No Recession

There may be no such thing as an “album” in a few years, but in the meantime that term still means something: a bunch of songs leaked weeks before the release date and downloaded by people with no sympathy for the record industry. OK, so maybe you don’t get an upset stomach thinking about a dying RIAA either, but you’ve got songs, and people still want to listen to songs. Time to record.

In bands, as in life, there’s often one person who ends up paying for everything. Let’s assume that person is you. Your drummer’s $600 went to pay back rent, your bass player forgot to file a tax return and guitar players—well, you’ve seen Guitar Player magazine.

The computer recording learning curve gets steep pretty fast, though, and without some combination of good software plug-ins (the best of which are not free), a bank of outboard gear and/or a summing box and console, it can be hard to make something in your bedroom that doesn’t sound like it was recorded there. By someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing.

Sometimes incompetence is part of music’s charm, but usually it’s not. Now if you want to ooh and ah at a room full of awesome recording gear and the most insane collection of pre-CBS Fender Strats you’ve ever seen, then book some time at Blackbird. The White Stripes and The Raconteurs recorded their most recent albums there, and $600 will get you...let’s see...carry the zero—a boot in the ass some time around noon. And that’s without an engineer.

At smaller studios, like Alex the Great or House of David, your six hunnies can probably get you one long day of recording, and an engineer. Get your basic tracks down, then you can save up your money or pawn some of your guitar player’s pedals to finish the album later. At least the most difficult part will be finished. Smaller project or home studios are often run on a more flexible pay schedule, too, so ask around. Your money will probably go further at a place like Battle Tapes, where resident tape op Jeremy Ferguson is willing to work with bands to come up with an affordable arrangement.

And increasingly, studios and engineers are finding creative ways to barter for their time. So maybe you can do some design, construction or promotional work in exchange for at least part of your tab. Rolling!