Attracting the birds

I'm trying to encourage birds into our new garden. Fist we tried the large multi purpose feeder that we used previously - no takers. I wondered if it was too imposing for birds that weren't used to it. So I've found a tatty old feeder in the shed and given it a bit of a clean and am experimenting with that. There is lots of builder type activity going on which may be discouraging. Any hints gratefully received.