Jackson Free Press

Without money to secure your band solid time in a studio, producing a record can be difficult. But this isn't a problem for Walter Young, whose band Alexander's Dark Heart's recorded and produced its last album "The Aleph" at home.

"We recorded the bass and drums in that room," he says, pointing to a sunroom lined with low-lying tables, drums, mics, vinyls, a used four-track and a sleeping bag draped down one wall. He explains that it wasn't so cluttered when they were using it to record. "You want smooth surfaces, with as little clutter—and flat walls—as possible."

Young is a founding member of Alexander's Dark Heart. The band released "The Aleph" in January 2005. They'd put out two EPs before, but this was the first full-length and the first to be produced and distributed professionally. It was not, however, recorded professionally. That was very DIY, as the surroundings seem to confirm.

Young posits that as recording space goes, it's largely an issue of experimentation. "If you have time to record the same stuff in different environments, do it."

We walk into the bathroom—lots of hard, smooth surfaces. "Daniel (Johnson, another member of the band) recorded some saxophone in here, and it sounded great."

Got to be willing to try, see.

I asked Young what a person with $300, a computer, the instruments, and no recording supplies whatsoever ought to purchase to get the recording and distributing process underway. He suggests buying an M-Audio digital preamp. The cheapest goes for $120, though he suggests looking for used equipment, on eBay or otherwise. The preamp hooks into a computer through a USB port. Next, you ought to get a boom mic stand ($30-$45).

For a mic, Young suggests an SM57. This instrument mic seems to be the Jack-of-all-trades. He explains that the mic has a clear signal and a flat reception. Opposed to, say, a recording vocal mic, which is designed to pick up the finer nuances of the singer.

"You can record whatever you want with it and it'll sound pretty good," he sums up.

An SM57 costs about $80. Beyond these bare essentials, one needs a multi-track recording program, and the cost is liable to break the $300 limit. Young uses Adobe Audition, a $299 package. He also suggests Cake Walk, a $149 piece. These programs are the post-production aspect of recording. They allow for mixing, dubbing, and various effects to be worked in, accentuated or downplayed.

Dr. Steve Smith, a professor of philosophy and religious studies at Millsaps, also home-records. Given the $300 budget, he suggested skipping the preamp and just getting an interface, a digital audio card that slips directly into the computer. These can be had for less than a preamp.

What about recording with a four-track? "A lot of people like four-tracks as personal notebooks to try out ideas," Smith says, and the capabilities are considerable for the cost of the equipment. But a four-track involves a great deal of trial and error, he says, and then there are the cost requirements of transferring your work from tape to digital so it can be burned to CD.

After jumping that hurdle, you only need to buy CD-Rs and some cheap software that'll allow for printing an image on the CDs. Then, start burning away.

"The Aleph" is available at Be-Bop's, iTunes and cdbaby.com. Dr. Smith's newest record, "Woodpecker Street," recorded on a digital four-track, is available at Be-Bop and cdbaby.com.