Bassist Rocking Metal+all else

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I love to be part of the process of creating something new, and something that means something to people. I have strong pull towards making other peoples visions come true.

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

A: Matias Lehtoranta is a very good friend of mine, and a superb guitarist and studio engineer.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: I have respect for analog for being the first and it still works better in some cases. But digital workflow is just so much more flexible that I choose digital over analog.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: I usually like to know all the technical requirements (sample rates, bit rates and such), and if there are any tonal and musical preferences by which he/she would like me to work towards. We would discuss the deadlines and how we would best communicate and all this kind of stuff. Nothing too complicated, I'm not gonna ask the square root of 2. :D

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

A: Know what you want from a player like me, but don't be afraid to consult the provider if you want some outer perspective from him/her. Come prepared with good quality demo materials or guidelines on which we can work efficiently and do the best possible product.

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

A: My Halla Custom Instruments bass, Sansamp Bass Driver DI, Darkglass B7k and Line6 Pod HD500x. And PC to play along some of my favourite songs. :D

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

A: I have been doing this for over 10 years now. I have played with different rock and metal bands since 2007 and have toured with multiple party and dance orchestras to make my living from the year 2010. Mixing and composition have been major part as a "career" since 2013.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Like I mentioned in one of the earlier questions, I like to play hard. That would be "my signature style". But like I said in the same answer; I always mold myself to fit the concept as well as I can.

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

A: Just to name one group it would be crazy to work with any of the top notch metal bands these days. But of course I would be super excited to work with any inspired artists I could come across.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: L3 action is good choise for mixing crispy bass tones.

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

A: Really hard question. My bass clients usually are towards metal music, but compositionwise there are no "usuality".

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: I have deep understanding of the big picture in music. I understand the basics of different roles that instruments have in music, but am not afraid to break the norms. Bass playingwise my I'm at my strongest with crunchy riffs, grispy tones and technical playing. I'm passionate towards distorted bass tones, and have used countless hours noodling and trying to create as musical distortion tones as possible. I get excited anytime anyone offers me a line to play that I'm unable to play right away. There haven't been many recently. :D

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: When we talk about bass recordings, I really love to bring deep rhythmic web that works as a glue between percussion instruments and the rest of the orchestra or band. I like to play the bass super hard and percussive (doesn't mean slapping), and here in Finland between my colleagues I carry quite a reputation, and when talking about aggressive bass playing they sometimes use my name to describe the style. But of course I always use common sense and musicality to choose the aggressiveness and touch with which to play each song and each part.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: I usually record basses for clients as a DI and reamp them using products from Line6, Darkglass, MXR, Sansamp, TC-electronics and so on... When I compose or arrange, I usually start by trying out fitting soundscapes using plugins from Native Instruments, IK Multimedia and such. Just trying to get a spark and then build on that.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: For recordings I use my trusty Focusrite 20i18 soundcard. It's connected to my PC in which I use Cubase and sometimes Reaper as my DAW. As monitors I use Yamaha HS5 series accompanied by HS8S to rumble the low register.

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

A: I really like what Nolly Getgood does with mix productions and also with the bass. I'm a huge signal manipulation fan, so I follow his journey with the Darkglass Electronics closely and most of the time with a drooling mouth. :D I also am a fan of many movie composers for their different view on composing. They give many ideas for production of musical elements in my songs. When talking about bands and ensembles, there are loads of them. I'm not currently super fan of any, but I like to draw many small inspirations from many sources. To say some examples there are Dream Theater, Symphony X and Periphery, but also Bruno Mars, Unexpect, Michael Jackson, Pekka Pohjola, Billy Cobham, Twelve Foot Ninja, Diablo Swing Orchestra.. just to name a few!

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

A: Most common type of musical work I do is record basses for various kinds of music styles. Close second comes composing songs for advertisements and making arrangements for other peoples compositions.