Studio Prodigy Sessions in LA: Eddie Kramer 6/21-22, “Analog Mastering in a Digital World” 6/28-29
Burning for a real learning experience? Engineer/mixer/producer Ryan Hewitt (blink-182, Dixie Chicks, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers) has a double shot coming LA way.
Eddie Kramer will be available to all Studio Prodigies on June 21-22.
His Studio Prodigy Master Class Series continues with a living legend — Session Four with Eddie Kramer runs June 21 and 22 at East West Studios. This two-day advanced class encompasses recording techniques on Day One, followed by mixing techniques on Day Two.
The logical follow up is Session Five: Analog Mastering in a Digital World with Chris Bellman and Francis Buckley, June 28 and 29 at Bernie Grundman Mastering. In this two-day advanced class, analog and digital mastering is fully encompassed, with an emphasis on mixing techniques for different media.
“Studio Prodigy is a unique educational program that puts engineers, mixers, producers and musicians who want to learn into the very rooms that those they admire are working in every day,” Hewitt explains of his motivation behind creating the series. “We provide a platform for the top engineers, producers and mixers in to share their knowledge in an intimate setting in some of the best studios in Los Angeles.
“I feel that the mentoring opportunities that I was fortunate to benefit from in this very experience-based profession have all but disappeared, and something needs to fill that gap,” continues Hewitt. “A weekend will not necessarily replace years of experience, but it can take an intelligent engineer of a certain ability and trigger an avalanche of new ideas for him or her. We are able to welcome people with a broad array of interest and experience levels, and have had all sorts of fascinating people attend our seminars from all over the world.”
For Hewitt, the payoff comes when attendees written to let him know that they’ve found the answers they needed to push their skills and abilities to the next level. “This is something that I believe cannot be done sitting alone in your studio,” he emphasizes. “It takes interaction with other professionals to exchange these ideas. Witnessing the excitement of curious people hanging out in the studio together has been a big payoff for me.”
Hewitt had multiple ideas for an educational series and discussed it with prospective partners since 2007, finally putting it into gear with the help of studio designer Hanson Hsu in 2013. The first sessions were well-received, drawing in both students and high-profile instructors alike.
Ryan Hewitt in his own instructional element (Photo: Hanson Hsu)
“Eddie Kramer heard about the success of the session that we did with Al Schmitt and Steve Genewick at Capitol Studios last summer, and approached me about working together on something similar for himself,” says Hewitt on the evolution of Session Four. “We decided that East West Studios would be the ideal place to hold the seminar given our common love for the place. It will be a weekend of making rock music the old-school way, with a band in the room playing together as Eddie has always preferred.”
With Session Five, the Studio Prodigy series provides Mssrs. Bellman and Buckley with a needed platform on which to produce the seminar they’d conceptualized. “They approached me to help them put their seminar into action, and so we have our first mastering session coming up at Bernie Grundman Mastering,” Hewitt notes. “Attendees will learn about how to mix with mastering for both analog and digital releases in mind, and get an up-close-and-personal lesson in cutting vinyl.”
Stay tuned for Session Six coming up later this summer, which will feature Hewitt’s mentor Jim Scott. The session will go down at Scott’s studio in Newhall — another welcome weekend of rock recording.
— David Weiss
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