Alright today is the day when the we will discuss the cheapest possible outlets for recording. The most recent album I had a chance to record was done for free, and despite the limited resources, the final product was at a relatively high standard. There are always ways to tweak recordings even if the equipment you are using isn't necessarily the highest end.

The DIY method:

If you have never recorded or had any experience with reocording than this may be a longer process than what you're willing to allow. However, recording yourself is a decent way to practice at getting better at being not only a recording artist, but also learning to record others. The problem with that is you don't have anyone there correcting your mistakes and guiding you in the right direction, so for the noobs out there, DIY recording is probably not the best idea.

If you are familiar with recording, and possibly have even done it before than this method is great. No producer messing with your stuff, you can record on your schedule, and you can work on it basically all the time. Getting the right equipment to record on your own can be expensive, but like I mentioned earlier, you don't necessarily need the best stuff to produce a quality recording. Prot Tools or some other proffesional software, a few different mics, and cables, and you can manage well enough. The best advantages to this method is you can get it done quick, and, if you think it's worthy of it, you can take pride in having a self produced record.

The Search For Free Method:

Perhaps that's a bad title for this method, but basically the idea is finding any way you can get work done on your album for free. There are a number of different outlets that you can use to your disposal, some better than others. The first and most obvious is friends. If you are a musician, then chances are you have musician friends, and the probability of being able to find someone who knows how to record is high. Even mentioning to a friend that you want to record may spark an offer to work on it with you, people who actually enjoy recording are always willing to do more, even for free. If your friend actually likes your band, which brings us back to the golden rule that preceeds all actions you would ever want to take with music, and that is: don't suck, then they would be even more willing to help out in most cases.

No friends? That's okay, a lot of musicians are lonely and depressed just like you. You can still record for free though, to not add financial worries to your oh so broken heart. Now this may seem a little more difficult, and some times they're hard to find, but up and coming producers, and new studio owners, are always looking to build up their portfolios. If a producer is just starting out or trying to make a name for themselves, you can often cut a sweet deal with them. If they'll record you for free, in turn, you'll give them material for their portfolio, and not just recognition, but huge recognition on your album. The basic deal is, you promote for them, and they pay you with free recordings. A little more work goes into this idea, but its a great way to get a professionally done record for free.

The Student of Music Method:

Okay here's the unleashing of the big secret. MUSIC STUDENTS!!!!!!!!!!! This is not the most obvious method, and tons of bands over look this. Did you know that you can go to school for music? or music industry? or even just recording? Can you guess what kind of assignments an audio production major has for class? Did you know that they want to record you? Did you know that if they even mentioned charging for it they would probably be expelled? Well if you didn't now you do. Students of music are a huge asset to bands looking to record. They get free studio time, access to the best equipment, and the supervision of recording professionals.

While studio time may be limited to once or twice a week, you can probably get access to such an amazing facility for FREE. If the student is studying audio production, then chances are they're getting good at it, and they're being trained by the best. There are so many colleges with music programs, and a lot of them have their own studios and recording majors. Students have assignments to fulfill, and the art of recording is like the art of an instrument, practice makes perfect, so the more they can do the better.

Students also tend to do interns at great studios, and while they're there, the studio head may be happy to lend some help to their projects, which could be you. The point of an internship is to learn and excel, so you could even record at a school studio and send it off to an intern at a mastering studio, and there you have a great record, for free, and everyone is happy.

You'll often find that these methods intertwine with one another, and I can speak from experience that for one EP I recorded on, everyone one of these methods was a part of it. The plus side of recording for free, is that, well, it's free. If you're smart about it, and find someone who has a general idea what they're doing, then time is the only real downside and restriction. Time comes back to being good, if you can play what you wrote, then the actual time in the studio shouldn't be too outrageous, and most of the following methods would lead to the producer having at least enugh at-home setup to mix.