Grammy Balloting - Attention NARAS Members

OK, some shameless self promotion! If you are a member of NARAS (National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences - the people who vote on the Grammy Awards) then you just got your Grammy Ballot for the 2008 Awards.

May i humbly ask you to vote for a song i produced which is up for balloting in 2 categories!

John Legend "Another Again"

on your ballot

Field 6
Category 24 "Best Male R&B Vocal Performance"
Category 28 "Best R&B Song"

man would i love to see this song get a nomination! Your vote would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!

-Ken Lewis

Orchestra Tips - Tech post

I'm back from vacation in Europe and back to the serious grind. Its all good, my batteries are recharged and I'm feeling great. I saw an orchestra perform in Bern, Switzerland while i was overseas and i wanted to blog a little bit about it. Here's a picture of the orchestra Hall....

Click on the pic to enlarge

Its a beautiful Hall and I'd guess it to have a reverb time of between 1.5 and 2 seconds of decay. I wanted to get a pic with the whole orchestra seated but i would have gotten kicked out. Anyway. How many up and coming musicians, producers, artists, engineers, etc... have been to an actual live orchestral performance? if you havent, YOU OWE IT TO YOUR CAREER TO GO!!!!! Especially young producers. This was a small orchestra, about 33 people, but i've seen orchestras with over 100 performers and its a magical experience. But as a learning experience, its priceless!! Here are some thoughts as to why....

1. you get to hear what a real hall reverb sounds like instead of a digital simulation.
2. You can visually see the interaction of the players, which will help train your ear to which instruments sound like what.
3. Its simply awesome to sit and watch a stage full of players play for 2 hours completely in tune, in time, and together.

How many of you know the difference between what a viola sounds like and what a violin sounds like? Do you know what an Oboe sounds like? how bout a Bassoon? French Horn? Then you NEED to go see an orchestra perform.

Can you distinguish between what the 1st violins section is playing and what the second violins section is playing? Did you even know there were 2 different sections of violin in an orchestra? Do you know what Pizzicato sounds like? How do the horns and woodwinds layer with the strings?

Why does any of this matter??? Well, on one level it doesnt i guess, but strings are often a big part of alot of productions in any genre and knowing how they really sound live, how they really perform together and against each other live might just help you to improve your own string writing or open you up to new ideas to try with your own work. It certainly has that effect on me. When the Bern Orchestra was playing, at one point the flute was doubling the strings which was a sound i hadnt really heard before. It was really nice to hear how the trumpets and French horns held long notes while the strings wove around them, and the dynamics!!! WOW THE DYNAMICS!!!

There were over 1,000 people in the concert hall and at times the orchestra played so quiet you could hear yourself breathe, and at times when the whole orchestra would get really quiet then pause, 1,000 + people were so quite you could hear a pin drop on stage, then the orchestra would roar back to life in a wall of sound. And the reverb floating thru the concert hall when the orchestra did big stop hits. You could really hear how the natural sound of the hall reinforced the instruments and added to the entire experience. Can you tell i liked it? you should go to a performance for yourself!

-Ken Lewis back in the USA

Leaving Paradise Tomorrow

I'm still in Lake Brienz, Switzerland and it is still very much paradise here. I'm posting some pics from my hike yesterday. I hiked all the way to the top of the waterfalls, which was a deceivingly high and fun trek. The view from the top of the falls out across the lake is pretty amazing. Enjoy!

I took a boat trip around Lake Thun today and explored the town of Interlaken. I wanted to do some paragliding, but it didnt come together. Maybe next trip. In the morning i leave Brienz and i'm heading to Gruyeres, Switzerland, then on to Yvoire, France for the day/night before returning back to the states. I dont want to come home.

-Ken Lewis from Brienz, Switzerland

Hi Above Lake Brienz near the top of my hike, my hotel is far below

From behind a part of the waterfall, looking out across lake Brienz. My hotel and the lake are in view

A beautiful picture of Lake Brienz from in front of my hotel

I've Found Paradise and I'm staying

Sorry, i'm quitting the music industry. I have found paradise and decided to stay. OK, well, at least thru the end of the week. I'm in Brienz, Switzerland staying in a hotel right on Lake Brienz, right in the middle of the Alps. It is STUNNING here. I've posted a couple pics of the view out my hotel room window as well as a few others. There's a lake right out one windown and a waterfall out the other window, does it get any better than this? i think not.

Yesterday i went to JungFrau Mountain, one of the tallest in the Alps. I took a train to 11,300 feet, the highest train station in all of Europe. the view was specatular!!!

Other fun fact. I was only a couple miles away from my hotel yesterday driving past a farm and out of nowhere, two Swiss F-18 Fighter Jets took off practically right in front of me. Must be an air base on the other side of that farm. It was incredible. Today i was hiking all over the mountain and along the waterfalls, and the F-18's spent a large part of the afternoon above practicing dogfighting and maneuvers. Pretty cool, but i'll take the serenity over everything else.

-Ken Lewis from Brienz, Switzerland

the View from my hotel room window. I'm never leaving this place.

the view from my other hotel room window (same room! is this paradise or what!)

More Pics from Europe

Still on vacation. Had a GREAT day. I went to the Medieval town of Murten in Switzerland today and among other things, walked the walls of the old city. Back in Medieval times, this village was protected by a wall completely surrounding it, complete with towers and turrets and everything else you might picture. I have a pic here from it with me walking the wall, as well as a pic from the wall looking over all of the rooftops of Murten. hundreds of chimneys everywhere.

then i went to Bern, Switzerland today and walked the city. Beautiful place, but the highlight was catching the Orchestra in town tonight performing two pieces by Hayden and a piece by Mozart. It was awesome. i have pics of the hall that i'll post tommorow. Couldnt get any pics of them actually playing, i think i'd have gotten kicked out, but the music was amazing. Here's some pics from the last few days.

-Ken Lewis

This is taken from inside my hotel room in Sirmione, Italy. I swear. I stayed literally a stones throw from a 13th Century Castle, which was also right on Lake Garda (as was my hotel room. Sirmione was AMAZING

The rooftops of Murten, Switzerland. An old Medieval walled city. This pic was taken from atop the old walls, overlooking the old city

The Duomo Cathedral in Milan, the largest Gothic Cathedral in the world and third largest Cathedral in the world. Pretty stunning, and definitely the highlight of Milan

Luzern, Switzerland at night.

Me climbing the walls of Murten, Switzerland

Pictures From the Top of the World

Right now i'm in Luzern, Switzerland and about to depart for Murten, Switzerland, a little Medieval town near Bern. This vacation is awesome so far and boy did i need it. Friday i went to the top of Mont Blanc in France and a cable car called a "Funicular", and yes it was very fun. I've attached some pics I took of Mont Blanc. Saturday i spent the day in Milan, Italy. It was ok but Milan as a city kind of feels like the bastard stepchild of Rome, kind of similar but not as nice and lacking the historical impact. I liked it there but i dont see going back. Sunday i traveled to Sirmione, Italy, a little in the middle of beautiful Lake Garda. Wait til i post pics of that place. wow. it was cool. Yesterday was spent driving to Luzern (3:30 hour trek thru Italy and Switzerland - I'm renting a car) and the rest of the day/night in Luzern, Switzerland. So far the trip has been great. Lots more to see and do, and plenty more time to relax and enjoy. As promised, here are some pics from the top of Mont Blanc, at an elevation of about 11,700 feet. The air was thin but the view was truly breathtaking.

-Ken Lewis from Luzern Switzerland

6th Time is a Charm

So, I'm on vacation. If anyone ever needed a vacation, it would be me and it would be this fall. And i'm taking a good one. Yesterday i flew into Geneva, Switzerland. Rented a car and promptly got out of town. I went to see two really cool castles in the Swiss countryside. Drove along Lake Geneva, then made my way over an awesome mountain pass (thru the Alps) with one lane roads and hair pin turns and only a few guard rails, and arrived in Chamonix, France. Its my first trip to Switzerland, but this is my 6th time in France, and my first in Chamonix and the Alps. Chamonix is nestled right near the French border with both Switzerland and Italy and it sits at the base of the Alps. Its a beautiful little town and I'm really enjoying it. I had an amazing dinner at a little French restaurant here last night. I think i'll take a tram (called a Funicular) up the mountain today, then i think i'm turning south and heading for Milan, Italy. There are a few things i really want to see there. I assume i'll stay overnight there, but then who really knows. I didnt know i'd end up in Chamonix until about 3pm yesterday. It cant be hard to find a hotel room in Milan after all. I'm planning to spend maybe 2 or 3 days exploring northern Italy then i'll probably head back to Switzerland. This vacation is starting off great! I'll post some pics when i can. I hope you all are enjoying your day too :-)

-Ken Lewis
from Chamonix, France

October - REMIX Magazine

Its a good month. I've once again got a feature in REMIX Magazine. REMIX did a story on Sample Recreation and Interpolation (which i happen to be VERY good at :-) and i was a large contributor to the article. If your around Barnes & Noble, or your local news stand, pick it up!!! The article starts on page 48. Enjoy!

-Ken Lewis

a New Way Forward

No, this is not about Iraq, I doubt the way there will ever be forward. This is about the music industry, and the growing trends happening. Things are really getting interesting. Did you hear.....

Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails have been officially released from their major label contract, and Trent has vowed to stay completely independent from here on out, selling his music directly to his fans via his website.

Hit Def Jam rapper Joe Budden has also been released from his contract (by choice) and is now gearing up to release a mix tape via his website. He claims pre order sales are already at 25,000 units!!! Artists usually make about $1.20 per album sold when they are on a label. Simple math here, $1.20 X 25,000 = $30,000. Say after his expenses he makes $7 per unit on his mixtape. $7 X 25,000 = $175,000. Now, while thats not extravagant living, it aint bad money at all.

Radiohead. Their new album "In Rainbows" is available for download as of today directly from their website. In case you havent heard, the band is selling the downloadable version of their new album at...... get this.... whatever price YOU want to pay!!!! Even if you dont want to pay a single cent, you can download it from them for free, with their blessing (although I'm sure they'd rather you paid something). Now Radiohead is still signed to a major, but obviously this marketing strategy has the blessing of their label.

Prince. I dont know how Prince is marketing his new album, but his previous album a couple years ago, every person who bought a concert ticket to his completely sold out US tour also "purchased" a CD along with the ticket. Meaning the album "sold" over a million copies and stayed strong on the Billboard Charts for his entire tour. I'm sure he made 50 times more from his tour than he could have ever made on album sales. Genius.

Madonna is reportedly close to leaving her major label contract with Warner Music Group and signing an incredibly big deal with Live Nation, (which is a tour promoter) for touring and recording.

All this is to say that the industry is changing drastically and quickly, and more and more established artists are taking their careers into their own hands. Over the last several years i've seen majors stop developing and nuturing new talent like they used to, and at the same time focusing more and more on their keystone artists. But if their Keystone artists start leaving in droves, wow, the major labels are gonna be hurting. I'm not saying this is going to happen en mass, but its certainly happening on a small scale now. Something to keep an eye on for sure.

[EDIT] i just found this great article and wanted to add it...

And The Walls Came Tumbling Down

-Ken Lewis