Basslines for your track

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

A: HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE? Within 5 days.  After you give me your project, I will start working on it and send you a preview as a low resolution snippet of the direction I am going with.  When you approve the preview, I will complete the song and send you the HQ Bass Track. If you are not happy about a section of the song, I can revise it free of charge. HOW MUCH DOES IT COST? $50.  I don’t charge for revisions.  I’ll work to get it right for you.

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

A: LAPTOP - of course it magically connects to the internet and stays powered forever. HEADPHONES. BASS GUITAR. MOBILE PHONE:  Multi purpose, could use as a mic and video recorder for creations. MIDI KEYBOARD.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: I bring clarity to two elements of a song: HARMONY:  I enhance the chords in the tune by giving them more context RHYTHM:  Get the listener’s head nodding in a rotating fashion, bringing out the groove between the notes - think of that popular head nod Jay Z GIF!

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: BASS:  Fender Precision Bass American 2011 (4 String), Seymour Duncan pick up. PRE AMP:  Focusrite ISA two mic preamp. AUDIO INTERFACE:  RME Baby audio interface. SOFTWARE:  Logic Pro X. ELECTRIC GUITAR:  Fender Strat. ACOUSTIC GUITAR:  Tanglewood. MIDI CONTROLLER:  Komplete Kontrol 61.

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

A: Nottz, DJ Premier, Pino Palladino, Wookie, Splurgeboys, JAE 5, Chris Potter

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

A: I was part of a team of theatremakers that made a 20 minute piece of theatre inspired by the children's book 'The Red Tree' by Shaun Tan.  The piece was performed at The Royal Exchange Theatre.  I did the Sound Design and composed the music in 4 days.  I'm proud of the positive audience feedback I got for something I delivered within a tight deadline and the process of collaborating with the team was alot of fun.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Learning charts for a Musical Theatre gig I’m playing, a remake of The Wiz.  The music has been merged with genres used in the original production including funk, soul and gospel, updating it with Afrobeats, Drum and Bass, House, Grime and much more!

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Digital.  It’s quick, clean and flexible.  Sorry Russell Elevado; I know D’angelo’s album Voodoo would have sounded very different but the convenience is too hard for me not to use!

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

A: The song will bring a smile to your face.  I’ll work hard to get something you're proud of because I respect people’s time.  And my communication will be open throughout the process so you know where your song is up to. 

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Getting to know people.  All music has a story of the artist in it, some more obvious than others.  I like learning new things.

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

A: It’s cheeky charging to play root notes nobody hears ;-) Jokes aside, probably that I play on a track and forget about it as it’s just a transaction.  The tunes are in my head when I receive them (singing in the shower, doing chores, day to day e.t.c.) and I immerse myself in it when working on it.  Once submitted, I’ve learned something about my process, a creative approach and an honest evaluation of what my strengths are and what I want to improve about my craft.  As the client, you don’t only benefit.  Apart from fee, I benefit as well.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: In what form do you have the idea for what you want me to play on your song?  (know it in your mind to talk through/write about, send references via youtube links, voice notes, MIDI, charts/notation) What is the song going to be used for? How does this song fit into your overall development and output as an artist?

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

A: Describe your artistic vision as much as possible.  Yes it’s a transaction but we're making art, please communicate the feeling you want to capture.  Be brave to talk conceptually even though I appreciate it’s hard as trust has not been established in a face to face setting.  We’re session musicians which means we are in the service business.  Clarifying the practicalities of your ideas so we can execute them is an important part of our craft.

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

A: I started as a Hip Hop DJ in 2001, before developing into making beats and recording independent artists, an early highlight being a track I engineered called ‘Break Free’ by Foreign Beggars.  In recent years from 2015, I’ve self released my own album called ‘Knock Down Ginger’ under my artist name Pablo Eyes, composed music for award winning short films, created music for theatre shows at The Royal Exchange in Manchester, and played bass at local jazz gigs.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Drawing from the melodic, rhythmic and harmonic approaches used in black music, I strive to create vivid, adventurous pieces with heavyweight grooves.

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

A: A UK based producer called Swindle.  His open approach of integrating instrumentation with cutting edge modern production is exciting; A great marriage of melodic composition and imaginative Sound Design.  It would be alot of fun!

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Record yourself singing, humming or beatboxing an idea and create a song from that.  As music creators, our musical ideas are often better than our technical proficiency (I’m working on closing this gap for myself all the time).  It helps in breaking away from typical note choices associated with an instrument or other music making tools.  It’s also a reminder that your musical ability isn’t dictated by your tools but by your taste and imagination.

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

A: Hip Hop, R&B, Jazz, Funk, Electronic based music

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: From my previous career in the charity sector working with young people, I worked in leadership positions, regularly coaching staff experiencing challenging situations in their role, supporting them to reach solutions.  This developed my ability to ask insightful questions to help me understand what someone really means.  As a musician, this helps me to establish a trusting working relationship and clarify the artist's vision so I can bring their work to life.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: When creating original basslines, I play the track on repeat without picking up my bass.  I sing, hum, beatbox ideas to myself.  Then I pick up my bass and play the ideas I created, experimenting with different rhythmic components (ghost notes, length of notes) and tones (Brighter tone:  play near bridge of bass.  Lower tone:  play on fretboard).  I record different takes and comp them together in Logic. When playing a specific bassline idea submitted by the client, I listen to the idea first, singing it to myself to internalise the sound of it.  This is followed by me recording a take exactly as it sounds.  Once this take is sounding great, I experiment with an embellished take, with additional fills, drop outs and variations of rhythmic feels and note choices.  Both of these takes are submitted to the client.

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

A: Creating basslines for beats, typically loops; Simple, strong, repetitive riffs with subtle fills and nuances to give the track interest without being overpowering.