Merry laughter combined with soft melodic folk music pours out the door of Rebecca Sniderman's '10 suite. As I enter, the eight girls of Too Cheap for Instruments, a Brandeis all-female a cappella group focused on folk and novelty songs, receive me with broad smiles. Since October, the group has been working with recording, mixing and mastering engineer Tom Carr to record its second CD, due to be released by the end of the semester.On the couch sits the sunny, upbeat Kat Teeter '12, whose interest in Classical Studies has led her to the discovery of her favorite proverb: "Semper ubi, sub ubi," Latin for "always wear underwear." Jordan Hinahara '12, known to spontaneously break into Spanish or dance, and the good-humored musical director, Bonnie Ronish '09, who arranges most of the group's songs, sit next to Teeter. Hannah Cross '11, whose long dark hair and round fair face give her a striking resemblance to Cosette, the girl on her Les Miserables T-shirt, lies casually on the floor.

The high-spirited treasurer, Chaya Bender '11, bounces energetically from seat to seat, spouting sarcastic remarks that keep the girls laughing. "It's not my fault I'm good at everything and I'm going to become supreme dictator of the world," she says after the girls nominate her for new musical director after Ronish graduates this spring.

Kristine Kenning '10, who brings musical laughter and optimistic spirit to the table, sits on the opposite side of the room. Rebecca Sniderman, the groups president, sits next to Kenning. She manages the group's events, publicity and rehearsals with a cheery, easy-going smile and steadfast dependability. "You're like our personal slave, only we like you," Ronish remarks to Sniderman, referring to Sniderman's dedication to TCFI. Lizzy Fei '09, dubbed the "token Asian" of the group, and Tegan Kehoe '10, who initiated the CD recording with Carr, are absent from the scene.

These are the girls of Too Cheap for Instruments, founded in 2005. The group released their first album in May 2007.

The girls have been traveling to Carr's house in Milford, Mass. After spending time with this tight-knit group, it was easy to see why Carr has taken an interest in their work.

"Their energy is so sweet and positive, and they are such an intelligent group," Carr said.

Carr currently teaches advanced and master level record production and advanced CD mastering at Berklee School of Music in Boston. Previously he lived in San Francisco for 22 years, where he worked with acclaimed musicians such as Natalie Merchant, Neil Young and the Dave Matthews Band.

A few days after meeting the girls of TCFI, I drive with Bender and Kenning to a recording session at Carr's house. The conversations in the car are similar to those in Sniderman's suite, frequently flowing into the likes of "bendita, bendita, chanana" and other strings of nonsense words that take the place of instruments in their songs.

Bender explains that the syllables they use are derived from the instruments they try to replicate for the "feel of the original song." She also shares with me the group's joke of slipping in funny words in the background such as "boston chowda" or "banana."

Inside his house, Carr welcomed us with his friendly, relaxed attitude. Wearing slippers and carrying a Brandeis mug, he led us into the recording room. The Grammy he received in 2006 for CD Mastering on the Latin Jazz Album of the Year is framed on the wall. Other evidence of Carr's achievements in music also line the walls-a black and white photograph of an orchestra he recorded in San Francisco, a photograph of Carr with the Dave Matthews Band and a framed article titled "They Built This City," describing the best of San Francisco's recording engineers, including Carr.

A large monitor with a series of colorful lines moving up and down the screen sits in the center of the recording room. Carr indicates that the screen provides a very precise tempo reference that allows the girls to keep in time as they sing. He explains that they also pre-record reference keyboard parts for particular sounds to give the girls vocal guidance.

After Carr records Kenning playing the keyboard, they move into the adjacent sitting room where two microphones are set up. Kenning takes her place behind one of the microphones and straps a pair of AKG headphones over her ears, allowing her to hear the keyboard, click track and the other members' previously recorded tracks. Moving rhythmically back and forth, Kenning clasps her hands while singing in a high-pitched, honeyed voice. Later, Bender tells Kenning, "Your part's too angelic for me. If I sang your part, I would have fairies flying around me." When Bender's turn to record arrives, she sings the lower bass part in a deep, soulful voice.

After each take, they listen to their recording with a thorough attentiveness. "It involves a lot of listening to keep performances technically correct, but also to have every song a really beautiful presentation," explains Carr. As they all listened to the recording, Carr points out which portions need correction, saying things like, "Too much vibrato" or "You didn't sustain that note long enough."

The girls continue recording and re-recording until they arrive at a "keeper performance," the recording that will be on the CD. Carr then superimposes the girls' parts, so that Kenning's "doodpudops" coincide with Bender's "jettidas" and many other syllables in the background harmony.

After all of the parts are recorded and blended together into one song, it's Carr's responsibility to edit any flaws and discrepancies among the tracks. "Let's say that there is a particular word in the lyric that ends in a D, but was cut off, I can go through and refine all that stuff," Carr explained.

Musing on how flaws can be edited out of her performance, Kenning remarks, "Magic of the computer-got to love it." Bender replies, characteristically, "Until they take over the world."

This session amounted to the keeper performaces for three songs, "Sea No Cares" by Great Big Sea, "Painting by Chagall" by the Weepies and "Beautiful Day," which Bender composed. After four hours of warm-ups, warm-downs, retakes and diligent collaboration, the girls hug goodbye and leave Carr's in-home recording studio. Bracing against the sharp New England air, Kenning begins blissfully singing "dadadood, dadadood," as Bender chimes in with her lower-pitched "doodom, doodom.