Kris Hawkins

I've been working professionally in music for more than 20 years as a producer, audio engineer, musician, composer, and arranger. I've had the opportunity to work with artists including Beyoncé, Christina Aguilera, Enrique Iglesias, Dr. Dre, and others, along with producing music that has been placed in television and commercial media.

I've also been teaching music production at Musicians Institute in Hollywood for more than a decade, where I've been fortunate to receive four Teacher of the Year awards. I'm an Emmy Award-winning producer and the author of The Working Musician's Guide to Professional Success.

What I enjoy most about teaching is helping students understand not just how to do something, but why they're doing it. Learning software and techniques is important, but ultimately they're just tools. Whether we're talking about production, audio engineering, composition, arranging, songwriting, recording, mixing, or Logic Pro, I want you to understand the ideas behind what we're doing so you can apply them to your own music.

I don't teach every student the same way. If you have a song, production, mix, or arrangement you're working on, bring it in and we can work through it together. If you're starting from scratch, that's fine too. We can build lessons around the areas you want to learn and move at a pace that makes sense for you.

I've worked with everyone from beginners to experienced musicians and producers. Wherever you're starting from, the goal is to give you practical skills, answer your questions, and help you make better music.

I try to meet students where they are rather than force everyone through the same lesson plan. Some students learn best by working through a structured curriculum, while others get more out of bringing in a song, production, mix, or arrangement they're already working on and using that as the starting point.

I also like to explain the reasoning behind what we're doing. It's one thing to know how to use an EQ, compressor, virtual instrument, or a particular feature in Logic. It's more useful to understand why you would reach for that tool in the first place and what you're actually listening for.

My lessons are pretty relaxed and conversational, but they're also practical. I encourage questions, and I'm happy to slow down and really dig into a concept when needed. Whether we're working on production, engineering, composition, arranging, songwriting, or software, the goal is for you to understand the material well enough that you can use it on your own.