Teacher's Play Room Built to Scale

Modesto studio lets teen musicians on a budget record without breaking the bank

Dalton Webster, above, and Tyler Lee, below, both 13 and eighth-graders at Our Lady of Fatima School, used the Modesto Sound studio to record a demo with their band, Pendulum.

PATRICK BURNS/TEENS IN THE NEWSROOM

By McKENZIE BECKER
TEENS IN THE NEWSROOM

Last Updated: January 26, 2006, 02:21:59 PM PST

When Brenda Francis' son went off to college, she didn't turn his old room into a sewing room or a storage room. Instead, she transformed the space into a recording studio for teens. It's been a longtime dream for Francis, a music teacher, to have a space where teenagers can record their music for a low price.

Most recording studios charge $35 to $65 dollars per hour for musicians to record, but Francis didn't want to empty the piggy banks of young people. So she created the studio, a nonprofit organization called Modesto Sound, where teens can record their music for $15 per hour.

"Teenagers sometimes don't have the money and they need to record a demo CD," she said. "This is more affordable."

Teens come to the studio to record music for many reasons. Sometimes they need a CD in order to apply for an honors music program, or to be admitted to a college where they want to study music. Sometimes they want a recording of their band to get gigs at clubs and local festivals. Francis thinks her $15-per-hour fee makes for a less stressful recording experience.

"If you're there with your life savings then you feel stressed out," she said. "But with only $15, it's more like a learning experience."

While Francis' customers are mostly teens, adults also have recorded at the studio, which opened last year. For now, she's charging $15 for everyone in hopes of attracting more business. But Francis anticipates attracting more customers soon. If that happens, she will charge adults a higher rate, and that money will go to subsidize teen recording sessions. Meanwhile, in order to get the money she needs to keep the studio going, she asks for donations of money or equipment.

Francis has been able to fill the studio with equipment and instruments including a drum set, base guitar, keyboard, conga drums, microphones and some percussion items. One instrument she doesn't have, but is hoping someone will donate, is a piano.

A few weeks ago, the band Pendulum, made up of Drew Zercoe, Tyler Lee and Dalton Webster — all eighth-grade students at Our Lady of Fatima School — came to the studio to record a demo.

"It's a lot cheaper for the same quality," band member Tyler said. "We're teenagers and we don't have jobs, so we don't have that much money." The group paid less than $50 for nearly four hours of recording time. They left with a demo CD — and recording experience under their belts.

They're not the only ones who were impressed with the studio and its mission. Mix magazine, a publication for music production professionals, wrote about Modesto Sound. Young Idol winner Caroline Chiesa has recorded there, as has the Modesto High School Orchestra.

The studio is part of the Stanislaus Arts Council, an organization that helps visual and performing arts groups. The council asked Francis to be part of the organization, and have put her on its board of directors. The group gives her logistical support and suggestions regarding Modesto Sound.

For more information about Modesto Sound recording studio, visit www.modestosound.com.

McKenzie Becker, 15, is a sophomore at Oakdale Charter High School. She is a member of The Bee's Teens in the Newsroom journalism program.