Pittsburgh bands have just two more days to enter the recording contest sponsored by University of Pittsburgh radio station WPTS 92.1 FM, Machine Age Studios and Pittsburgh underground heroes Modey Lemon. The deadline is 5 p.m. Fri., March 19. 

The contest is geared toward "all those great Pittsburgh bands that haven't had a chance to record at a professional studio," and the grand prize is two days of recording time at Machine Age. Three finalists will also get to open for an all-ages Modey Lemon show on Fri., April 2. 

Complete rules and guidelines are here. You don't need to be a Pitt student to enter, but bands must not have "recorded at a professional recording studio, defined as an established business used for recording." That strikes me as a tough distinction to make in this era of ubiquitous, inexpensive home studio software and gear. This is not to say that someone with GarageBand and a cheap condenser mic is no different from a professional studio with an experienced engineer -- there's no comparison -- just that it must be nearly impossible to draw that line.

For more information, visit WPTS's Web site, or e-mail [email protected].