Finnish folk metal ensemble Korpiklaani have released their latest album, Rankarumpu, through Nuclear Blast. In this interview with Bass Empire, bassist Jarkko Aaltonen sheds light on the recording nuances, instrumental choices, and the collaborative effort that shaped the sound of this new addition to their discography, marking over two decades of the band’s presence in the music industry.
Jarkko reveals that for Rankarumpu, he relied on his trusted 1984 B.C. Rich Mockingbird bass tuned downed to D, notable for its reverse P pickups and Neal Moser electronics: “The bass has the Neal Moser electronics with varitone, booster, and such, and I really like the combination of the reverse pickups and a gentle mid-scoop from the varitone. Soundwise, the bass sounds really nice already on its own. The shape is also very comfortable for studio work, where you mostly sit down. I’d love to use Mockingbirds live as well, but the neck dive on these is just horrible, so live, I use B.C. Rich Eagles. Technically, it’s the same bass, just with a better-balanced body.”
Delving into the album’s production, Jarkko highlights the absence of traditional amps in the studio, a choice influenced by both personal preference and the producer’s direction: “We haven’t really used any amps in the studio for years”, he explains. “This is, of course, also something that the producer has a say on. We’ve been rather happy with all the plugins available, and I haven’t really missed an amp at all. My live setup is also just a couple of SansAmp RBI preamps. On Rankarumpu, we used Parallax by Neural to add some nice growl and fed that through a tube compressor. I tried the Parallax plugin at home too, with the same settings, but didn’t really get the same sound, so the compressor obviously played a big part in that sound.”
The process of crafting bass lines for Rankarumpu involved careful consideration of each song’s needs, with Jarkko striving to support the overall composition rather than stand out. He faced challenges in adapting to the mix of standard and D tuning across the tracks, aiming to maintain consistency for live performances: “In most cases, I get a finished demo track with a demo bass already. I try to listen to that and figure out if it was actually composed and thought out, or if it’s there just to fill the lower end. If it clearly has some bass parts that really need to be there because of the drum arrangement or such, then, of course, I leave it like that. For the rest, I always try to think about what the song itself needs. I always try to support, not to stand out. Every now and then, some of the melody lines, however, just force me to compose a counter melody for the bass, or some drum patterns make me follow them and add a little melody to that.”
Elaborating further, Jarkko notes, “I think there were basically two challenges. We’ve been tuned down to D for years. Our live set has a lot of older songs that are just more natural in D tuning. However, many of the new songs are in standard tuning, but I just refuse to tune to E, which of course makes some songs a bit more difficult to be comfortable with. But I just don’t want to relearn them in a different position for the live shows. Another challenge is the same as we’ve always had. It doesn’t matter how well I’ve thought out and learned my parts before the studio because, in the studio, the producer always says things like, ‘You can’t do that, the violin has changed and it’s conflicting, do something else,’ or ‘This part needs a bass fill, do something.’ The problem is not the changes, but the fact that I have no recollection of the changes afterwards!”
Jarkko also noted the shift in lyrical style with vocalist Jonne Järvelä taking a more prominent role in writing, embracing Finnish language confidence: “Lyrically, it is a significant change since our vocalist and main songwriter, Jonne, found his confidence with Finnish and wrote most of the texts himself. It is a clear step away from our usual lyrical style, even though the themes are still quite similar. Musically, we’ve advanced once more. We have a new violinist who brought a lot to the table, including some entire songs that suit us perfectly. We’ve had numerous personnel changes over the years, and each one has made the band better. Once again, you can hear this improvement on the album as well. It is better composed, better arranged, and better played. Also, of course, it is better mixed since the bass is a bit louder in the mix than usual!”
Korpiklaani’s new album Rankarumpu is now available via Nuclear Blast.
