• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Q Division Studios

Making great sounding records in comfort and style in Boston's best recording studio

  • Home
  • News
  • Staff
    • Matt Alexander
    • Matt Beaudoin
    • James Bridges
    • Sean Cahalin
    • Pat DiCenso
    • Joel Edinberg
    • Colin Fleming
    • Chuck Hargreaves
    • Jon Lupfer
    • Rafi Sofer
    • Matt Tahaney
    • Ed Valauskas
    • Q Alumni
      • Jon Lukason
      • Joe Tooley
    • Q Tech
      • Jason Bitner
      • Michael Healey
  • Studios
    • Studio A
      • Equipment in Studio A
      • Plugins in Studio A
      • Live Room
      • Lounge
    • Studio B
      • Equipment in Studio B
      • Live Room
    • Mic List
  • Toys
    • Amps and Cabs
    • Guitars and Basses
    • Keyboards, Synthesizers, Tape Samplers, Miscellaneous Toys
      • Studio A’s Grand Piano
      • Mellotron
    • Pedals, Effects, Stomp Boxes
    • Drums
    • Mic List
  • Artists
    • Artist List
    • What do they sound like?
  • FAQ
  • Merch
  • Contact
    • Directions
    • Studio Internships
    • Lost and Found
    • Services
      • Livestreaming and Multi Camera Video
  • MJD

rock

Muck and the Mires – Cupid’s Not a Friend of Mine

January 29, 2020 by Rafi

During a blizzard a while back our pals in Muck and the Mires and producer Jim Diamond spent three days tracking duriously to our Studer 2″ in Studio A. Check out their new single – a testament to the fact that garage rock is alive and well!

Filed Under: Muck and the Mires Tagged With: artists, Fast, Garage Rock, Grace, Jim Diamond, Muck and the Mires, rock, studer, studio a

Juliana Hatfield Can’t Stand Losing You

January 8, 2020 by Rafi

Juliana’s latest release is all about the Police. Check out this incredible video that shows exactly how it all went down in Studio B with James Bridges at the controls.

Filed Under: Juliana Hatfield Tagged With: james, juliana, rock, the police

Analog Tape Week FAQ

We’re turning off the computer* for a week in May.

Did you ever wish you could record in as they did in the heyday of the analog studio? Don’t get us wrong, we like the computer, but sometimes we miss the smell and sound of analog tape, and well, the whole thing is just very different. You can always record to analog tape at Q Division, but for a few days in August we’re going to make it a little easier by setting everything up ahead of time: tape machines, drums, amps, headphones, even instruments; not only that, we’ll waive drum rental AND the tape rental costs.** We’ll be renting out the studio by the day and half day for our SECOND ANALOG TAPE WEEK, where you can track basics to 2” ANALOG TAPE. Are you interested? Drop us a line!

*Actually, we’ll most likely be leaving the computer on so that we can dump your tracks to Pro Tools lickety split, and we’ll most likely run headphones from Pro Tools too – to take advantage of our squeaky clean Hearback headphone mix system.

**So, tape rental is 100% free; however, if you want to keep your work on 2? analog tape, we’ll pro rate the tape cost and you’ll need a tape flange, which we’ll also have available at near cost.

 

FAQ:

Why are you guys doing this? 

We hear people reminiscing about tape, getting excited about it, but then the reality of working to tape hits: it takes longer and costs a lot more to work in that world. So, we thought it’d be fun to give everyone a chance to work like we used to, before Pro Tools became ubiquitous, while keeping costs down. We’ll eat the tape and drum rental costs, and by making it ANALOG TAPE WEEK, we’ll cut a large chunk of the setup time out of your budget; this way everyone can get a taste of what it was like to work on music with your ears and not your eyes, w/out breaking the bank.

What will be set up and ready to go? 

First of all, the tape machine! It’ll be calibrated for the tape we’re supplying (3M 996), and setup to record at either 30IPS or 15 IPS. 

Second – We’ll have a basic rock drum kit – 22” DW kick, Maryland toms, Zildjan hats, and a selection of cymbals and snare drums. We can tweak the kit as needed, and we encourage you to bring your own sticks, cymbals, snares, pedals, etc. But we’ve got you covered if you’re coming as you are. The kit will be set up in the big room, for “big rock” sounds. While tweaking is encouraged, moving the kit to the dead room isn’t going to be a possibility. If you want dead sounding drums we’ll go old school, and build a drum hut, like we used to be fore we had dead rooms.

We’ll also have an array of guitar amps ready to go – Fenders, Marhsalls, our Matchless, HiWatt, and small combos – Skylarks, Ampeg Reverberocket, and the like. 

For bass we’ll have our B15 and either an SVT or a V4B. For keyboards we’ll use whatever works best – DI’s, amps, rotating cabinets – etc.

In addition, we’ll have our usual collection of instruments available, including our Hammond organ and Leslie, our Rhodes, Wurlitzer, various synths, and Clavinet. (Our Mellotron is only available if you give us notice and we’ve co-ordinated and have plans to use it.) 

Our grand piano is also available, but if you’re thinking you’ll track drums and piano at the same time, please be prepared for bleed, as they’ll both be in the same room. 

How long is a half/full day? We’re thinking 10 am to 4 pm for the morning crowd, and 5-11 pm for the evening crowd, but we’re flexible here. In short – 6 hours for a half day block, and 12 hours for a full day. We’re limiting people to no more than 1 full day, as we’d like to expose as many people as possible to these sessions. Contact us for info regarding rates.

Are there any limitations? 

Because we’re working with (giant 14? reels) tape, we only have 33 minutes per reel (at 30IPS) or 64+ minutes (at 15IPS), so we’re asking bands to consider the length of their pieces. This just makes it much easier to manage the tape during takes. Average length songs aren’t a problem – but epic songs/pieces  require some consideration.

Can we bring our own 2? tape?

Maybe! Let’s discuss this ahead of time; we’re able to calibrate the machine for two presets, and we plan on setting it up for 30 and 15 IPS and using NOS M3 996, so other tape formulations would require re-calibration, which isn’t quite in the spirit of being setup and ready to go.

What happens when we’ve got a keeper take? 

There are a few options:

1 – The 70’s – stay on tape! We’ll cut the piece of tape and put it on a comp reel, where you can keep working on it till the song is finished, then you can mix it to 1/2” tape in Studio A like a drug lord rock star. If you choose to keep working to that piece of tape in the future, there could be a modest fee. 

2 – The Aughts method – print SMPTE to track 24, work on the 2? for as long as possible, then dump to Pro Tools, print a reference mix to 2?, and keep working on tape, wiping previous tracks as you go.  

3 – The teen: dump drum and bass (sure, guitars and keys can also go) tracks to pro tools, and keep working on it in the box (keep in mind that other than dumping to tape, we will NOT be setup to do any Pro Tools work during ANALOG TAPE WEEK), so really if you want to work on overdubs, let’s do those to tape too!

We want to book three days of ANALOG TAPE WEEK. Can we do that? 

We’re capping bookings at a single full day (or two half day blocks), because we’d like to get as many people to check out ATW. 

BUT, we’d be more than happy to discuss an analog (or other) lockout at another date. 

Our drummer has the best taste in brews and ties but drops a beat every once in a while (ok, he also speeds up during fills); can you fix that? 

While analog beat detectors are not just the thing of urban legends (check out Mr. Matthew Ellard, the fastest razor we’ve seen), we’d like to keep tape edits to a reasonable minimum. But, we’ll be happy to keep take 4, but pull the chorus from take 2 or an intro from take 1, and grab the solo section from take 3. But if you think you might not be able to make it through a complete take and don’t like the way your band deploys accelerandos and retards, we recommend sticking to Pro Tools for the time being. You are of course welcome to play to a click – this, and other tricks, can make editing drums in PT easier after the fact.

Can we track an entire album in 1/2 a day? 

Well, you could conceivably do that; we’d recommend this option for bands that have been touring/playing a ton. Also, 15 IPS is your friend in this scenario. Leave enough time to dump said album to Pro Tools; if you’d like to track and keep an entire reel of tape, there would be a tape fee. Finally, you might consider blocking out two half days if you think you’re up to tracking more than one or two song. 

Oh man, we love the idea of not paying for drum rental and saving on setup costs, but we’re really not a tape band. Can we book a block and track to Pro Tools? 

Sorry, but not this week. We’re basically taking the Pro Tools rig out of the room (except for dumping takes). BUT, we’ll most likely do another lockout like this in the future – either Pro Tools based or analog tape – let us know what floats your boat, and we’ll try to plan accordingly.

I’d love to learn more about analog tape, are you guys offering any tape workshops? 

We’re looking into the possibility of offering tape workshops – setup, calibration, preparation, editing, and more would all be covered. Drop us a line and tell us you’re interested in this sort of thing, and we’ll let you know when we offer it. 

I love working with engineer/producer XYX – can he be on our session?

Maybe! We’re reserving the right to staff these sessions with engineers who are comfortable in tape world, but as you know – some of our engineers and alumni engineers have rates for specific things and might not be available for ATW, but as with everything in life – this is subject to change and worth asking Ed about!

Can we bring an engineer for our session?

Sure, but since this is ATW, we’ll be staffing the session with a staff engineer anyway, so we won’t necessarily be able to offer a discount.

I’m an engineer; can I bring a band in?

Yes! But, as we pointed out above, since the nature of ATW is sort of complex, we’ll be staffing the session with one of our engineers too. Please check in with Ed and work out some details.

The fine print – we reserve the right to change any of these terms at any time; you know how it goes – things can change; if we have an overwhelming response we’ll add days, but if you book a day and we can’t fill the space around it with ATW sessions we might ask you to move your dates.

The Gravel Project release Wishful Thinking

October 30, 2017 by Rafi

The Gravel Project (not to be confused with THE GRAVEL PIT) have been working on a release with Matt Beaudoin, and here’s a sweet video of them rocking in Studio A. These guys really care about their songs and tones – we love that!

Filed Under: Gravel Project Tagged With: matt beaudoin, rock, studio a, Studio b

Bose Speaker Cube

August 30, 2017 by Rafi

Our friend Matt Russell visited us alongside the folks from Bose a couple of months ago and they cut a song and filmed a video about one of their BoseBuild Speaker Cube – a fun little DIY project.

ARVE Error: src mismatch
url: https://vimeo.com/229567518
src in: ?dnt=1
src gen: https://player.vimeo.com/video/229567518?dnt=1Actual comparison
url: https://vimeo.com/229567518
src in:
src gen: https://player.vimeo.com/video/229567518

Filed Under: Bose, Matt Russell Tagged With: bose, matt russell, rock, studio a, video

  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 11
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Recently at Q

  • Bill Janovitz Virtual Happy Hour – Live from Studio A!

    Bill Janovitz Virtual Happy Hour – Live from Studio A!

  • Juliana Hatfield Performs Only Everything on Electric Guitar, Live from Studio A.

    Juliana Hatfield Performs Only Everything on Electric Guitar, Live from Studio A.

  • Mandorla Music at Home presents the Zahili Gonzalez Zamora Duo – taped Live in Studio A!

    Mandorla Music at Home presents the Zahili Gonzalez Zamora Duo – taped Live in Studio A!

  • Tyson Jackson Trio Livestream

    Tyson Jackson Trio Livestream

  • Juliana Hatfield Livestream 1/23/21

    Juliana Hatfield Livestream 1/23/21

  • Juliana Hatfield Live Stream!

    Juliana Hatfield Live Stream!

  • Our Big News

    Our Big News

  • Update 6.24

    Update 6.24

  • Update 5.18.20

    Update 5.18.20

  • Quaran-amping!

    Quaran-amping!

  • Q Division & Covid19

    Q Division & Covid19

  • Spring 2020 Update

    Spring 2020 Update

  • Patty Larkin – Bird in a Cage

    Patty Larkin – Bird in a Cage

  • Dropkick Murphy’s Smash Shit Up

    Dropkick Murphy’s Smash Shit Up

  • April Renzella

    April Renzella

  • Winter 2020

    Winter 2020

  • Michael Valdez Trio

    Michael Valdez Trio

  • The Providers

    The Providers

  • It Goes To.... 28!

    It Goes To…. 28!

  • Juliana Hatfield Can’t Stand Losing You

    Juliana Hatfield Can’t Stand Losing You

Footer

qdivisionstudios

At the beginning of the year @theworldiswrongpodca At the beginning of the year @theworldiswrongpodcast shared this story about Mike Denneen and Jon Brion and Jellyfish and Spilt Milk and the tension between paying tribute and blazing a new path... in control rooms and recording studios all over the planet folks hunt for familiar sounds and invent their own... there are no rules.

Repost from @theworldiswrongpodcast
•
We close out our epic celebration of JON BRION with @andrasjones as he remembers the first time he heard of Jon and his work with #jellyfish on their record “Spilt Milk” from Mike Deneen at QDivision Studios in Boston in the early 90’s. @theworldiswrongpodcast  Link in bio.
Are we happy that @stokedpizza is finally open nea Are we happy that @stokedpizza is finally open near by?! Why yes we are! Pizza made by Boston rock royalty? Yes please! 

Repost from @stokedpizza
•
Opening Day Covid Style!
There’s been key business going on in studio B t There’s been key business going on in studio B these days, in the company of @valauskased & @joeledinberg 

Repost from @joeledinberg
•
Now that’s some serious vintage synths. There is some major history that’s been played on this stack! #vintagesynths #arp #chamberlin #minikorg #vox #studiolife #producerlife
Setting up for a livestream at 5 with the #mommyhe Setting up for a livestream at 5 with the #mommyheads !!!
Great to get a visit from @grache.reader with her Great to get a visit from  @grache.reader with her assistant engineer, The Greatest Scott!!!
The way back machine (okay, and Kay!) reminded us The way back machine (okay, and Kay!) reminded us that this happened...!

Repost from @kayhanley
•
Happy 20th Anniversary to Josie + the Pussycats! Getting the chance to work alongside some of the greatest songwriters and filmmakers and to be the voice of the glorious @rachaelleighcook was the weirdest, funnest experience of my career. Snaps to @stereogum for giving this whole production the propers it deserves 😸 
.
.
.
#josieandthepussycats #movies #meow #moviesoundtrack #babyface #adamschlesinger #losangeles #dujour
Just around the corner! We miss the Rosebud - as i Just around the corner! We miss the Rosebud - as it once was - it was our favorite spot for Q meetings... 

Repost from @dirtyoldboston
•
Disco Inferno. It may not have the cache of Zelda’s, Narcissus, or even Cache in the city but Summavll could get down at Surrey after a bite at the Rosebud. While the Rat boasted a row of pay phones outside, this spot offered just one. #surreydisco #rosebuddiner #davissquare #1970s #disco #getdowntonight #dirtyoldboston
Hey that’s super cool! @billjanovitz is releasin Hey that’s super cool! @billjanovitz is releasing the livestream performance from a few weeks back as a live album! 

Repost from @billjanovitz
•
The remixed audio of this warts-and-all live set will be available at Bandcamp starting April 2. @daykampcreative was kind enough to adapt the gig poster to album cover [digital only].
This new EP from @ryanmontbleau sounds great. Q’ This new EP from @ryanmontbleau sounds great. Q’s @jbmoney33 helped put it together.... check it out!

Repost from @ryanmontbleau
•
Three new tracks are out!  Look for the Wood EP wherever you listen to music online.

Link in bio @ryanmontbleau to 🎧
Live with @willdaileyofficial right now! Link in B Live with @willdaileyofficial right now! Link in Bio!!
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Search QDivision.com

  • Home
  • Staff
  • Toys
  • Studios
  • Contact
  • FAQ
  • Artist List
  • Studio A
  • Studio B
  • Connect
  • Merch
  • About
  • News
  • Home
  • Services

Copyright © 2021 · Parallax Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in