Mason Summit

Multi-instrumentalist/Producer

Mason Summit on SoundBetter

I'm a graduate of the USC Thornton School of Music Pop Program with formal training in guitar, keyboard, bass, voice, songwriting, & production. I'm comfortable in a number of genres & love thinking outside the box to find unique sounds & textures.

Whether you need a rumbling baritone guitar, sparkling 12-string, psychedelic Mellotron or layers of smooth background vocals, I've got you covered! Happy to record remotely in my East Nashville home studio & flexible on rates. I can help you fine-tune your music & lyrics, add some "special sauce" flourishes to your recording, or arrange a song from the ground up around your drum & vocal tracks.

Would love to hear from you. Click the contact button above to get in touch.

Languages

  • English

Interview with Mason Summit

  1. Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?

  2. A: Cameron Scott Roberts's releases; I helped finesse the songs, produced/arranged, & played most of the instruments.

  3. Q: What are you working on at the moment?

  4. A: A solo project & new recordings with my duo, The Prickly Pair.

  5. Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?

  6. A: TBD

  7. Q: Analog or digital and why?

  8. A: Both, because they both have their place.

  9. Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?

  10. A: I will bring my personal style to your project within the confines of your artistic vision & do everything I can to bring it to the next level.

  11. Q: What do you like most about your job?

  12. A: Playing different instruments, feeling like I made a difference or contributed positively to someone else's work.

  13. Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

  14. A: What I think a track needs... answer varies.

  15. Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?

  16. A: That most recordings are done live in a room with a band.

  17. Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

  18. A: How do you want your listener to feel? What are your favorite records?

  19. Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

  20. A: Pay attention to specific elements in the music you like — what each individual instrument is doing and how it sounds. Familiarize yourself with basic musical terms. Be open to new ideas.

  21. Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?

  22. A: My Gibson Country Western acoustic, Mellotron Micro, recording interface, Chase Bliss Gen Loss MKII, Strymon Iridium

  23. Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?

  24. A: I've been singing & playing guitar for nearly 20 years, producing & releasing my own music for over 10, producing other artists for over 5. Currently working on solo music, collaborating with my partner Irene Greene in our duo The Prickly Pair & playing in the rock band Jaw Talk.

  25. Q: How would you describe your style?

  26. A: Layered, whimsical, eclectic; referencing the sounds of the past without fetishizing them.

  27. Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?

  28. A: Elvis Costello. An ever-evolving, prolific artist whose process I would like to observe up-close.

  29. Q: Can you share one music production tip?

  30. A: Don't chase the demo -- be open to spontaneity.

  31. Q: What type of music do you usually work on?

  32. A: Songs I've worked on run the gamut from soul/funk/disco to country/folk/Americana to modern pop & rock. I like to blur genre lines and introduce atypical elements to otherwise conventional productions.

  33. Q: What's your strongest skill?

  34. A: Finding sounds & tones that don't sound generic or stock.

  35. Q: What do you bring to a song?

  36. A: An understanding of historical musical & recording techniques to help achieve the particular style you're trying to evoke, an ability to balance tradition & modernity, a knowledge of music theory & chord structure.

  37. Q: What's your typical work process?

  38. A: Depends on the client's needs - happy to execute a specific idea or to spend a little time coming up with parts of my own. I like to add a bunch of fun overdubs and you can pick & choose what to keep.

  39. Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

  40. A: I have a small but mighty setup at home that allows me to record everything except drums right here using an eclectic array of guitars, effects pedals, microphones, keyboards, samples & plugins.

  41. Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?

  42. A: Jon Brion, Joni Mitchell, Brian Wilson, Weyes Blood, Sly Stone, Elliott Smith

  43. Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.

  44. A: Often I'll receive a song with basic tracking completed and be tasked with adding ornamentation like retro keyboards, autoharp, acoustic fingerpicking, banjo, ambient slide guitar, or lo-fi percussion to flesh out the production and add some ear candy to the arrangement.

Terms Of Service

Instrumental/vocal tracks can be done within a week. Flexible scheduling with production.
I can offer two revisions with my typical rates.

GenresSounds Like
  • Wilco
  • The Beatles
  • The Beach Boys
Gear Highlights
  • Gibson ES-225
  • Ear Trumpet Labs Edwina
  • Focal Alpha 50 monitors
  • Keyscape
  • Martin 000-15
  • Universal Audio Apollo Twin X
  • Acme Audio Motown DI
More Photos