HIKS

HIKS - Operation Malicorne

Stef writes, “I'm a pro bass player, living in the Celtic region in West of France called Brittany (Bretagne). As a deeply lover guy of the 12-ver, I started really with it in 2012. Since then, I recorded two CD's with my main band called HIKS, each recorded with a Dean Rhapsody 12 tuned BEAD.”

As to the style of music, Stéphane told us, “Our music is a mix of Breton and French traditional music and electro-rock, essentially played during traditional dances events in Brittany but also across France and European Union, called "Fest-noz" in Breton language, that mean "night fest".

Stef told us about how his great bass tones were recorded: “I always record two signals paths (one dry/one with FX) as many 12-string bass players but without the lows and octaves being split. All ‘Operation Malicorne’ bass tracks were recorded at home through an old ST-Audio DSP-2000 C-Port system to Cubase 5 FX signal thru a Soundblox Multi-wave bass distortion pro. There was no compression nor EQ at all when I recorded, it was only applied in the mixing process by our great mixing engineer, Stefan Kraemer from Belgium. The tone depends on the tunes - more or less synths or loops in each one.”

“When using the 12 on stage, I only separate Dry/FX for the PA and send the mixed signals in my mono amp.”

Editor’s Note: Operation Malicorne is one of my favorite albums, which is why I chose to include it as the first album in the new Discography section. Great tunes, all very well recorded. I find it very soothing.

HIKS - Boson

Recording information for the Boson album: “Dry signal thru a Golden Age Project Pre-73DLX preamp/RME Fireface 800 converter. FX signal thru a Line-6 Bass Pod Pro or direct (with Pro-Tools Sans-Amp plug-in sometimes inserted when mixing to add more grit) in RME Fireface.”