If you follow these rough guidelines you should get the best results for your money. 1. Make sure all instruments have new strings 2-3 days before so they have time to ‘play in’  2. Bring spare strings, plectrums etc. 3. Make sure there is a hole in the front bass drum skin approximately 6-8 inches across for placing a microphone  inside. 4. Make sure the drums are tuned and the skins are in good condition.  5. Make sure you are well rehearsed and know how songs start and end etc.  6. Make sure all lyrics that are not memorized are written down, preferably in big print on a word processor. You  would be amazed how many people we have encountered who can’t read their own writing!  7. Have a reasonable vision of the arrangement and how you want things to sound, guitar tones, any effects,  where you want backing vocals etc  8. Bring along a couple of CD’s of a similar musical style to give the engineer a starting point and an idea of the  sound you are after.  9. Don’t try to do too much, most demos are 2-4 songs and it is better to get 2 ‘spot on’ that 8 songs that aren’t  quite right!  10. Don’t be tempted to record that song that has been written the day before. We know they are fresh and exciting  but we have lost count of the wasted hours working out ‘new’ material.