Songwriting Day 1

So i'm sitting in a studio in New York City right now doing some co-songwriting with super production/writing team MIDI Mafia and super songwriter Andrea Martin. We're all collaborating on songs for new artist Kierra Kwan. Hopefully Kierra will be a household name by this time next year, these things take time. Kierra is a 16 year old starlet with a beautiful voice and a very genuine personality. So far we're all having alot of fun creating music, writing lyrics, vibing to tracks, etc... Its going well so far. We're almost finished for the day, though I'll be working on music for this song all night tonight, then we'll come back tomorrow and try to write another song. Who knows where this will all take us.

Basically, when a label signs a new artist, especially a pop artist, often they'll hook the artist up with writing sessions with all of the top songwriters around, try to write a ton of songs and see which ones come out best for the album. Most of the time far more songs are written than ever get included on the album release, so, its entirely possible that nothing we do in the next couple days will ever see the light of day, and then again its entirely possible that we'll write a hit that spins on radio and video for months and months. Its all a roll of the dice, and I'm always happy to roll the dice in hopes of coming up with a big win.

Of course I hope we write the song of the year, but regardless, for me the experience of being in this room with these immensely talented people is worth its weight in gold. Surrounding yourself with talented people is the best way to push your own talent past its current limits. Today i am definitely growing as a writer and a producer. I sometimes work with people who are intimidated by other peoples talent. Everybody in this room is feeding off of everyone else's ideas and making the outcome of the whole that much stronger. I love being around really talented people and today is a very good day. More updates from the trenches tomorrow.
-Ken Lewis


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Reality Check Please

So, a few posts ago i was looking for a female singer. Alot of people responded. I picked the voice i thought best suited for the song. Amateur singer, had only done maybe 1 or 2 things "professionally", but i loved the voice. So, I called her up, scheduled a date, accomodated her schedule, then she did not show up to the session. never called. Never emailed. She just didn't show up. I called her 2 hours after she was supposed to be here, and she said she forgot. I quickly ended that conversation, as well as the potential of that singer ever setting foot inside my studio or singing a note on one of my projects. I got a call several hours later from a friend of hers saying how she had a family crisis the night before, she's so sorry, blah blah blah.

I will only say that in 15 years of making records, i have never ever once forgotten about a session. not for any reason, and i've been through alot in 15 years. I have cancelled sessions, shown up late, started late, had to leave earlier than i should have, made mistakes, big mistakes, but never ever have i just forgotten that i had a session. Not once in 15 years. So, needless to say, when someone "forgets" they have a session with me, my response is typically to forget that i know them. Especially if that person is someone trying to break into the business. ESPECIALLY IF I AM THE ONE PAYING THEM!!!!! I've had artists not show up to sessions before, but i was getting paid regardless. This time, i was paying that singer.

Now, i'm not gonna say who this person is. That is irrelevant, and trust me, you'll never hear her name anyway if this is the way she thinks she'll build her career. It takes more than talent. I'm only posting about this for all of the rest of you out there. This is a wake up call. a reality check. A chance to take a good hard look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself "do i want to make music a career or not". Its an honest question, a hard question to honestly ask yourself and get a straight answer, because alot of you, most of you probably would say "yes, i DEFINITELY want a career doing music", but alot of you would be lying to yourselves. Many people WANT a career in music, but i'd say 95% of you just do not have the drive that it takes to build a sustainable career. (if you are reading this and have the slightest hesitation that you might be in that 95%, you probably are, the other 5% think they are in the top 1%, trust me). I'm not trying to insult you, but a sustainable career in music is damn near impossible, because EVERYBODY wants to work in the music industry. I never once doubted ever that i would have a successful career in music.

I hear alot of times "well, i gotta keep my 9 to 5 til something jumps off for me". Or, guys who want to get where i am i hear often "I cant afford to intern for free, i need to pay my bills". I do understand, all i will tell you is that there are PLENTY of other people out there willing to make that commitment, so while you are paying your bills, someone else is building their resume, and when you apply for the same job they do a year from now, guess who's going to get the job. It sucks, but its a fact of life.

People ask me constantly "how can i make this a career?" or "how can i make records like you do?". The simple answer is if you are not doing music more than full time (I typically work 70 to 100 hour weeks, mostly 7 days a week, nights, weekends), even if you are not getting paid yet for it, then you are not going to be able to keep up with the other people who are making that commitment, who are barely scraping by, but building their experience, their resume, their credits, their talent. there are always exceptions to every rule, but for the most part, this is the rule. If you want music to be your career, tighten your F'ing belt and get in the game.

I'm not just talking the talk. I moved from Cincinnati to New York City when i was 22 years old. I saved for many months before i made the move. Long story short, the day after i got to NYC, all of my money was GONE. travel expenses and rent/security deposit took almost every penny i saved. I started my new job at a big NYC studio the day after i arrived, working 102 hours my first seven days (i earned $150 per week my first couple weeks - thats a dollar fifty an hour!!!, on week three i got a low hourly wage but worked a TON of hours and barely made rent the next month). I did not know anyone in NYC, i just knew that was where i was going to make my career. I started here flat broke and working an insane amount of hours (still do), and over time, my career developed. Now i do pretty well.

One more success story for you. My production partner used to be my intern. Before that, he went to Berklee College of Music. After his first two semesters, instead of going home for the summer to chill, he went straight to NYC to intern at a studio all summer, then he went straight back to school in the fall. Never went home. Went back to school that fall and spring while also interning at another studio at the same time. After spring semester, he went straight from school back up to NYC to work as my intern for the summer. unpaid. Before fall semester started for him, he had become such an asset to me that i offered him a full time paid position to stay working with me and not go back to school. He accepted. That was three years ago. He has since won a Grammy for engineering, gotten 2 more nominations, and has a bunch of gold and platinum albums. THAT is how you build a career. THAT is how you walk the walk. Most people would have gone home for the summer and chilled.

So the short moral to the story is, if you are a singer, engineer, producer, artist ...... fill in what you do here..... and a Grammy winner calls you for a session, you'd better drop what you are doing, set three alarms, have a friend call and remind you, camp out down the block, do whatever you have to do to make sure you show up at that session, preferably on time, especially if you are not yet making a living doing music!!!! I don't want to come off like i'm arrogant, because honestly, if someone calls me tomorrow, anyone calls me tomorrow, and says "hey i need you for a session" (and they can afford me), you'd better believe i will be at that session. Thats just conducting yourself professionally. Real opportunities come few and far between in this business, and most of the time real opportunities are the ones you find for yourself. If you are sitting there waiting for opportunity to come, you'll be waiting a long time.

So, if you are still reading, maybe you do have what it takes. And if you are still reading and do have what it takes, then I'll leave you with this. I am currently seeking co-writers to collaborate with. NOT beatmakers, i have too many already. I want to find talented lyricists/singers, mostly pop, R&B and hip hop, male or female. professional attitude. i dont care if you have zero credits, i care if your a hot writer. If this is you and your looking to collaborate, drop me an email and lets talk. I am VERY picky about who i work with as a writer, so bring your A game. and for gods sake, if we book a session, show up.

-Ken

More REMIX Tips....

If you havent read my previous post, read it first, the full article in REMIX Magazine is a great read and all of the engineers tips are spot on. When REMIX asked me to contribute, I submitted a bunch of tips, at the bottom are the ones that didn't get printed in the magazine. I thought some of you might benefit from them.

........Oh, just one thing before I say anything else. In the spirit of staying humble and keeping my head from completely over inflating, I merely want to point out that the REMIX article's title was "Secrets From 5 Top Mixing Pro's". It was NOT titled "From THE 5 Top Mixers". I'm just happy to be "in the club". There are so many amazing mix engineers out there (well, relatively speaking there are very few, but there are so many that i admire), here's a short list of some of the other R&B/Hip Hop mixers i thought could have easily contributed to the REMIX article, this is not by any means a comprehensive list of my favorite guys, but here's a few mixer's who's work is really top notch.....

Rich Travali, Jon Gass, KD, Serban, Charles Alexander, Mike Dean, Duro, Young Guru, Ryan West, Jimmy Douglass, Phil Tan, Jean Marie Horvat, Dave Way, Bob Power, Dexter Simmons, man this list could go on and on, and I'm sure I'm forgetting alot of great guys.

Anyway, on with the show...........

Here's a link to a Word Doc with my additional tips they didn't have room to print. Please keep in mind, that the intangible, one of the most important reasons i'm considered a "Top Mixer" is experience. 15 years of major label mixing experience. There are alot of you artists and producers trying to mix stuff yourselves, and it's not sounding like one of my mixes, or one of those guys above. I'm in the studio 7 days a week, roughly 330 days a year, every year. There are things that i know about mixing that most people reading this will never know, because of my extensive experience, so just keep in mind that while tips can be helpful, nothing but nothing can replace the time spent developing and perfecting your craft, whatever that craft may be. If your an artist or a producer, and you want a major label level mix, you might wanna consider hiring one of us to do it. Ok, on with the tips..... ENJOY!

Ken%20Lewis%20Mixing%20Tips.doc

-Ken Lewis

REMIX MAGAZINE - April Feature

REMIX Magazine recented asked me if I would contribute some of my knowledge to an article they were featuring for the April issue titled "Hit The Desk - Secrets From 5 Top Mixing Pro's". I am humbled to be included in this incredibly distinguished list of guys, and very flattered that REMIX included me in this article.

Here's a little sample of the article, thats my pic at the top if ya'll wanna know what i look like..........


REMIX---Ken-Lewis.jpg


REMIX also reprinted the entire article online at the link below........


Secrets From 5 Top Mixing Pro's


ALSO, you'll notice that they saved my comments for the end of the article, the heading is called "Digital Strength", however, the whole article is a very good read. however, if you read below the article, the text in blue is stuff they didnt print in the magazine but additional tips and techniques that we all submitted. I have three more "tips" in that section, so i got a little more air time online. Its all good. I'm honored that they'd print even three words of mine next to the likes of Tony Maserati! A special thanks to Jason Scott Alexander from REMIX who did a great job assembling all of our secrets and writing a wonderful article. Even i learned something from it, but then i know i can still learn a ton from these guys myself.

Happy reading,
-Ken

Female Vocalist Needed ASAP

So, if you are, or know somebody, in the New York City area, who is a really good female vocalist, with a high soft voice, who can sing Pop/R&B and sing in tune with very little vibrato...... I'd like to talk to you. I just need a vocalist to sing a songwriting demo for me that will be shopped to labels. The song will be the feature, not the vocalist, but might be good experience/exposure. Anyway, I've got a little budget to pay the right person for a vocal session. I need this done ASAP.

I will not consider hiring anyone who cant at least send me an MP3 of something with their voice on it.

If you are this person, or know someone who would be interested, call me at the studio, 800-808-6544, or drop me an email ASAP, and lets get to work. One more word of note, often this is how i end up finding people that i use over and over again on often very big projects. This one is not a big project, its a demo, but when i'm done with it, it will sound (hopefully) like a mjaor label hit.

Thanks in advance

-Ken Lewis

Secret Weapons Pt II

OK. Before i divulge even more of my "super secrets" (yeah right), i know there are many people reading this thing who never post comments. Well, its about time you did. I want all of you people to chime in with a tip of your own with one of your top secret weapons. Now, i don't care if your an experienced engineer or a just starting out producer, i don't care if you have a recommendation for the best budget mic pre or the most high end microphone, your favorite keyboard sounds, or whatever. SHARE SOMETHING. I want this post and the responses to be about sharing ideas and info. Trust me, giving up one of your secrets is not going to end your career, and if many of you all chime in, we all might learn a few things and we all might get a little better at what we do. OK, lets hear you.

My tip of the day is the Line 6 Variaxe Guitar. This thing is a gem. Its a modeling guitar, a la what the POD does for amps, this does for guitars. For a studio piece, its amazing. You can sit down and have like 50 different tones to check out without touching your amp setting. and the tones, in my humble opinion, alot of them sound great! If you spend some time pairing up the right guitar tone with the right amp, the results can be stellar. I'm really digging this thing thru Amp Farm, and the Native Instruments Guitar Rig II, and its also killer thru real amps. I ran it thru my Madison half stack and DAMN, the Madison is a really good sounding, really versatile head and cab (i had them custom load my 4x12 cabs with 2 different types of speakers, so depending on where i put my mic's, i can even vary cabinet tone :-) and the Variaxe thru the Madison produced awesome results. I definitely wouldn't take this guitar on stage (just bought the bottom of the Line model, which doesn't stay in tune well), but i can definitely see investing in their top line model ($1,500 ouch), but a great guitar.

And here's the best part......... are you ready.......

NO HUM!!!!

thats right, for all you guys recording guitar and all you get is hum and buzz, the Variaxe DOES NOT HUM AT ALL. It doesn't have standard pickups, so no RF interference!! How bout that! That alone sold me.

OK. So, between Secret Weapons part 1 and part 2, hopefully you picked up at least one cool new thing to try or check out. Now its your turn. Whoever you are reading this, take 5 seconds and offer up something. favorite plugin? virtual synth? software? hardware? speakers? (Event of course :-) whatever. and trust me, even if your new, other "new" guys read this too. something you share could really help them. ready....go. If i get good responses, I'll keep divulging more of my secrets.
-Ken Lewis

Top Secret Weapons

I am currently ADDICTED to the show "Alias". Been buying the DVD box sets and I'm almost done with the 3rd season. Ya know, I was never really into James Bond, though i've seen several of the movies, but I really like the way they do Alias (though often, as with any TV show, you must suspend reality a little bit sometimes). I think its cool to see all the little top secret spy gadgets they come up with, all the different cities around the world they travel to so they can steal some top secret blueprints or thwart some impending terrorist attack with seconds to spare. You know what I'm talking about. Plus, the music they use for it is AWESOME. Great music supervision.

Anyway. On a much more boring note, I thought maybe I'd divulge some of my super secret weapons. I wont give you the encrypted codes to the alarm systems, but I will tell you about some of the pieces in the "vault".

Time and time again i have relied on the Zvex Fuzz Factory guitar pedal to give me that fuzzy distorted 70's guitar tone. I played thru it on "Throwback" by Usher, and I played thru it again tonight for a sample recreation of an old Motown song. The chain tonight was my 78 Fender Strat into the Zvex, into my Madison Guitar head, mic'd up to tape. I also love the Zvex Seek Wah pedal. You can hear it on my main page LISTEN examples if you check out "Small Town Sleeper". 4 bars into the song, it sounds like some crazy arpeggiated guitar in the right speaker. Thats the Zvex Seek Wah doing most of the work. Its a real pain to time it right though.

My SPL Mix Dream is my latest secret weapon for mixing. Its an analog summing box, kind of like mixing thru a console with no faders or eq's, only inserts and a mix buss. But i get to easily incorporate all my great vintage analog gear into my mixes, which i think adds a bit more depth to things.

For plugin EQ's, I literally use about ten different ones all the time. For real surgical strikes, where i'm doing more notching out or tight boosting, I'll usually grab the Oxford EQ or the Waves Q1. The Oxford Filters are really good too. I just got the Eventide EQ and Filter which i find amazing. It does things no other plugin will do, and does them well. a Very musical EQ. For smooth top end, usually the Bomb Factory Pultec is great for shaping. I often rely on the Joe Meek EQ for Midrange boosts around 800Hz to 2K. Its great on Fender Rhodes or a Side Stick. Its got a really pronounced sound, not subtle, but effective if thats what you want. The URS stuff is pretty darn good too, mostly for broad shaping, but you can get extreme with them. GRM Tools Band Filter is an awesomely dirty filter. complete with artifacts galore. If you want a little grit, thats the one. It kind of reminds me of an old analog pultec passive filter. I dont really like the Focusrite Forte Suite. Its ok, but there's not much that makes it stand out. The De-esser works sometimes when the Reinessance De-esser doesnt. Crane Song makes i think the best "tape compression" plugin with their "Pheonix". Its one of those things that either sounds great or terrible. Its subtle, but very audible and will change up EQ and compression in a unique way. The McDSP G Channel is a pretty awesome all around tool. The EQ is very good but lacks a defining character, same with the compressor. Sometimes no added character is a good thing. Oh, and "Vinyl" from izotope is really awesome for certain filtering. Doesnt really sound like vinyl, but the effect is very cool.

I could probably give the same breakdowns for compressors, but i gotta get back to this sample recreation. Its really kicing my ass. Imagine recreating a full on old Motown production, trying to capture every nuance of those amazing players, tones, instrumentation, its fun, challenging, and nightmarish all at the same time. This sample has drums, lots of percussion, bass, several guitars, rhodes, wurlitzer, string section, and horn section. Its FULL. And of course, it sounds like they are using those old Motown reverb chambers as well, and you know everything was going thru tubes and (what is now highly sought after) vintage gear. This one is a real challenge, but i'm getting very close. Back to work.
-Ken


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