Ken Lewis knows his craft. His credits include 71 platinum and gold albums and singles, 12 GRAMMY winners and 56 number one records – so far! He notes that “teaching is in my blood – my mom was one and I used to teach bass and guitar.” Before founding Audio School Online, Lewis discovered there was a lack of information online for what he thought budding producers and engineers needed to know. “My inspiration for putting this all together was to give the next wave of audio pros and artists the real-world skills and techniques to make professional recordings.”
The hardware and software Lewis uses in his lessons are the products he uses in his own studio work on a daily basis. “There isn’t a single mix where I don’t use Lexicon for the reverb,” he says. The PCM Native Reverb Plug-In Bundle is the best reverb plug-in he’s heard. “It’s the first time a plug-in has sounded 100 percent as good as the outboard stuff.”
In a course on choosing lead vocal effects, the Lexicon PCM Native Reverb Plug-In Bundle is a key element. “I use every one of the seven reverb plug-ins, all the time – Vintage Plate, Plate, Hall, Room, Random Hall, Concert Hall and Chamber.” Lewis shows students exactly why he uses the particular reverbs he does, for male and female and lead and background vocals. “I go step by step into how I manipulate all the parameters and why, and most importantly, the thought process as a mixer or a producer that goes behind what I’m teaching. Ultimately, the mood of the song dictates why I do something. With Lexicon, I can choose and fine-tune the perfect reverb to fit the mood.”
Another online lesson is called “Plugin Transformers” which emphasizes that ultimately there are no traditional ways to create new sounds. ”I used the Lexicon PCM Native Reverb Plug-In Bundle to show people there are really cool sounds they can achieve they might never have thought of, that they can incorporate into their own palette. Lewis finds the plug-ins to be highly flexible in their editing capabilities, easy to shape sonically and have “tons of presets and choices for starting points.” Most importantly: “They also just sound really good.”
“My style of teaching is very hands-on,” Lewis notes. “The lessons feel like we’re sitting together one on one, not like you’re sitting at a lecture with someone talking at you. When I do a lesson if mistakes happen, fine. I teach the same techniques I use everyday on records you hear, and in a way that’s very easy to understand and duplicate on your own.”
“In audio there is no right and wrong, just what you think sounds good. You need to envision what you want and how to go about getting it. Lexicon helps me teach people to open their mind to the possibilities.”
The feedback we’ve received for Audio School Online has been tremendous so far,” Lewis concluded. “We’ve gotten deep support from pros and amateurs alike. It makes me want to do more.”
HARMAN designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of infotainment and audio solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson® and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of 14,800 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.7 billion for the last twelve months ended December 31, 2013.
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