useful, using Demo Track Maker as the example.

What a demo is for

Decide who will listen before you start. A demo for bandmates needs clear chords and form; a demo for a singer needs the melody and the key they will sing in; a demo you keep for yourself only needs to capture the idea before you forget it. In all three cases, what matters most is that the song is easy to follow — the melody and the words should be clearly audible.

1. Settle the key, tempo and chords

Key. Sing the highest and lowest notes of the melody. If the highest note strains your voice, move the whole song down (for example from C to A). With a guitar, a capo lets you keep the same shapes in a different key. In the app, Key moves the whole backing by up to 6 half steps without retyping the chords — try it before you record.
Tempo. Play the song along with a metronome and find the BPM that feels natural. A demo that is a little slower than you imagine is usually easier to follow than one that rushes.
Chords and form. Write the chords bar by bar, section by section (intro, verse, chorus…). Many pop songs are built from 4- and 8-bar phrases, so it helps to count bars as you write.

In Demo Track Maker, type the chords into the chart (one box per beat) or write the whole chart as text, such as | C | Am | F | G |. See how to read and write chord symbols if a name is unclear.

2. Make a quick backing track

Choose a pattern for each part that matches the style: steady 8th notes for rock, syncopation for pop, broken chords for a ballad. You do not need the final arrangement yet — the backing only has to show the groove and the chords. Choosing backing patterns by genre lists combinations to start from.

Repeat the same pattern for a whole song and it starts to sound mechanical. Real players change small things: the bass walks into the next chord, the drummer marks the end of a phrase with a fill. Turn up Variation and put drum fills at the ends of sections (bar 4, bar 8…).

3. Record a guide vocal

Record the melody first, even if it is rough. It shows where every other part has to leave space. Use headphones so the backing does not leak into the microphone, and turn on the count-in so you know when to start. Sing the whole song through several times rather than fixing one line again and again — a natural take helps listeners more than a perfect one.

4. Add your instrument and harmonies

Add the parts that make the song yours: an acoustic guitar strumming the chords, a lead line, a harmony vocal. Each one goes on its own track (up to 8 in Demo Track Maker), so you can turn it up, down or off later. If you already recorded the guitar in another app, import the file and line it up by dragging the waveform.

When your own instrument plays the chords, the piano may be too much. Mute it, or switch it to a softer pattern such as whole notes.

5. Balance the mix

Start with everything at the same level, then bring the vocal up until every word is clear.
Lower the parts that compete with the vocal (often the piano or a strummed guitar).
Use pan to spread the instruments a little left and right; keep the vocal, bass and kick drum in the middle.
Add a little reverb to the vocal so it sits with the backing. Too much reverb pushes it into the distance.

Listen on more than one device — headphones, a phone speaker — because that is how other people will hear the demo.

To share, use Mixdown… and choose MP3: the file is small enough to send in a chat.
To keep working later, use Export project (.zip). It holds every take and setting.
To finish in a DAW, export the backing as MIDI (with chord names and tempo) and each recorded track as WAV, then import them. The tracks are aligned to the start of the song, so they line up.