HOMEGROWN MUSIC. . .AND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS!

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Record-it-yourselfers can find a source of real inspiration and guidance in How to Make and Sell Your Own Record, a book by Diane Sward Rapaport . . . the first definitive work on the subject. Although it's certainly not a technical manual on record engineering, the volume does explain the various pieces of recording equipment and their uses.

The text is arranged in a backwards chronology: Beginning with the promotion and sales of a finished album, it moves through the printing and manufacturing phases to the original planning and recording of a disk. If you use the worksheets that accompany each chapter, you will be totally organized once you've worked your way through the process. Anyone who's considering the release of his or her own album (or a cassette) should study this book before — and during — the entire operation. You can order a copy of Rapaport's book — for $9.95 plus $1.50 postage and handling — from Headlands Press, Dept. TMEN, P.O. Box 862, Tiburon, California 94920.

THE "HOMEGROWN MUSIC" ALBUM PROJECT

I had hoped to be able to give — in this issue's column — a definite release date for my own homemade recording. However, after absorbing advice from various quarters (particularly the Rapaport book mentioned above), I've decided to make the album a dual-purpose disk.

For one thing, I'm going to sell the recording (in order to help cover the costs of production) at any gigs that I play with the Okie Doke Stringband . . . since that group, which is the outfit I most often perform with, will be featured on the record.

And, in order to make the project even more valuable to folks who might want to make their own records, I'll be producing part of the album in my living room using home recording gear . . . and the rest in a full-fledged, well-equipped professional studio. The purpose of the split production, of course, will be to allow any would-be recorders to listen for themselves — before they sink their money into producing a disk — to the quality that can be expected when cutting a record in either of the two ways that I've outlined.

It promises to be an informative (and entertaining) album. I hope to be able to announce its "release" in my column in the next issue!

A SUCCESS STORY

Finally (to provide you with further inspiration), I'd like to tell you about a couple who have been recording their own music — mostly old-fashioned fiddling — for about 15 years! Phil and Vivian Williams started Voyager Recordings by taping in the field (literally!) — with very simple gear — at local fiddling championships. They've gradually updated their "studio" until they now have about $5,000 worth of equipment . . . and nearly all of the gear was purchased secondhand from pawnshops, flea markets, and radio stations.

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