{"id":461089,"date":"2026-10-09T10:40:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T10:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/461089\/"},"modified":"2026-10-09T10:40:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T10:40:11","slug":"q-division-studios-went-old-school-for-a-week-with-reel-to-reel-tape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/461089\/","title":{"rendered":"Q Division Studios went old-school for a week with reel-to-reel tape"},"content":{"rendered":"

Digital technology has taken over the way art is made, from photography to film to music. But a 40-year-old recording studio in Cambridge recently pushed its computers to the side for one week so today\u2019s musicians could experience the wonders of old-school reel-to-reel equipment.<\/p>\n

On a Monday morning in September, Q Division\u2019s <\/a>main audio tech Michael Healey prepared for the first band\u2019s arrival. The 32-year-old gently threaded a strip of two-inch-wide analog tape from one big, metal reel to another.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo this machine that we have here is the only machine currently in service for two-inch, 24-track \u2014 it’s a Studer 827 from, I believe, the late \u201890s,\u201d Healey said as he guided the media across magnetic heads. \u201cIt works a lot like a Walkman that you maybe used to have \u2014 so fast-forward mode if you want to get to a certain section of the song.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"QQ Division audio engineers Rafi Sofer and Michael Healey work at the audio console of the Studio A control room, in Cambridge, Mass. (Robin Lubbock\/WBUR)<\/p>\n

For the audiophiles at Q Division, analog\u2019s appeal goes beyond the gear.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s a certain magic to recording to tape and hitting the playback,\u201d said Rafi Sofer, the studio\u2019s head engineer. \u201cThere\u2019s a certain hard-to-articulate character that this media has to it that is both physical and \u2014 I don’t want to get hokey \u2014 but a little spiritual.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sofer, who\u2019s 53, learned to edit tape when he started working at Q Division in 2000. Back then, artists including the Pixies, Morphine and Aimee Mann recorded on analog here. He traced the medium\u2019s heyday to 1960s and \u201870s classic rock pioneers like the Beatles, Queen, Pink Floyd and the Beach Boys who painstakingly produced masterpieces on relatively rudimentary reel-to-reel equipment.<\/p>\n

Sofer marvels at the time, patience and craft that went into making those physical recordings that engineers edited with razor blades and splicing tape. It can boggle the modern mind, he said, \u201cbecause we’re so used to editing stuff in digital workstations, and we can fix things instantly without making people have to perform them again.\u201d<\/p>\n

He explained how getting it right while recording live-to-tape requires more time, preparation and intention.<\/p>\n

\"AA digital recording machine, the replacement for multitrack tape recorders, at Q Division Studios in Cambridge, Mass. (Robin Lubbock\/WBUR)<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone has to play much better because editing is far more complicated \u2014 the tape machine has to behave, us engineers have to be great,\u201d Sofer said. \u201cWe need to perform it really well now, which heightens the stakes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Digital editing is far less risky. In addition to being speedy, it\u2019s also non-destructive \u2014 meaning you can always hit \u201cundo\u201d and make endless copies. Not so with analog.<\/p>\n

\u201cTape tears, tape breaks, and we erase things by accident,\u201d Sofer said. \u201cThat does happen \u2014 gone forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sofer is grateful for digital\u2019s safety nets, agility and affordability that have made producing music accessible to a wide range of independent artists. Q Division has been executing most of its production on computers since the early 2000s. But Sofer said reel-to-reel has a few special superpowers of its own.<\/p>\n

\"AA 24 track tape spool spins on a 24 Studer track recorder at Q Division recording studios in Cambridge, Mass. (Robin Lubbock\/WBUR)<\/p>\n

To illustrate, Healy pressed play on a drum and bass track they recorded to calibrate the 24-track machine. Then he quickly slowed the music down to a lumbering crawl. Sofer said reel-to-reel excels at speed variation and playing in reverse. \u201cAll this stuff delights us,\u201d he said, as he listened to the otherworldly, backward sounds.<\/p>\n

The team at Q Division wanted to share their delight with curious neophytes, which is why they rebooted the studio\u2019s \u201cAnalog Tape Week<\/a>\u201d that\u2019s been on hiatus since the pandemic<\/a>. \u201cWe thought this is a fun way to introduce young people by taking some of the costs out of it \u2013 we\u2019re throwing in the rental tape for free,\u201d Sofer said.<\/p>\n

According to Healey, only a handful of companies still make analog tape and a new reel of two-inch costs about $400. Sofer said some musicians still come to Q Division to record on reel-to-reel but, \u201cmost studios don’t even have a tape machine in them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe band Astral Bitch lays down a 24 track tape recording in the Q Division studios in Cambridge, Mass. (Robin Lubbock\/WBUR)\"MusicianMusician Sam Coren sings at a 24 track tape recording of the band Astral Bitch in the Q Division studios in Cambridge, Mass. (Robin Lubbock\/WBUR)<\/p>\n

The local alt-rock band Astral Bitch<\/a> grabbed the rare opportunity to lay down an analog track.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have not recorded on tape before; we’ve been very in the digital recording world,\u201d said 38-year-old singer and guitarist Sam Coren. \u201cSo we\u2019re really excited to kick it old school today with all the fun and magic that goes into a reel-to-reel tape recording.\u201d<\/p>\n

Drummer Michael Nasawaty, 47, was able to experience recording on analog equipment more than a decade ago and said he loved the warm, analog sound it brought to his instrument. \u201cIt\u2019s also like stepping into the past with the warmth of old recordings by Pink Floyd and the Beatles, two of the most iconic studio bands that created the path for every other band after them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MembersMembers of Astral Bitch pose for a photo in front of the 24 track tape recorder in the Q Division studios in Cambridge, Mass. (Robin Lubbock\/WBUR)<\/p>\n

Astral Bitch performed \u201cTime Will Tell,\u201d a song they diligently rehearsed leading up to recording day. When they finished, they came into the control room to listen back to their first analog track. Coren and bassist JC Climent, 46, stared at the vintage tape machine.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving it actually move the reels and spin is very hypnotic,\u201d Coren said.<\/p>\n

The DIY artists wished they could afford to record a full album on tape. But now they\u2019ve got one song made on reel-to-reel to memorialize their trip back in time.<\/p>\n

The engineers at Q Division hope to host another Analog Tape Week in January.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Digital technology has taken over the way art is made, from photography to film to music. But a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":461090,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[168,170,169],"class_list":["post-461089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lubbock","tag-lubbock","tag-lubbock-headlines","tag-lubbock-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=461089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461089\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/461090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}