This is how I make records. It is a *very* scientific process. You need a computer, a microphone, an interface to plug the microphone into, and a program loaded onto your computer that does the recording. That's how I made the last Luxury Liners and Foxymorons albums. For my solo album and my new Christmas album I also used a midi keyboard and sampler to get some sounds. The secret ingredient that I'm not embarrassed to talk about is that I DO actually need someone smart to mix my albums. I haven't figured out how to mix records. It's too confusing to me. Me and my bands have paid many dollars to Chris Henning, Matt Pence, or Chris Brush to take our shoddy home studio recordings and polish then into professional-quality final mixes. That is my current take on making records - save your money on the studio and spend it on the mixing engineer. Buying fancy gear would be a waste for me because I probably won't even be able to figure out how to use it. (less info)