The roots of Steam Powered Studio go back to the 1970's, to a place in Paradise, PA. There have been a couple of moves since then, and now we're in a modern 1,100 sq ft facility, with plenty of room to stretch out. I call this an open-plan studio because everything is in the same room. Fortunately, this one room has ideal dimensions for recording. There are 9' ceilings and lots of stuff around to diffuse the sound. Things are laid out like a comfortable living room. There's even an old console stereo- let's stretch out on the rug and spin some vinyl! We have fun making music here. For recording, the main machine is something called an AW-4416. This stand-alone digital recorder provides crystal-clear sound and automated mixing capabilities. It has 16 tracks- enough for most projects- but I can daisy-chain to my second recorder for 32 tracks if needed. Here are some of the folks who have made the Steam Powered sound a part of their own: Jen and Charlie- folk duo Woggi Noggi- children's music and adult humor The Stray Birds- folk duo Summer Thieves- rock The Gadjo Playboys- le jazz hot Craig Wise- classic rocker Robert Bobby- folk Willie Marble- grits 'n blues Joe Ellis- eclectic guitar Old Time Liberation Front- young folk with strings The original Steam Powered Studio concept was that none of the artists needed to pay for their studio time. We asked listeners to sponsor the work done here in exchange for access to all the music. In this way better music can be made, because the main requirement is time. But now that I've lost my day gig I need to take on paying work. Even so, artists will find the terms very friendly. And we'll continue to accept listener sponsorships as we build toward total independence. Jeff Coleman, owner/operator Contact Steam Powered: mail Here are some links related to the sponsorship idea. How Will the Artist Get Paid? A Full, Fair And Feasible Solution To The Dilemma of Online Music Licensing Thomas Edison, Intellectual Property and the Recording Industry Fixing Compulsory Licensing Beyond the Commons Donating to Open Source Projects with Advertiser-funded Micropayments gnomoradio.org Bitpass William W. Fisher III p2pfund.com/ Audioscrobbler PledgeBank QuidMusic