Keith Randall on SoundBetter

Looking for traditional Americana instrumentation to add to your hit song? Look no further.

Keith Randall is a multi-instrumental recording artist from Hershey, Pennsylvania. As a solo artists he is known for adding traditional Americana instruments to his radio friendly songs. With roots in Country, Bluegrass, Folk, Blues, and Americana, Keith is comfortable performing in most styles of popular music and he is making his services available as a musician-for-hire.
Keith can provide acoustic guitar, banjo, mandolin, dobro, ukulele, or U-Bass to your favorite tracks. He is also available to cut lead and harmony vocal tracks as needed. While he is available for onsite session work within an hour of Hershey, PA, Keith is also capable of recording his tracks for you at his home studio and emailing them to you worldwide in whatever format you request.

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Interview with Keith Randall

Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: My most recent release, “Pray,” came out pretty well and is getting some decent attention.
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: I am currently finishing up an EP of some of my original songs for an early 2025 release.
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: Analog sounds the best… it’s warmer and fuller sounding and has so much more mojo than digital gear. However, the convenience of digital recording has made things much more accessible without having to spend a small fortune on the original, vintage, analog gear. Mix and match to suit.
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: Playing music, no matter the style or the instrument, is awesome.
Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?
A: I’m not all that interested in playing something that was created on a DAW just so the artist can write down that they composed the piece. Im not after your writing credit. If you want a banjo, a dobro, or a guitar on your track and you don’t know how those instruments are tuned or played, then please don’t ask me to take your DAW piano piece and play it note for note. If that’s what you’re looking for I’m probably not the guy you’re looking for. I am an artist.
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: Know what the instruments you want to add to your song sound like naturally and what their natural range is. A violin does not sound like the “strings” setting on your DAW. What’s more, a violin’s lowest note is a 196 Hz G note. Lower notes require a different instrument. This is just one example of many I’ve experienced where expectation doesn’t equate to reality.
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: Listening. The song will tell you what it needs if you take the time to listen to it as a whole.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: Listening. I listen to a track for few times before I start vamping on top of it. Having the key helps and having the BPM is critical for track syncing. I’ll then record a take and see how it sits. Usually by my third pass I have a final composition, which I’ll then begin the process of cleaning up and recording my final take.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: I record most instruments with an Ear Trumpet Myrtle condenser mic, run into a Focusrite 18i20 audio interface. That signal passes through an ART PRO MPA II preamp, which hits a ART EQ-355 Graphic Eq on its way to my Mac, where it it recorded on Logic Pro X. In-studio masters are mastered with izotope’s newest Ozone program. It can then be shared in any desired file format. Unless otherwise instructed, all for-hire recordings will be unequalized and without effect.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: Ron Block, Dan Tyminski, Jerry Douglas, Barry Bales, and Alison Krauss of AKUS, Chris Stapleton and the Steeldrivers, Sam Bush and New Grass Revival, Bela Fleck, Chris Thile, etc…
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: Quality recordings and tasteful playing. Your song comes first.
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: What vibe are you trying to capture? Is there an existing song which features the instrument you’re asking me to record that has the sound you’re looking for? If so, what about that instrument do you like? Is it the instrument’s tone or the artists performance?
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: The instruments I already play… my acoustic, dobro, mandolin, and banjo. If I was going to be there a long time I suppose I’d bring a fiddle and learn to play that too.
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I’ve been a lifelong musician. I go where the music leads me.
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: Rootsy. I like traditional acoustic instruments, so I try to play in a bluegrass, folk, Americana style. I tend to use my fingers instead of pics and I like to capture the natural tone of the instruments I’m recording.
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: I enjoy the music of a lot of different musicians so I couldn’t narrow it down to one.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: I suppose it’s personal preference, but preamps on acoustic instruments don’t hold a candle to good mic placement. I never plug in direct.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: Americana, country, folk, etc… I am open to try anything.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: I think that I walk the line between music theory and playing with feeling. I listen to the song as a whole and add only what I think can elevate it. Sometimes less is more. Sometimes more is more. The song has to come first.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: I write and record parts on specialized instruments for artists looking for authentic instrumentation to add to their compositions.