BUSINESS & RACE

By Leon E. Wynter

Technical Treasure Trove in a

Brooklyn `Hood

  SOME UNLIKELY computer technicians are emerging from a basement deep in the `hood of East Flatbush, Brooklyn.

  Basement Recordings started teaching youngsters digital-recording technology in 1989 as a community service. Now it puts about 1,000 people a year through free six-week courses in digital audio, video and graphics technologies. Students include grade-schoolers grandmothers, high school dropouts, educators and professional musicians. Basement's exhibitions at local colleges draw thousands of eager participants, "faces you'd never see at [a personal computer] expo," says Basement General Manager August in Hinkson. In return for a basement   fall of expensive hardware and software, Basement gives donors like Yamaha Corp. of America detailed quarterly reports  on  how   students  use the equipment. "We need to expose as many people as possible to the idea of music creation and to be focused on the needs of the people who buy our products," says Yamaha corporate planner Steven Thatcher.

  Basement introduces novices to technology by tailoring it to them, says founder Trevor John, a Columbia University-trained engineer. Its motto: "The Impossible is only mediocre down here." “Computers offer the black community the opportunity to publish without the huge capital required," says Brian Heuckroth of Adobe Systems, which gives Basement video and graphics software. "We're tying to make it easier for people who aren't classically trained  - that's where we'll get substantial growth."