Scott Feldman on SoundBetter

A veteran songwriter and producer, I specialize in hybrid productions that strike a balance between live musicianship and technology. My goal is to help artists find the most licensable versions of themselves. Compositions and productions have landed on FX, Netflix, Cartoon Network, Showtime, TNT, NBC, CBS, Showmax etc.

Services range from songwriting, arranging and pre-production, to musicianship, production, tracking, and finally, mix. All genres welcome; sweet spots are pop (indie/electro/alternative), rock (indie, folk & vintage), and singer-songwriter. My songs and productions have been heard on Sons of Anarchy, The Mayans, Insatiable, Franklin & Bash, Ellen, Judge Judy, Extra, The Break Up, Teen Titans Go, The Ghost Whisperer, and a host of others. I also compose custom music for advertising (Uber, Wawa, Fidelity, etc), and work with both established, and up and coming artists on specific briefs.

Whether you've got a voice memo with just a melody, or a fully developed song, lets bring it to life together. In terms of musicianship, I provide guitar, bass, piano, vocals, drum/synth/string programming, and work with a network of professional collaborators for anything outside of my wheelhouse. If you’re looking for a little bit of extra musicianship, a full production, a co-write or a mix, I'd love to discuss. Available for remote work or onsite recording in North Hollywood; the studio is also available for rent.

I'd love to hear about your project. Click the 'Contact' button above to get in touch.

Credits

7 Reviews

Endorse Scott Feldman

by Lauren Spring
Scott’s the real deal. He’s quick, precise and has an ear for production that consistently cranks out gorgeous work. A co-write I did with him is still one of my favorite songs I’ve ever recorded and one of the top performing songs in my catalog. There’s zero BS with him and he’ll push you until it’s right (which I love). I’d absolutely recommend him.
by Scott Oatley
I first worked with Scott for my duo's debut record. When it came to establishing our own sound and giving life to the songs we had written, Scott helped us achieve everything we'd hoped for and more. His expertise in licensing stems from a deep knowledge of music and genre, and this also comes across in his productions. The excellence of his execution and tremendous talent that he brings to the table are something very special. Above all, he's so fun and easy to work with! If you really want your productions to stand out, I highly recommend going to Scott to take your music to the next level!
by Rachel Panchal
Scott is a great producer! Not only is he very musically talented, he is easy to work with, and adapts to the creative vision of his collaborators and clients, making their dream and vision come to life. He has a great ear for production, and creates beautiful arrangements that take songs to the next level! I loved working with Scott, and look forward to working with him again in the future. I highly recommend him to any singer or songwriter who wants to produce their song, because not only will you have an amazing product in the end, but the process and experience will be smooth, and fun!
by Alana Sweetwater
Scott is one of my all time favorite people to work with. Writing with him is always so easy because, he’s able to build off ideas quickly. As a producer he is incredible at staying true to the feeling and vibe of a song, while brining it’s full potential to fruition- always way beyond my expectations! Whatever stage my idea is at- be it a melody, lyric or finished song, he will take it to the end with me, and the end is always something I’m extremely proud of.
by Mark Fonseca
Scott is such an awesome dude! Fun to work with, and he knows his stuff. He understands the world of licensing music and knows how to make your song get to where it needs to be for that. It's true, he brings out the most licensable version of yourself while staying true to you as the artists. An easy 5 stars for his production work, and 5 solid bright stars for just an overall cool person to work with. If you have never worked with Scott before, go for it...you won't be sorry! It won't be a risk, it will be a big solid step forward in your music career!
by Chelsey Coy
Scott is amazing! He is super fast, extremely talented (plays pretty much every instrument!), and is really easy and fun to work with. I had the pleasure of working on a few songs with him and he made them sound better than I could have ever hoped for. If you have the chance to work with him, DO IT!
by Sonnet Simmons
Scott is one of the best co-writers and producers I've ever worked with. Rare to find a co-writer who can also kill it at production. Scott's songs are current and fresh sounding, while also being original and creative. He doesn't halfa$$ anything, he works at the song until it's outstanding and is always striving to make it better and better. Easy to work with and also super fun! Can't say enough great things.

Interview with Scott Feldman

Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: Almost 10 years ago, a co-writer and I decided to put a band around the music we were writing, and I ended up as writer, producer, and musical director for an 8-piece indie soul band. We had our music placed in fantastic television shows, and played some truly stellar performances.
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: An electro pop project for a production house in London, a lo-fi pop project for a production house in France, and a few very epic and awesome covers with collaborators in LA for a publisher.
Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?
A: I'm fairly new to the community, and don't really know other service providers yet.
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: Digital. As much as I'd love to work with tape, the flexibility afforded, and number of tools available in a Digital workspace makes too much sense for music production in 2019. When I work on some passion project with no time, nor budgetary restraint in the distant future, I look forward to doing some work with analog.
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: A few...I promise to not to prioritize any one client/project over another. I promise to be honest all the time. I promise to work with you until you love your product. I promise to provide a safe, creative, fun, overall fantastic work-environment.
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: It lends itself to constant learning/evolution. Cool people/opportunities.
Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?
A: Question: What do you specialize in? Answer: refer to questions 1-7 in this survey.
Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?
A: I have no idea.
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: What are your artist/song references for this specific project? What are your mix references for this specific project? What are your goals for this specific project? Irrespective of this project, who are your faves? What's your timeline? What's your budget?
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: Measure twice, cut once. I'm not one to pretend that I provide inexpensive services...nor do my peers. Someone looking to spend money on music production should take their time evaluating all of their options before diving in. Nothing worse than spending a bunch of money and feeling unsatisfied.
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: UA Apollo 8, Mac Pro, Komplete Kontrol S88, AKG 414, Gibson ES 135. Assuming cables are provided, this is my absolute bare bones setup, from which a lot of good comes.
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I've been at this, professionally for about 12 years, and I've been really good at this for about 8 years. After getting hired to play in a few bands in LA, I was lucky enough to get hired as an assistant to the composer/music supervisor on a major TV show. That changed my trajectory, forcing me to hone my chops as a producer; it also opened a world of opportunity and clients to me. I now run my own production company and partner with great music licensing companies.
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: Dad rock meets electro hipsters.
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: Of currently active, and living artists, The War On Drugs. I love how they craft a song, I love his voice, I love how each track is a tapestry of sound. I think I could learn a lot, and contribute a lot.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Try creating vocal doubles and harmonies in the box, instead of organically. You oftentimes end up with some really cool sounding stuff; my favorite tools for this are Melodyne and SoundToys.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: Hybrids of acoustic and electronic instrumentation are my forte, which oftentimes lends itself to indie & electro pop stuff, and modern folk/pop stuff. I also have occasion to work on more straight ahead production approaches like soul bands with horn sections, and straight folk singers with solely live/acoustic accompaniment.
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: That's kind of a hard question, but I'd say my strongest skill is refining and perfecting melodies, while finding the most complementary counter melodies. When I'm writing a top-line, I edit and re-write it dozens of times, until every version of me loves it. Using background vocals and additional instrumentation to provide counter-lines - to me - makes the difference between something really good, and something really great.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: Aside from the musicality of it all, I try to bring honesty, and a degree of discipline to every song I work on. Whether it's excluding a wurli solo that I love, but know is not in the best interest of the song, or being straight with an artist, when I don't think their vocal take is right yet, I think it's important to be as objective as you can be (with art). With that said, a degree of fluidity is important - our first assessment isn't always the best nor most accurate, but I try to trust the artist's vision and stay the course.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: I like to talk with people a lot at the beginning; discuss project specs, timelines, and logistics first to make sure we're a good fit for each other, then dive into references. I want to listen to everything that is inspiring the artist, and share everything (relevant) that is inspiring me at the moment, in order to hone in on a creative direction. After that, I do general pre-production, sketching song structures, picking keys, etc. At that point I'll start to build the basics of a track (drums, bass, keys or gtr, maybe some additional synth elements); once the artist is happy with the bones, we'll get scratch vocals down. After we have a good scratch to work around, we'll finish the instrumentation, building peaks & valleys with a mix of live & programmed instruments, counter melodies, harmonies, etc. Once we've got a killer track, the vocalist can do their thing either in the studio or offsite, and I'll comp/tune, and get started on a mix. I usually get into references again for mixing purposes. I basically want the artist to be involved in every creative decision, and leave with something of which they are completely proud.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: The studio is very spacious with tons of natural light...a great space to hang, write, produce, get creative. Everything is tracked in Pro Tools, through an Apollo 8 and mac pro (trashcan). Some software includes Output, SoundToys, UA, WAVES, Arturia, Spectrasonics, Melodyne, Spitfire, Native Instruments, ETC. We've also got great mics, guitars, an upright piano, tons of keyboards, synths, etc. We've also got a Nespresso, a bar, lots of snacks, and are in walking distance from great bars/restaurants.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: In No Particular Order (after the Beatles)...The Beatles, George Martin, The Stones, The Ronettes, Phil Spector, BORNS, The 1975, Caribou, Alice Merton, Mark Ronson, IDER, Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye, Delaney & Bonnie, The Band, Boy Genius, Gillian Welch, Tennis, Lord Huron, Generationals, Bahamas, Lucius, Michael Kiwanuka, Poolside, Bowie, Spoon, Otis Redding, LP, Amy Shark, The War On Drugs, Future Islands, Perfume Genius, KNOWER, The National, Sharon Van Etten, Staples Singers, Hurray For The Riff Raff....many many more.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: Full production. Most of my clients hire me to help finish their songs, and arrange/produce tracks, including all instrumentation, vocal recording, and mix. All of these services are available a la carte as well.