Mentor Edwin Ramos and Chris Litwin
of Meriden, Connecticut wasn’t the first person you’d think of to start a career in audio engineering. In his forties, with a great day job as a highway supervisor and senior mechanic, he had already built a life for himself. He was established, comfortable. But as a lifelong musician, Chris had a dream and he decided to pursue it. Little could he have imagined at the time that it would result in a fruitful apprenticeship and solid friendship with a Grammy-winning producer, let alone having said producer help him in the building of his own recording studio.
Chris says he first made the decision to pursue audio engineering while recording an album with a band he played in back in 2003. He recalls the studio experience was eye-opening.
“I was recording at Carriage House in Stanford,” he says.
“I was just blown away on how music is created, how it was processed. And I wanted to be that guy, and having that album…that’s what got me hooked on it.”
Chris bought some gear and started trying to learn on his own.
“I started doing some recordings here and there,” he says.
“They weren’t the best, because I didn’t really know what I was doing.” When Chris made the choice to get some training, however, his early attempts at scoping out schools was a little disheartening, especially juggling his job.
“I was gonna go to IAR in New York City,” says Chris,
“but it was too far and there was no way I could do it.”
Then he discovered that the
Recording Connection not only could train him in a real recording studio, but also had mentors in several recording studios near where he lived, making it much easier for him to attend. He enrolled in the program and was placed at
ER Music in Waterbury, CT to be mentored by
Edwin Ramos, a Grammy-winning producer who had worked with clients such as
Dr. Dre, Calvin Richardson, Kirk Franklin and
Mary J. Blige. Chris recalls being “blown away” by Edwin’s abilities.
“The guy’s an absolute genius,” he says.
“It just blew me away some of the recordings that he has in that studio, and how he makes it sound. It’s unbelievable.”
Of course, Chris’ first days in the studio were primarily about un-learning some of the things he’d been doing wrong on his own— mistakes he’d been making with mic placement and signal processing, for example.
“I was compressing everything,” says Chris.
“We were laughing one day. [Edwin] was like, ‘Bro, it sounds like you’re trying to fit a 747 through a dime hole!'”
Another thing Edwin taught him, Chris says, is that it’s not always about the gear.
“You don’t really need a lot of crazy, expensive equipment,” he says.
“He was telling me about how he did Mary [J. Blige’s] thing with a piece of sh*t Behringer board. He said, ‘Chris, I put so much into that thing to make it sound the way that it did.’ He was telling me about how he [worked] for 8 to 12 hours on this one little section of the vocals. And you know what? She won a Grammy with that.”
Chris Litwin’s Hat City Music Productions
It turns out that Chris and Edwin formed a bond that has lasted well past the program. Now graduated from the basic course, Chris has been setting up his own recording studio in Danbury, CT, which he’s named
Hat City Music Productions after the town’s history.
“Danbury was one of the homes of the largest hat factories in the world. Stetson hats were made there,” he says. And guess who is helping Chris build out the studio? Grammy-winning producer Edwin Ramos, of course!
“When I go with the board, what board I’m gonna go with, he’s gonna come over and he’s gonna help me set it up, which is awesome!” says Chris.
And Chris says he’s not done learning, either: he has plans to continue with the Recording Connection master’s program, possibly with mentor
Dan Millice at The Engine Room in New York City.
“I look to continue to heighten my education of the recording business end of it,” says Chris,
“to go back to do the master’s program and learn the mastering end of it.”
Meanwhile, as Chris is already starting to get clients in his own studio, he remains close with Edwin and is grateful for the experience of apprenticing with him.
“He’s a great guy with a great personality,” he says.
“His knowledge base is awesome. I learned quite a bit from him. And lacking that knowledge starting out so many years ago, Edwin has given that knowledge to me, and I’m very fortunate to have worked with him…I would recommend anybody going to him.”
Talking with Edwin, it’s apparent the friendship is mutual.
“Chris is very motivated, very focused,” says Edwin.
“One of my best students. [He’s] recently graduated and just recently launched his own recording studio and is doing very well… I told him, ‘You’ve got to get out there, [like] you’re running for mayor, and just let people know who you are, what you are doing, and that you can help them.’ And he took my advice, and he’s got some pretty cool clients right now…He deserves everything that he’s got and everything that’s coming for him.”
Not satisfied with just a paycheck, Chris decided to put the effort into pursuing his dream. Today, with his new career just getting started, Chris definitely has a lot to be proud of—but what he feels most is gratitude.
“I love it,” he says.
“I sit in my studio and I go, ‘I’m thankful for what I have.’ I’ve worked very hard for what I have, and I’m very thankful.”
