“Having that flexibility in a console enables producers to do their jobs better. It keeps them focused on creativity and really allows them to express their sound.” he continues. A couple of Grammy-winning engineers and producers have worked in the new room since it opened. “They were cutting bands and used all SSL mic pre’s, right off the bat,” he reports. “We have a rack full of other mic pre’s, but they both went straight to the SSL pre’s and got amazing sounds in five minutes. So we've been nothing but thrilled by our new ORIGIN.”
Lewis fully involves ORIGIN in every project. “Even in cases where I use external processing, I still bring everything back at line level on a fader before Pro Tools. I really love how the console’s default state is small fader to tape. The workflow makes a lot of sense; the way you can punch the filters and EQ in and out, the dual input paths per channel, and the path flip. Everything hits the small fader, then I like to use the EQs on the console — that's my workflow. No matter what the signal path is, it always ends up coming through the SSL before it goes to tape or Pro Tools.”
The ORIGIN is a perfect fit for the modern pop world’s workflow, Lewis continues. “When I'm working with a lot of pop producers, they're bringing in a workstation, keyboard synths and interfaces, and I’ll have those running through the console and feeding Pro Tools. If I'm working with a guy like Danja, who produces all the Justin Timberlake stuff, he'll be building a beat in Ableton and sending me stems that I’ll put into Pro Tools. He'll also start playing stuff live, so I’ll have his interface running through a set of faders that are bussed to Pro Tools inputs. I'm simultaneously monitoring live inputs and feeding inputs into Pro Tools and recording. I keep channels 1 and 2 in the 0 dB fader bypass mode, pan the channels left and right and I have a perfect Pro Tools monitor path, right off the console. That workflow, for me, is crucial.”
