I've dealt with a huge array of problems in every recording. The bass wasn’t punchy: it turned into a boomy mess. The vocals lacked sheen and didn’t cut through the guitars and percussive instruments. The keyboards and piano had a wonky texture that plagued my mix. It took me two solid years of recording and re-recording everything until I found out what works and what doesn’t. I made pretty much every mistake you could possibly make. It is a tough process, but I emerged victorious and I continue to learn new tricks and special ways to get a great sound out of my recordings. Did I mention that I only had about $500 worth of equipment and my laptop? These became the tools necessary to produce my new band’s “pro” album.

Let me back up for a second and tell the history of my success. The forces that be put me in place to retool a band with Chris Sligh: the Top 10 American Idol contestant of 2007. Our band is known as Half Past Forever. Our album "Take A Chance On Something Beautiful" is in every Best Buy (and most other major retailers) in North America. We were playing in bars for peanuts long before the American Idol fame swept us into a whirlwind of media exposure. Our trump card to beat other bands was that we had a professional sounding album that we recorded completely on our own.

The band decided in the summer of 2006 that we really wanted to commit full-time, but we needed a professional album to sell if we were going to strike gold with a major-label record deal. Chris knew a solid producer in Nashville and took us to Taco Bell to convince us that we needed to pay a producer $600 per song to record a 10 song album. 600 x 10 = $6,000... That cost doesn't even include mastering, art design or replication of the actual discs. Not exactly chump change for starving musicians.

I've had a good bit of experience up to this point in the home recording underground movement. My previous band, nova77, had released to independent albums in the Upsate South Carolina area that were met with huge local success. I produced, mixed, and mastered those albums all by myself. I had also produced a few other local bands and artists. With that experience in my back pocket, I suggested that we try to record our OWN "pro" album right in the attic.

Bottom Line: You don't have to spend a fortune on gear to be able to craft professional recordings. If you're willing to put in the effort, getting that 'pro' sound is very attainable!