Music education scholars and veteran teachers often assert that composition is an essential part of a child's participation in music, but like many music educators, the author was reluctant to include it as part of her daily beginning band curriculum. Time and money were limited, and she wanted to be sure to cover all the material that beginners needed. In this article, the author describes the composition/recording project which she finally tried out with her students. Her second-year band students who were in the sixth grade created a recording studio in their classroom where they could go to record their own compositions. The author discusses the benefits of the recording studio project and provides some ideas for music educators. (Contains 1 note.)