John Shaughnessy on SoundBetter

I'm a professional electric and upright bassist with extensive commercial session, production, composition, and mix experience. I have the performance experience and equipment to make your tracks sound the best the can be.

Full time bassist, producer, and composer. My primary styles are funk/R&B, Jazz, blues, and rock - really and Pocket playing genre - but I can also play country and just about anything else you need. If you want a crazy/experimental sound, I also play fretted and fretless piccolo bass and guitar synthesizer.

Bass Tracking
I have have a variety of basses and high end outboard gear in my home studio. My tracking/mix gear includes several API preamps (HUGE fan of API), Distressors, an 80's Pearce B2p (Billy Sheehan's amp of choice), as well as several othercustom pres and compressors. Interface is RME or API with a Lavery D/A.

I track with a huge assortment of Fender, Gibson, Shen upright, NS Design, Warwick, Ibanez and custom basses. I like to pick the bass and technique that best suits your track.

Composition
I am also a composer of jazz, rock , R&B and classical music. I recently started composing/producing for film scores and commercial clients, and would LOVE to work with you on your next scoring project.

Mix/Production
I like doing remote mixing and would be happy for you to send me your stems. I specialize in rock, Jazz, and R&B. My recent mixes for Skeleton Woman had over 14,000 plays on Spotify. I primarily work in Logic or Reaper but I can accept WAV/AIFF stems from any DAW.

Please contact me for a quote and we can get started

Click the 'Contact' above to get in touch. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Credits

AllMusic verified credits for John Shaughnessy

John Shaughnessy

2 Reviews

Endorse John Shaughnessy

by Meghan Tartamella
John keeps you sounding like YOU while bettering your product and elevating it to the next level. He takes notes, knows where to push back when you’re too in you’re head and leaves your track better than before he touched it. I’ve not found anyone who can do all that. I’ve worked w him over distance and in the studio, same quality either way. Professional, organized, communicative; Everything you have to search high and low for in this industry.
by Jonathan Lents
John played all the bass tracks on our upcoming album, and throughout the entire process, he accepted edits and retakes, provided his own exceptional creative input, and even created a unique sound effect for a crucial moment in one of the songs. He was an absolute blast to work with, and I absolutely endorse him!

Interview with John Shaughnessy

Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: One of my favorite projects ever was for an artist named Meghan Tartamella. her album was my first big production job. I helped her turn a handful of acoustic demos into a fully finished album. I wrote music, scored string parts, booked musicians, edited and mixed - the whole 9. I learned a lot of things from that session that I still use today.
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: I just finished a stoner/doom track for my latest collaborative project Space Force Alpha. I play all the instruments, including piccolo bass.
Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?
A: Darrell Nutt - an old friend, and an absolute monster drummer and producer
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: Both. Whatever gets the job done.
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: That I will give you the best product to my ability, delivered in the agreed time frame.
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: That I'm not working for someone else
Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?
A: Q:what do you charge for x? A: let me know more details and I'll give you a quote
Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?
A: Either that I only play whatever style people I work with know me as (eg "The jazz guy" the funk guy"), or that I can only play/mix one style
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: what is your budget? What sound/style are you going for? What is your time frame for delivery? Do you have charts?
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: Have an idea in mind of what you would like me to do for you. I can play a lot of different syles, so don't be afraid to ask for something specific. Communication is key for me.If you have a specific bass part, etc you want me to play, sending me music notation is an EXCELLENT way to help me nail it.
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: My custom 6 string bass, a Markbass Amp, My Mac, My Tranzformer, and my Upright
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I've been a professional musician for over 30 years. I started playing bass in my teens, then fell into commercial work with a Top 40 showband. I went from playing in my basement to playing road gigs 5 nights a week . It was a huge learning experience. Since then I have traveled the world playing jazz, funk, rock, musicals, you name it. My exposure to many styles as a commercial musician has been a huge help in commercial production.
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: Somewhere between funky and eclectic
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: My dream gig would be to play bass for The Meters, Living Color, or Japanese artist Mika Nakashima. I'd also like to have Brian Eno produce an album for me.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Don't use compression as an EQ. If something is sticking out or buried in a mix, reach for the EQ before you compress it.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: It varies widely. My primary calls are for rock, jazz, and funk bass, and jazz, hip hop and modern pop mixing
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: Bass playing, and the ability to generate ideas.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: I am known as a pocket player, so asa bassist I bring feel and groove to whatever I work on. I'm very much a "big picture" thinker, so I'm always thinking about the end result of whatever I'm working on, and how all the parts fit into that result.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: I try to get as much information from the client as possible before I start working on a project, including any artist "influences" or tracks to listen to. This helps me to get an idea of how they envision the final product. For instrument tracking, a basic 2 track stem is great. When I do mixes, organization is key. The more organized your stems are, the faster I can get to mixing. Stems without FX are preferred, unless you have a very specific effect in mind. I like to use Wetransfer for everything, but I can do google drive or dropbox as well. I want you to be happy with my work, so I offer revisions as part of the job.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: The heart of my system is my RME Fireface. For most tracking though, I use either my API A2D, wich is 2 API 312 mic pres and an API ADC. For Bass I primarily use an API TranZformer bass pre, or a vintage Pearce B2R 2 channel bass amp. I also have several other pres and compressors (including 2 Distressors), and a decent mic locker for tracking upright and acoustic instruments. For bass tracks, I have a wide variety of bass sounds and techniques to draw from. I like to match the bass and technique to the track. My primary DAW is Logic, and I do a lot of composing,and virtual instrument tracking in it. I also use Ableton, and Reaper when needed.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: My big studio bass heroes ate James Jamerson and Lee Sklar. In the production side, I'm a fan of Rick Rubin, Trevor Horn, Lee Townshend, Rudy Van Gelder and Brian Eno among many others.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: I record bass parts, compose arrange and produce original and commercial music, produce artists, mix, master and produce sessions. I'm a one stop shop for audio production.