Frequently Asked Questions About Recording @ Q Division

Below are a few of the questions our studio manager and engineers get. If you have a question and don't see it here, we'd be glad to try to answer it. If it's a frequent one, we'll add it to our list!

How long is a lockout/half day?

Usually a day at Q Division is about 10 hours. 1/2 a day is, well, 5 hours.

At what time should we arrive for our full/half day session?

It's your session, so you should choose a start time that's most comfortable for you. It's best to coordinate a start time with the engineer who's working with you. If you've got a staff assistant on your session, let him know when you plan to arrive. If you've booked an evening or an afternoon contact your engineer about specific times.

Can we leave our gear over night/untill our next session?

Absolutely. If you've booked more then a day's lockout, you can leave your gear setup or where ever it is in the studio and lounge you've booked. If you're coming back in a few days or a week, your staff engineer can help you find somewhere to store a reasonable amount of gear for a short amount of time.

Tape or Pro Tools?

This is an important issue to consider before you start your session at Q Division. Our facility has two rooms that are both equipped with state of the art 2" Studer tape machines and Pro Tools* rigs. This means you, your producer, and engineer all have to make a decision as to what medium you want to record (and mix) your project on.

There's a common misconception about recording to Pro Tools: that it's cheap! While tape is admittedly an expensive upfront cost, recording to Pro Tools or in any digital medium also has costs, though these might be a little hidden. Read on below.

It is a little beyond the scope of this FAQ to tackle the differences between these two technologies in any depth, but there are a few things to consider that might help you make a dedcision:

How much time do you have? (more on this topic here)
It can be faster to work in one medium alone, as opposed to printing to tape and transferring tracks to a computer as they are recorded. If you have limited time, choose one medium and stick to it. For instance, it might be FASTER to work on tape if the band is well rehearsed and parts are well defined and known ahead of time.

How do people want to work? How are they used to working?
A lot of people are already used to recording at home to computers, so exploring a new medium at this point might not be the best idea. If you're used to moving stuff around freely and on the fly, tape might not be for you.

*In order to move fluidly between BOTH of our studio's, Pro Tools sessions must remain below a 48.1 kHz sample rate. To record to higher sample rate Studio A must be booked, and sessions will not be able to move to Studio B without sample rate conversion.

We're tracking to Pro Tools, do we need a hard drive/backup?

Absolutley! Q Division provides courtesy hard drive space while you're working in our studios, however we STRONGLY encourage you to do 2 things:
A. Buy a VXA Data Storage tape from us for daily backup of your data.
B. Bring your own firewire/usb hard drive for long term data back up.
We cannot be responsible for your data if IT'S NOT BACKED UP daily. The most efficient way for us to do that is using industry standard technology that automates backup to VXA tape on a daily schedule. Using your own hard drive at the end of the day or week provides a double level of safety, and allows you to easily take your data with you when you leave. Using BOTH systems allows safe long term protection for your data. For more information on archiving and protecting your digital data contact your engineer directly.

We're only tracking one song for a 1/2 day. Do we still need a hard drive?

There is other media you can back your data up to, such as CDR or DVD, but we still recommend redundant back up of data whenever possible (i.e. your own external hard drive or our VXA tape). You'll also want to allow a little bit of time at the end of the sessions for data backup.

Does Q Division have instruments and amps we can use?

Yes! Check out the Amps and Instruments page for an idea of what we have. We'd be glad to try and help you find a specific instrument if we don't have it.

Does Q Division have drums we can use?

Drums are the only instrument we have that generally must be rented. The drums at Q Division belong to, and are maintained by, world renowned drum tech Carl Plaster. Carl has made available many many drums for our use, and there's bound to be the perfect sounding kit for your record or song somewhere in the building. There are a small handful of drums at Q that aren't Carl's drums, and those might work fine for your song.

Should we rent drums?

Well, Carl's drums sound pretty awesome. Your drums might be in perfect order for recording, but if you have any doubt (and were out late at a 3 hour gig the night before), it might be best to rent some of Carl's drums. You may only want to rent a kick drum or a snare, but whatever you need, Carl's probably got it. For best results, consult with your engineer ahead of time.

We don't have a drummer/bassist/trombonist/kazzoist. Can you recommend someone?

Yes! If you're looking for musicians to perform on your recording, we have all sorts of players we'd be happy to put you in touch with. Even if you need an extra-special touch of strings or something exotic in one tiny place, let us know and we'll help you find that missing piece.

We don't have an engineer. Do we need one? Can you recommend someone?

Your session at Q Division will always be staffed by a Q Division engineer. Our studio manager has carefully matched you and your music with one of our engineers. We insist on staffing your session with one of our engineers (even if you have your own engineer) to make sure your session flows as smoothly as absolutely possible. You'll probably notice an intern helping out - they're on your session to speed things up and to act as runners. If you don't want an intern on your session, please let your engineer know!

We don't have a producer. Do we need one? Can you recommend someone?

Like your engineer, a producer is another (temporary) member of your band. Much has been written about the role of the producer, and this FAQ is not the place to get into it in any depth. However, if you'd like help finding the Fifth Beatle for your band or project, let us know.

How long does it take to record a song/album/kazoo solo?

The answer to that question depends on a bunch of things:
How long are your songs? How many people are in the band? How is the song going to be recorded? How many parts are there? How much time do you have? How much pre-production will you do? How well are your instruments behaving?

A basic rule of thumb is that it takes about a day to record a song from beginning to end, on a fairly tight budget. You can budget less time if your songs are short, super simple and there are few people in the band. But budget more time if your songs are epic, complicated, and require multiple overdubs! Keep in mind that many of the songs you hear on the radio, or on the iTunes, have probably taken more then a day a song to produce.

Talk to your producer, engineer, and the musicians involved to set a reasonable budget and schedule together. Don't forget that things tend to take longer in the studio then they do in rehearsals and at shows. Budget time (and money!) for breaks, eating, and getting to know each other better while confined in specific spaces for long hours!