How a Record Gets Made: The Production Process and the Producers Behind Round Table Recording Company
Inside the Studio · Round Table Recording Company Blog
Every finished song you hear went through a process to get there. Not a single inspired moment, but a sequence of decisions, each one shaping what the music becomes. That process is music production, and while every producer approaches it differently, the stages are remarkably consistent across the industry. What separates a great production from a forgettable one isn’t the stages themselves. It’s who’s guiding you through them, what they listen for, and how they make the work feel along the way.
Here’s what that process actually looks like, how it works at the industry level, and how the producers at Round Table Recording Company bring it to life with their clients.
The production process, stage by stage
Concept and vision
Every project starts with a conversation. Before a single note is recorded, the producer and artist need to get aligned on what the project is supposed to be. What’s the sound? Who’s the audience? What does success look like? Is this a radio single, an album deep cut, a sync-ready track, a personal milestone? These questions shape every decision that follows, from arrangement choices to instrumentation to mix approach. A producer who skips this step and jumps straight to recording is building a house without a blueprint.
Songwriting and demo
Some artists arrive with finished songs. Others bring fragments, a melody, a lyric idea, a beat on their phone. The producer’s role during this phase varies accordingly. For a finished song, the work is evaluation: is this ready for the studio? Does the structure serve the emotional arc? Are there moments that drag or sections that need tightening? For a song still in development, the producer becomes a creative partner, helping shape the raw material into something studio-ready.
Demos serve as the working reference for everyone involved. They don’t need to be polished, but they need to capture the intent clearly enough that every musician, engineer, and collaborator understands what the song is trying to do.
Preproduction and arrangement
This is where the real planning happens. The producer maps the arrangement, decides on instrumentation, determines whether the song needs session players or can be built from the artist’s own performance, selects reference tracks, and builds a timeline and budget. Arrangement decisions made during preproduction save enormous amounts of time and money in the studio. A bridge that gets cut here costs nothing. A bridge that gets cut after three hours of tracking costs real money and real creative energy.
Production
Once preproduction is locked, the producer and artist move into building or enhancing the musical foundation of the song. This phase often happens largely in the box, using virtual instruments, samples, and programmed elements to construct the sonic landscape the song will live in. The producer is shaping the feel, the groove, the textures, and the overall sonic identity of the track. This is where the song starts to sound like a record rather than a demo.
At Round Table Recording Company, we treat this phase as a creative partnership between producer and artist. The goal is to build a foundation strong enough that when it moves to the tracking phase, everyone in the room knows exactly what the song is and what it needs. Some of what gets built here will stay in the final record. Some of it will be replaced by live performance in the next phase. The production phase is where those decisions get tested and mapped.
Tracking and recording
Tracking is where real instruments and live performances enter the picture. Session players may replace some of the in-the-box foundation with authentic performances, or they may build on top of it. The producer’s role here shifts from builder to director, guiding performances, making real-time decisions about what’s working, managing the energy in the room, and collaborating with the engineer on capture decisions.
This is also where the authenticity question gets answered song by song, part by part. Maybe the keyboard part from the production phase has a texture and character that a real grand piano can’t replicate, so it stays. Maybe the same song has a bass line that needs the weight and feel of a real player, so that gets tracked live. At Round Table Recording Company, we try to stay as authentic as possible, making those calls based on what serves the song rather than defaulting to one approach. Every part earns its place in the final record.
Editing and sweetening
After tracking, the raw recordings get shaped and refined. Vocals are comped from multiple takes into a single best performance. Timing is tightened where necessary. Pitch is corrected where it serves the song. Sweetening happens here too, adding subtle production elements, harmonies, textural layers, or sonic details that enhance what’s already been captured. This is detail work that requires patience and taste in equal measure.
Mixing
Mixing is where all the recorded elements are balanced, processed, and placed in the stereo field to create a cohesive, polished final version of the song. EQ, compression, reverb, delay, panning, automation, these tools are used to make the song sound finished and ready for the listener. The best mixes are invisible. You don’t notice the engineering. You just feel the music.
Mastering and delivery
Mastering is the final technical step. It prepares the mix for distribution, ensuring it translates across playback systems, meets loudness standards for streaming platforms, and sounds consistent alongside other professional releases. After mastering, the files are delivered in the formats the artist needs for their release strategy.
How our producers approach it differently
The stages are industry-standard. What makes a production team worth hiring is what they bring to each stage that a checklist can’t capture: taste, intuition, communication, and the ability to meet an artist exactly where they are and help them get where they want to go. At Round Table Recording Company, our producers don’t follow a single house style. They each bring a distinct perspective, a different set of strengths, and a different energy to the room. That’s intentional. Different projects need different producers, and having a team with genuine range means we can match the right person to the right project.
Meet the producers
Joey Somerville
INDIE/ALT ROCK, POP, R&B, HIP-HOP
Joey is a talented engineer, producer and musician. With eight years of experience in production and three years engineering and mixing. With a diverse knowledge of music and range of talent, he has written and composed in hip-hop, R&B, Indie/Alternative, Punk Rock, Orchestral and more. If not in his own sessions, you can often find Joey laying keys, guitar and bass for other artists and our sync catalog. Joey’s latest single, “CAN’T STOP / SMILING” can be heard on all streaming platforms.
Travis ‘Kold Kut’ Moore
POP, HIP-HOP, Country
Travis is a graduate of Full Sail University in Recording Arts and began his career as an engineer/producer at Grand Recording Studios in Detroit, Michigan in the early 2000’s. He returned to his home state Indiana and worked at The Lodge Recording Studios before landing at Azmyth Recording Studios. He remained there for twelve years, completing project after project and aiding in the development, management, and instruction of an audio-based education program. In the last two decades, Travis has worked on thousands of sessions with hundreds of local and national acts spanning pop, hip-hop, and country. His credits include DMX, Jelly Roll, Jack Harlow, Snoop Dogg, Mike Posner, The Lox (Jadakiss, Styles P, & Sheek Louch), and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony.
Travis has also built a successful career as a composer of music for national television and film. He has worked for nearly every major network on shows including NBC’s The Voice, Pawn Stars, MTV’s Catfish, Big Brother, WWE, The Real Housewives, and many others. To date, he has produced/engineered on severalBillboard Top 10 selling albums. As an experienced audio engineer and professional music producer in Indianapolis, Travis is fueled by his passion for producing and mentoring upcoming artists. His talent and bold approach continue to be a major asset to all of his clients.
Gavin Blankenship
POP, HIP-HOP, R&B, Dance
Gavin is a producer, composer, and engineer. Gavin graduated Summa Cum Laude from Berklee College of Music with a Bachelor of Music in Film Scoring and a Minor in Recording and Production. He produces various genres, including Pop, Dance, R&B, Hip-Hop, and eagerly learns new styles. Gavin is also an avid instrumentalist, playing guitar, bass, piano, trombone, and anything else as the opportunity arises.
John Souki
Pop, Rock, Country, metal, indie/alt, Orchestral, hip-Hop
John Souki is a producer, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and audio engineer. A student of Berklee College of Music from 2008-2010, John began his career as a guitarist before evolving into a full-spectrum music creator. After founding his rock band IRIDIC in 2012—where he produced and performed every instrument on the debut EP—John established himself as a versatile producer and session musician across a multitude of genres.
Since 2015, he has worked extensively with Chase Rice, contributing to the single “If I’m Bein’ Honest” (10M+ streams) and appearing in the official music videos for “Lonely If You Are,”“Everybody We Know Does,” and “Oklahoma.” His touring career has taken him to sharing the stage with artists like Colbie Caillat, Gavin DeGraw, 50 Cent, Da Baby, LIT, Old Dominion, Kane Brown, Jordan Davis, and others—as well as playing renowned stages worldwide including Madison Square Garden, Red Rocks, The O2 Arena, and Crypto.com Arena, with television performances on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Good Morning America, The Kelly Clarkson Show, Today Show, VEVO, Tamron Hall Show, Fox & Friends, CNN, Cheddar News, and PBS Nashville.
At Round Table Recording Co., John brings a deep musical sensibility and cross-genre versatility to every project, having produced for artists such as Mary Kutter, Bubba Sparxxx, Josh Gracin, Tyra Madison, Lil Wyte, Who TF Is Justin Time?, ILYIK, Global Plague, and many others. His approach blends technical precision with creative intuition through collaboration with every artist—crafting music that connects across styles and audiences.
Tim McDonough
Pop, HIP-HOP, R7B
Tim is a skillful engineer, producer, and instructor with over ten years of experience in music production and six years in recording. He recently spent two years teaching music production, mixing, mastering, and recording at Sweetwater Academy, where he helped students build both technical skill and creative confidence.
A graduate of Purdue University Fort Wayne, Tim earned his Bachelor of Science in Music while developing a strong foundation in audio engineering, songwriting, and modern production techniques. His work blends technical precision with creative vision, allowing him to adapt to a wide range of artists and musical styles including but not limited to Pop, R&B and Hip Hop.
Tim is deeply passionate about sharing everything he has learned throughout his journey and is committed to bringing your project to life! Whether working one on one with an artist or guiding students in the classroom, he strives to create an encouraging, focused environment where creativity can thrive and great music can be brought to life.
Want to find the right producer and get started?
Tell us more about your project here, contact us for more info, or come to 6345 Carrollton Ave in the Broad Ripple Arts District of Indianapolis. We’ll match you with the producer whose strengths fit your sound.
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Frequently asked questions
Do I get to choose which producer I work with?
Yes. We’ll talk about your project, your sound, and what you’re looking for in a creative partner, then recommend the producer whose approach and strengths align best. You make the final call.
What’s the difference between a producer and an engineer?
An engineer handles the technical side: recording, editing, mixing, mastering. A producer handles the creative side: arrangement, performance coaching, sound direction, and the overall vision for the project. In most sessions at Round Table Recording Company, one person fills both roles, which creates continuity from tracking through the final mix.
How involved is the producer in my creative process?
As much or as little as you want. Some artists need a producer who will co-write, reshape arrangements, and push them creatively. Others need someone to capture their vision faithfully with minimal creative interference. Our producers are experienced at reading what you need and adjusting their level of involvement accordingly.
Can I work with multiple producers on the same project?
Absolutely. Different songs sometimes call for different production approaches. Working with two producers across an EP or album can give the project creative variety while maintaining overall cohesion through the mixing and mastering process.
What does the production process typically cost?
It depends on scope: number of songs, complexity, instrumentation, and how much preproduction and creative direction you need. We offer project-based pricing so you know the full cost upfront rather than watching the clock. Reach out and we’ll scope it based on what you’re making.
Sources: MasterClass Music Production: How to Become a Music Producer (2026); Icon Collective 5 Stages of Music Production (March 2026); Bay Eight Recording Studios Music Production Process: 7 Essential Steps (April 2026); Promo Hype Music Production Process Explained (December 2025); TRACKSCORE.AI Music Production Workflow: 10 Stages (March 2026); 92MMM Music Production Process: From Demo to Mastering (June 2025).
Round Table Recording Company · Indianapolis, Indiana · www.thertrc.com
