Alligator Online
By WILL PAFFORD
One way emerging bands can get their music heard is to open the windows during practice, but a more sensible way is by recording.
Due to the cost of studio time and an abundance of home-recording software, many local bands choose to record on their own. One such band is local rock trio Inuit Jargon.
"I used a Behringer mixer and just some pretty inexpensive microphones," said Andrew Celauro, the band's guitar player. "I think the most expensive microphone I used was $50."
Celauro recorded on an older Dell using Audacity, a free recording program available on the Web.
"It was an easy way to just click record and go," he said.
However, to attain a stellar sound a band often needs more than just microphones and a computer.
Allen Shorter runs a specialty home-recording studio in Gainesville called El Robot Center for Technology that performs specific tasks for bands in the recording process, such as recording the drums or mixing.
"A band could get into debt up to $5,000 quickly and still not have the know-how to make everything sound good, even if they did pick the right gear," Shorter said.
In the realm of home recording, experience is priceless. One band with wisdom to spare is local favorite Morningbell.
"The first album took us an entire year," Morningbell bass player Eric Atria said. "The second album took an entire year, too."
Atria and his brother head Morningbell Records and Studios, a local studio which Atria describes as "just a room with equipment in it." Nevertheless, it's becoming increasingly more reputable throughout the Gainesville scene for helping local bands, including March to May and The Most, achieve the sound they seek.
Shorter compares home recording verses seeking professional assistance to car maintenance.
"I have no problem changing the oil and wiper fluids, but I sure as hell am not going to spend 100 hours working on a transmission without the right tools or know-how," he said.
For more information, check out elrobot.net and morningbellonline.com.