Allegra's studio rates are based on the number of tracks; up to and including 16 tracks have one rate, and 17 or more tracks have another hourly rate. A lot of people understand "track" to mean song on a CD, so some assume the rate structure means that if they are going to record up to sixteen songs, they pay one rate, and so on. This is incorrect.

Allegra uses "multi-track recording." Think of multiple tracks as several individual mono recorders running in sync with each other. So Track 1 might contain the bass drum part, Track 2 the snare drum part, Tracks 3 and 4 the tom toms, Tracks 5 and 6 the overhead cymbals, Track 7 the hi-hat cymbal, and Track 8 the bass. So it takes about eight tracks to record a basic rhythm bed. More tracks would be needed, then, for vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, keyboards, percussion, etc.

A basic singer/songwriter demo would normally require two to three tracks - one for the lead vocal, and one or two for the accompaniment instrument - typically acoustic guitar or keyboard. A band demo will almost always require more than eight tracks. 16 tracks are usually enough for most amateur or semi-pro projects, but occasionally ambitious overdubs will push the track count into the 17 - 32 range. Knowing this, you can calculate your track requirements yourself. Just remember that once things are recorded together, they can never be separated. In one session I did, two guys were singing on one microphone doing a vocal overdub. One of them asked if the volume of one voice could be lowered. Well ......................... no. Two voices on one mic is one track.

what is a "track?"