Working Remotely with a Producer to Record Your Song - with Special Guest Scott Horton
In today’s DIY culture, it’s easier to record a song or album than ever without actually setting foot in a commercial recording studio. Nowadays you have access to top-notch producers around the world who can create the music bed you dream of to support your vocal magic. If you’re a singer/songwriter, you can record your vocals in your own home with a basic set up (and I have courses to help you with that), and the producer will do the rest of the work, creating the radio-ready music tracks and integrating your vocals. Today I introduce you to remote producer Scott Horton, who I have written and recorded DOZENS of songs with (some of which have been used on television shows), and we will show you how to make the experience of creating a song remotely easy, breezy, and beautiful! At the bottom of the article I’m going to share one of my rough demos, and the final version created by Scott. You will be blown away at the transformation!
1. Walk us through how a song production job usually starts and finishes for you.
I’m first contacted by a songwriter who is either writing for their own artist project where they are the featured vocalist, or very often by non-vocal songwriters who still write great music and need to bring in outside help for the instrumental and vocal production.
We’ll usually start by going over an official brief (from a sync publisher, for example) or simply the artist’s vision for the song where they detail any references, tempos, instrumentation, effect ideas, and so on. Starting with their demo and/or scratch vocals, I’ll take a few days and record the complete instrumental for the song and give it a decent enough mix to inspire the vocal performance.
From here, we can make some changes if needed, but then the track goes back to the vocalist to record locally, either in a studio or home studio. If we’re bringing in a session vocalist, I’ll generally present three fitting choices along with their rates and let the writer choose who fits the envisioned sound best.
Once I get the vocals back, I’ll do any polishing I need to on them and work up the ready-to-release mix and master. Again, we’ll make changes if needed as it’s a totally normal part of the process to tailor everything to individual preferences.
Once all is approved, I’ll send over any HQ main and alternate versions they may need for the future. That’s it! Then they’ll do with the song as they wish, whether it be sign it to publishers, present it for sync, release it on Spotify etc...
2. How long have you been producing, and how did you learn your mad skills?
I started piano at a young age and continued to join every ensemble I could growing up, from marching band, symphonic band, dixie land, show choir, handbells, musicals, and was recording on early DAWs and porta-studios. Eventually ended up studying Music Production & Engineering and Music Business at Berklee College of Music where I really got into the recording and mix side of things.
Realizing production and mixing combined my skill-set of being a multi-instrumentalist, eagerness to work in different genres, and tendency to avoid performing live, it became the ideal work-from-home type career for me. Much of music (and life) is about experimenting, making mistakes, and learning what works, and this certainly applies to production and audio. So I’ve had my online business since 2010 and thankful that I still get to make music for a living and made it through the pandemic without issue.
3. How important is sound quality on the singer’s end? What are some tips you’d share with singers to deliver clean, well-recorded vocals?
Performance and recording quality are absolutely vital for a good final result. There’s only so much that can be done in post production to correct flaws in the recording or performance. One of the most common issues is capturing too much room in the microphone. Using a dynamic microphone as opposed to a condenser can be a great solution if creating some kind of booth isn’t an option.
Other tips that are important: Make sure you don’t have too much gain on your mic pre to avoid distortion. Back off on loud passages. Use a pop-filter. Used closed back headphones.
If the home recording situation isn’t ideal, it would be best to book a studio for an hour or two, where one can concentrate on the performance rather than worry about any technical details.
Also worth mentioning, sometimes the songwriter isn’t the most appropriate vocalist for the song, especially if the main goal is sync. In these cases, it’s best to search for and agree to hiring the right work-for-hire session vocalist whose tone can really help sell the song.
4. When it comes to the vocals, what do you need or expect for the singer to get done on their end - comping, pitch correction, breath editing, de-essing, adding FX, etc?
I’m happy to accept well-prepped files from vocalists who are comfortable doing certain tasks themselves. When in doubt, send raw, as many processes are difficult or impossible to correct once baked into the track (like compression, eq, over de-essing etc…)
Comping and choosing the right take is often very personal for the vocalist, so this is often best done on their end, though in some cases an outside opinion can also work nicely.
Smoothly pitch-corrected vocals via Melodyne are appreciated, but not anything auto-tuned as those artifacts are too permanent.
Clearly labeled tracks are very nice to have (Lead 1, Lead Double, Soprano Harmony, Alto Harmony, Gang Vocal etc….)
Clip gaining before exporting makes life easier later on. Ensuring the vocal level is somewhat consistent take-to-take, section-to-section so everything will be hitting the processors at a more averaged level without affecting the tone like compression does.
5. If I say, “I want my song to sound like Beyonce,” can you do it?
Reference tracks are the foundation of new productions in many cases, especially for sync. So while we definitely want to avoid any copyright infringement or blatant rip-offs, using a combination of a few reference tracks is vital for the songwriter to convey the tempo, vibe, instrumentation, and sounds they are looking for. Musical words can often get confusing as it leaves too much up to interpretation, but saying you love a particular distorted bass sound makes it easy to hone in on your sonic vision.
6. You live in the Czech Republic, are there any challenges to working with singer/songwriters completely remotely?
In some cases it’s an asset, especially if there are tight deadlines, as I can work on a song during my day and send it over to the U.S. by morning where a vocalist now has a complete day to write or record a topline. Some time zones are near complete opposite of my working hours, however, so there can be a small lag in response times, but not an issue if timelines are flexible.
My production is more “hands-off” where I do my thing, collaborator does their thing, and we provide input and feedback, but some remote producers may offer more video chats or live recording feeds as these are very real possibilities with modern internet speeds.
The other interesting thing about working here is I have access to many European vocalists and writers in many languages. Sometimes a songwriter wants to have their song translated and recorded in another language to open up more licensing possibilities. It’s a great way to get songs licensed as there isn’t near as much competition.
7. If someone hires you as a producer, do you retain any rights to the song, such as rights to the master? Is this something that is important to get in writing?
Not all producers work with the same terms, so always clarify BEFORE starting what rights remain with whom. I typically use a straightforward work-for-hire type deal where I’m completely uninvolved after I’m paid for my delivery. There’s so many organizations, paperwork, and accounting involved if needing to pay a third party who you may not have much contact with in recent years, and no one wants to lose a deal because they need a signature from another person.
So if no actual songwriting was contributed, I don’t take any writing/publishing or master. In general, while it is a good investment for the songwriter, the hassle of paying small amounts to someone else forever isn’t appealing or feasible. There can be clauses where everybody wins in case the song goes viral, say if something hits a million streams an extra bonus or royalty would kick in but this isn’t often the case.
Getting it in writing is vital as this protects both parties and solidifies the deal. Often times publishers require the writer to provide these work-for-hire forms before signing the song to ensure they have all the rights to properly pitch the track.
8. Do you ever pass on a project, and if so, why?
Yes, this happens all the time as even though I work in a wide-range of music, not every style is my specialty, so when it isn’t a great fit, I’ll suggest someone else who works in that genre more often. Over time, I’ve also realized just as important as the music is the client, so working with nice people whose musical visions click with mine make for a rewarding and productive collaboration.
9. Do you need chords, or can you work with just a melody?
Chords are definitely helpful to have if that’s how the song was written. It can save time and will keep the demo centered in the correct tonality. Whether the sketch was created with chords or not, recording to a click track is super helpful to keep things in a consistent time and allows me to create TO the vocal in my DAW. Just a melody can work okay too, as a fitting chord progression can be discovered relatively easily.
10. Ok slightly off topic, but fun question: When you’re not creating music, you do a lot of traveling. What’s your favorite place so far, and what’s still on the bucket list?
Yes! While I haven’t had to travel for work, travel for pleasure really opens up my world. I’m always happy to go back to Japan and Asia in general as it’s always a great time. South Africa has been pending since it was canceled due to the pandemic, so waiting for this to open up and my dream is to do an Antarctic cruise one day.
Thank you, Scott! And now, as promised, listen to a rough demo I sent Scott and how he transformed it to a radio-ready hit.
Scott Horton is a unicorn amongst the musical masses, sharing his writing, production, and technical talents with fellow entertainers. Collaborating with artists the world over, his contributions have made their way into feature films, hit television series, and trendy Spotify editorial playlists. A classically trained multi-instrumentalist and audio engineer, his proficiency spans genres, crafting successful creations in pop, rock, hip-hop, and everything in between. Whether engineering audio through his prominent virtual mixing service, producing for aspiring artists, or composing cues for sync licensing, Scott is constantly enthralled in the creation process.