Scott Henderson Discussion

[dizzy]

Hey Scott

When you write a tune do you make a demo of the whole thing before you bring it to the band?
I know you write with a computer setup so you can listen back to what you write.
But do you also lay down a guitar track and a solo etc? And experiment with specific bass lines and form ideas?

The reason I ask is because I have been writing and I have a hard time knowing if something is going to musically work unless I hear a "rough Draft" first.

Thanks Scott

[Scott Henderson]

I write with midi bass & drums, and audio guitar from a Korg Pandora - I hate to use the name Korg since they treat their artists like shit, but that's what I use. When the tune is finished, it's already a demo. All I have to do is bounce it to mp3 and mail it to the guys. The computer writes the bass chart, which I also send to the drummer. I tell the guys that obviously it's just a demo, so don't take it too literally. Anything they add to their parts is an improvement 99% of the time. Some of the bass lines need to be played as written, but anytime there's stuff that can be improvised, I notate those places on the chart.

I don't go out of my way to make my demos sound good. I add a cymbal crash here or there just to let them know where the major accents are. I use copy and paste a lot to save time - when they see the same lines repeating over and over, it's a given that those are the places they can improvise.

[dizzy]

Thanks Scott
That makes allot of sense.