I am a skilled bassist carrying nearly 25 years of experience recording, performing touring and teaching on bass guitar and upright bass.
My career as a bassist has had several great highlights and has taken me to the United States, Europe, Turkey and across his native Canada. My previous death metal band, Sinned, has served as an opening for death metal band Arch Enemy and appeared on the Year Of The Carnivore soundtrack. With The Roma-Swing Ensemble, I have travelled to Romania on three separate occasions, once to study Romanian folkloric music with musician Marian Jantea and the later two to perform at a medieval festival and at functions concerning the Roma culture of Europe. In 2008, I was the bassist for Simon Collins, the son of Phil Collins, and performed with him on Canadian and U.S. national television in addition to sharing the stage with bands like Collective Soul and appearing in his music videos. I currently perform with Aggression (thrash metal), Assimilation (death metal), Bonnie Scott (AC/DC tribute) Lache Cercel and The Roma-Jazz Ensemble, Summer Vibes (latin/reggae) and The Whiskeydicks (Celtic music).
If you send me your musical audio file(s), I can record bass lines that are well suited to your tracks. I can record the bass lines as to how you wish or use my own ideas if permitted. I can also refer to charts with chords or notation if provided. I can play all genres of music including but not limited to rock, jazz, metal, pop, R&B, classical and world music.
I'd love to hear about your project. Click the 'Contact' button above to get in touch.
Credits
Interview with Kyle Hagen
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: I ask clients to provide any details of their desired bass lines, especially if I'm unsure of how to approach it. What style of music/bass playing? Do you want it simple, busy, lots of breaks, fills... etc? What kind of tone (low end, treble...)? Should I use a pick? Pluck with my fingers? Arco? Pizzicato? Any special effects? Be as specific as possible. The more info, the better! I also ask them when they want the recording done by.
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: First I started learning piano during my childhood. Upon discovering rock music at age 12, I took an interest in guitar before settling on electric bass the year after. In Grade 10, I started playing upright bass after my high school music teacher encouraged me. I studied bass extensively in my high school and music college years while playing in various rock, metal and jazz bands. I've been playing professionally since 2003, having gained a lot of experience, skills and new musical influences as I perform, tour, record and collaborate more with others.
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: I can be simple or complex depending on the musical style. I sometime have a habit of drawing influences from different musical styles even when I'm playing just one style.
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: I have the opportunity to do what I'm good at and what I love: play music!!!
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: Tough question! I probably wouldn't have any electricity! Thus I think the following would help me survive long enough: acoustic bass guitar, acoustic upright bass, condenser mic, audio interface and a fully charged computer.
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: Bruce Dickinson or Testament. They both have a broad and well-rounded catalog of high quality recordings and repertoire. And they rock real hard!!!
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: My ear and ability to learn music quickly upon hearing it
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: Solid and tasteful bass lines that suit the pertaining music whether with my own ideas or however the client wishes
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: Once I connect with a client, I would listen to their audio track(s) and get an understanding of what kind of bass lines they prefer. I may ask questions like "Do you want simple or busy bass parts?", "What kind of tone?" or "Do you have a chart with chords or notes?". I can usually finish one track in a day or two unless the client requests it at a certain time.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: It's very simple. For electric bass, I plug directly in my Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 audio interface. For acoustic bass, I use a condenser microphone connected to my audio interface. As far as D.A.W.'s are concerned, I'm currently using GarageBand but currently trying to familiarize myself Ableton Live 11 Lite.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: Some bassists that have greatly influenced me are Geezer Butler, Stanley Clarke, Steve Harris, Marcus Miller, Ron Carter, Joel Quarrington, John Pattituci, Marcus Grosskopf, John Paul Jones and Rob Wasserman. I listen to a variety of artists and groups such as Black Sabbath, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Testament, Morbid Angel, Megadeth, Judas Priest, Dimmu Borgir, Bruce Dickinson, Halloween, Rush, Led Zeppelin, Hammerfall, Beethoven, Bach, Weather Report, Chick Corea and Miles Davis. To name a few favourite producers, Fredrick Nordstrom and Roy Z are two that automatically come to mind.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: I specialize in recording bass parts for artists, composers and producers. In addition, I have tons of experience on the stage, performing and touring with my bands and substituting for other bass players.
I was the bassist and backing vocalist in this production
- Bass ElectricAverage price - $100 per song
- Bass UprightAverage price - $100 per song
I allow one free revision per track. Additional revisions will amount to $10 each. I am usually able to deliver each track in one or two days requested at another time by the client.
- Warwick RockBass
- Romanian Upright Bass
- Fender JazzBass
- Focusrite Scarlett 2i2
- sE2200 Condenser Microphone
