Demo videos with barely any demo? Maddening!

[Explorer]

Youtube can be a great tool for actually hearing something which might otherwise be impossible to easily test in the real world. It can make the difference between taking a chance on ordering something from the interwebz without trying it yourself, or just deciding to play it safe.

Even a good comparison demo between something you know and something you're curious about can be very informative.

However... tonight I thought I'd give a listen to some demos regarding something I want compared to something else, and some of these guys just never seem to get down to business. I'm talking about a five-minute demo, and I'm waiting for the product to actually be used, but there is a lot of talk about the specs and such. I start skipping forward bit by bit, and there's no evidence of anything being played when I jump by 10 second intervals. I got to the end on one, and there was no actual demonstration, even though they had enough time to stick in a computer-generated logo sequence for their business which would have put the NFL to shame.

This happened to me on at least 6 demos, so I now just wait 30 seconds, then start skipping.

I understand wanting to let someone know the specs, even though I think if someone found the video, they can probably investigate the product. Still, are they just trying to pad the video?

This just barely outpaces my second peeve about demos, clean demos on which someone decides to drench the clean sound in delay, chorus, reverb or a huge combination of similar effects. If you're going to demo the clean tone, including its articulation, then taking a walk on the spacey side defeats the purpose.

Clearly this isn't earthshaking, but I just wonder what's on someone's mind when they put something like this up. Do they have a quota they have to fill? Anxious subscribers who will unsubscribe unless there's something new to watch, however uninformative it might be?

Anyone else ever been frustrated by demos which turned out not to be?

[Ishan]

I watch tones of these while browsing for new gears, and tones of actual demos but with pretty terrible recording so it's useless (most those guys buy expensive gears but don't have a freakin' decent mic...).
I'm with you man!

[Edika]

I totally agree. Sometimes you see some demos that are divided in three parts. You expect to find and hear in depth the channels the person demoing the amp is going to make, and end up hearing the amp in the third part, with a few chords in the clean channel a lot of chugging in the crunch/distortion channels and a lot of interruptions in the playing to attest how amazing the amp is.

Best demo's I've seen are with a brief introduction, more details in the description below the video and the player covering different different styles of music with different settings of the amp!

[Harry]

Not entirely relating to the title topic question, but in general I find basically any demo worthless unless it's been put together by someone with a decent amount of audio engineering knowledge.
Those 'demo' videos where someone has thrown a video camera in a room and then just has the amp blaring tells me how the amp sounds in exactly that situation.........through a shitty video camera microphone.
Unless you plan to be doing nothing but making videos of sticking your vid cam in the room and then recording via it's shitty mic for the ultimate in muffled, stuffy tone and throwing it up on youtube, it's more or less entirely useless, because it doesn't tell us anything about how the product sounds in a practical, real situation.


Now THIS is actually a good video demonstrating (primarily) the sound of a guitar amp and cabinet.
It actually lets us hear the product being used in a real, practical situation a recorded, full band mix, rather than just hearing it alone and not in a mix.
I trust Ola's videos to get a real representation of how a guitar amp sounds, because he actually knows what he's doing.
It's also kickass that he isn't blabbering on about the damn amp for 5 minutes straight, but instead just gets straight to the audio and fortunately for us, is 10000 times a better player than most of those idiot hack players that 'demo' gear.

A lot of people will say "BUT OMG IT'S POST PROCESSED", but those are the same people that fail to realize unless you get it within 90 per cent of how you want it at the source, it's just a junk recording of a guitar track that needs to be tossed away and redone.
With Ola's videos, all you're hearing is some low pass, high pass and a tiny bit of EQ-ing in the middle there maybe, but otherwise what you hear is 95 per cent true to what came out of the microphone.
Pretty much any great guitar tone you've heard off an, let's say, Andy Sneap record for example, is about the same. Some low pass, high pass, a tiny bit of EQ, but otherwise most of the work is spent getting the best sound as possible from mic placement and careful adjustments on the actual amp head itself.

And if I must say so, 95 per cent true out of the mic in a real, practical situation beats the pants off the 100 per cent in a environment that has no real basis in what we encounter in reality.

[datalore]

I'm with the OP. A lot of people will claim that they are doing a demonstration, but what they actually do is a review that involves telling the viewer what every knob and switch on the device is called. "...and over here we have the derp control, for variable, uh... derp."

I like the Pro Guitar Shop videos and Greg V's demos. They just give a verbal description of the basic physical and sonic properties of the gear, describe a useful application for the gear, then show a bunch of cool sounds that you can get with a piece of gear in combination with a range of other gear, using a high quality but relatively neutral recording signal chain.

In my ideal world, every demo would include both processed and unprocessed clips of the gear both alone and in a full band mix. Also, because gear responds differently to different playing styles, I really like when demonstrations include more than one player.

[NaYoN]

A trend in this genre of video is to have a super long video and the guy keeps talking about the product endlessly, with no real content. And whenever there's content you can easily obtain it from the website of the product.

We want to hear how the product sounds, not how you sound!

Ola's videos are great. He's what convinced me to buy an axe-fx. (they really need a better vocalist though)

[TheDjentlman]

The only demo videos I stick to are PGS, but half the time they demo shit I'm not even interested in

[georg_f]

absolutely
a good demo should be like this:
Someone is playing the guitar or amp etc. at the VERY beginning (some short riffs/licks etc.)
then maybe some talking
then some more demonstrating of all the features etc.

[CurTro-P]

seriously frustrating when you come across a "blah blah blah - NEW SONG" video on youtube an its live and all you hear is a distorted noise an crowd screams!

sorry somewhat off topic but still in the same vein of inaudible no help at all uploaded content.

[Espaul]

This one, made by a fellow sevenstring.org member called Lechuga, is pretty much what I look for in a demo vid.



I haven't gotten this amp to sound this clean just yet, but bought one of these because of the vid.

[NaYoN]

Originally Posted by georg_f

absolutely
a good demo should be like this:
Someone is playing the guitar or amp etc. at the VERY beginning (some short riffs/licks etc.)
then maybe some talking
then some more demonstrating of all the features etc.

I know right? I hate having to go through 5 minutes of blabbering to get to the actual demonstration.

[AySay]

It is very frustrating.

Another thing that pisses me of is people who demo/review guitars with "clean" and "lead" with lead being a shitty gain 10, high 10, mid 0, low 10 mess, and clean being the same thing with no distortion. I'm always confused by these people. Amateur guitar players putting up reviews and demos, while being terrible players, in no position to be doing so. The alternative is a 50-something guitar store employee demoing a Chuck Schuldiner signature or something like that, and playing bluegrass on it.

BTW Explorer just wanted to say I would love to see you with a twitter account...

[Explorer]

Originally Posted by AySay

BTW Explorer just wanted to say I would love to see you with a twitter account...

You might think you do, but you have no idea what you'd be opening yourself up for. This morning, I've already used Julius Caesar, second language acquisition, the Traveling Salesman problem, and more in explaining a few things I need done at work. You've seen the viewpoints I bring to SS.org.

Do you really want that kind of tweet every 20 minutes?

If so, here's something all my subordinates know by heart:

If you keep your expectations tiny
You'll go through life without being whiney.

It's good to be the king. *laugh*

[AySay]

^

What I meant is that I'd love to see your attempts at condensing your usual..."wordy"...posts into 140 characters or less.

[kung_fu]

Agree with OP. The same can be said of most "lessons" you find on youtube, as they tend to be simply someone showing off a flashy lick/idea with no explanation or thought, except instead of showing off technique they are showing off their expensive gear...but as you said they don't tend to spring for a good mic/camera.

[BigBaldIan]

Unfortunately, it appears to be the way of things these days. Even with the seemingly almighty power of search-engines at comsumers' fingertips, it seems that God-forbid actually researching a potential purchase has died. A lot of demos appear to have degenerated into a series of soundbites, which merely repeat the manufacturer's spec sheet with the occasional noodling. It's gotten to the point where demonstration and review are now apparently interchangeable terms.

One example I can find of a company trying to get it right is Blackstar. A simple setup with a scrolling graphic showing the settings used and no blathering.

Also agree with the whole "clean demo" and the tone being swamped in effects. Although it can be helpful to hear how an amp might sound in context, the consumer should be given the basic tonal palette to start with and not have matters clouded by effects.

"Sorry you dropped £xxxx on the new Super-vibe-deluxoverb and it wasn't quite what you imagined, you now need to spend £xxx on some bootique(sic) effects as well."

In summary, some of these Youtube posters should check the dictionary, learn and take to heart the difference between the words "review" and "demonstration". It'll save a load of hassle and wasted time.