April 23, 2003

YOU HAVE THE hair. You have the songs. You even have the black, tight-fitting CBGB T-shirt. The only thing that separates you from a one-way limo ride through the pearly white gates of rock 'n' roll stardom is that brilliant breakout demo. But a digital-quality demo recorded at a commercial studio can cost thousands of dollars to produce, a sum that is, let's face it, well outside your three-shifts-a-week-at-Kinko's price range. So what do you do?

You might consider one of the handful of places in the Bay Area that grant musicians free studio time just for showing up: schools and programs that specialize in audio engineering and the recording arts. The concept is simple. They need bands to come in and record so as to give students practical studio experience. In return, bands walk away with anything from a couple of tracks to a full album of digitally recorded music, depending on the program. Of course, musicians are at the mercy of student engineering – which can mean spending copious amounts of time miking and remiking a drum kit – but experienced instructors are always close by, ready to share their wisdom.

Professor Terry Winston of City College of San Francisco's Broadcast Electronic Media Arts department welcomes four or five bands a semester, from solo singer-songwriters to 12-piece orchestras. Sessions are limited to one four-and-a-half-hour class period per band, so come prepared. 50 Phelan, S.F. E-mail twinston@ccsf.edu.

The students enrolled in Cogswell Polytechnical College's audio recording classes get the opportunity each semester to refine their console skills by sharing a state-of-the-art studio with professional musicians. Sign up to be one of them. 1175 Bordeaux Drive, Sunnyvale. Call Tim Duncan at (408) 541-0100, ext. 130, or e-mail tduncan@cogswell.edu.

Expression Center for New Media, one of the largest audio production facilities in the state, offers musicians an assortment of recording packages, from a six-hour demo session to a six-week complete album project. The school books musicians nearly every week of the year, and sessions run 24 hours a day, seven days a week. 6601 Shellmound, Emeryville. (510) 654-2934, www.expression.edu. E-mail booking@xnewmedia.com.

David Gibson of Globe Recording Institute, due to open this fall, is already lining up guinea pig bands to record. Gibson, who's been in the business for 20 years – he founded the now defunct California Recording Institute – seeks everything from rock bands to hip-hop artists. Call (650) 324-0464 or e-mail david@californiarecording.com.