Justin Meldal-Johnsen
 Multi-instrumentalist and producer Justin Meldal-Johnsen shared some love for his Pitchblack+ - “This thing is so damn accurate; I love it. It sounds great, in that it sounds like nothing.”
Justin is known as the long-time bassist for Grammy Award-winning artist Beck, as well as Air, Tori Amos, Garbage, Dixie Chicks, Nine Inch Nails, and others. He co-wrote several songs with singer Macy Gray, acted as musical director for Gnarls Barkley, and has recently received a lot of attention as producer for M83’s critically acclaimed album, Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming. Other production credits include Neon Trees, Moving Units, and Division Day.
For more info on Justin, please visit www.justinmj.com
Multi-instrumentalist and producer Justin Meldal-Johnsen shared some love for his Pitchblack+ - “This thing is so damn accurate; I love it. It sounds great, in that it sounds like nothing.”
Justin is known as the long-time bassist for Grammy Award-winning artist Beck, as well as Air, Tori Amos, Garbage, Dixie Chicks, Nine Inch Nails, and others. He co-wrote several songs with singer Macy Gray, acted as musical director for Gnarls Barkley, and has recently received a lot of attention as producer for M83’s critically acclaimed album, Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming. Other production credits include Neon Trees, Moving Units, and Division Day.
For more info on Justin, please visit www.justinmj.com
 Justin Meldal-Johnsen of Beck
Check out Justin's mp3 demos using Ampworks Bass by clicking here.
Run of the mill, typical and standard are words that have never been used to describe Justin Meldal-Johnsen or his musical ability. Justin is a consummate musician who plays several instruments ranging from the members of the clarinet family to the guitar, bass and drums. He’s been seen and heard flexing his musical muscles with a diverse array of artists ranging from Beck and Ima Robot to Tori Amos and Macy Gray.
Most recently, Justin has been on the road with his band Ima Robot in support of their eponymous debut release on Virgin Records. Throughout Justin’s career one element in his musical formula has remained constant: KORG. “I’ve got my Ampworks B of course, as well as my beloved MS2000 synth, a microKorg and my PX3B Bass Pandora, which is a fun little machine with some unique sounds,” Justin explains.
Most recently, Justin has been digging into the Ampworks B modeling signal processor. “The first thing that comes to mind is simplicity. There are no menus, very few knobs and a friendly form-factor. Everything is self-explanatory. I can get a surprisingly thick and tough bass sound out of it, which is surreal to me considering the size of the unit.” Justin continues, “My favorite feature above all is the fact that I can run it on batteries and that it is truly tiny. The Ampworks B is specifically a winner for my situation in terms of portable recording. I’ve got it on my tour bus right now as a sort of headphone practice amp, as well as a front end to my laptop-recording studio. The size and battery power factors make the Ampworks B useful to me anytime, anywhere and in any country. ”
Justin even has some tips on how to coax some killer tones from the Ampworks B. As he explains, “When creating a sound, start with all of the tone controls at the 12:00 position and the effects turned all the way down. Put the amp and cabinet dials to the first position and just go through each model very slowly, one at a time. I think you’ll find a surprising amount of usable tones. Some of the amp and cabinet combinations that one would not normally consider yield some very unique and useful results.”
To sum things up, Justin stated, “The Ampworks Bass is a super-cool bass amp modeling solution that has made my portable recording rig take on a new level of portability. The sounds are rich and authentic and the effects are of the high quality that you would expect from Korg.” Justin will be spending the next few months touring the world extensively with Ima Robot. Keep up with Justin at www.justinmeldaljohnsen.com and www.imarobot.com.
Justin's Ampworks Bass Demo Although he’s perpetually busy, Justin had time to give us a taste of what he’s been up to with the Ampworks Bass. The following are Justin's comments regarding this Demo (mp3, 4.74MB) he created to demonstrate the Ampworks B.
“The first section is just a raw, deep bass sound, recorded with my ’74 Gibson Ripper bass.
The second section overdubs a funky filtered (and slightly dirty) rhythmic counterpoint, using the same instrument.
The third part adds in a delayed and strummed chordal motif played in a very high register, which sounds sort of guitar-like. This is my Wal Mach 1 bass. The piece then breaks down, with that third part creating some ambient harmonics on top of the first part. Following that, the piece builds back up with the first part and a re-entry of the second part.
Then a fourth bit enters: this one is dark, phased and laden with overdriven arpeggios, again with the Wal bass. The third part re-enters on top of that and all four motifs continue on to the out section, which breaks down and fades out. I hope you enjoy it!”
Story by Hugh Gilmartin
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