What kind of cellos do apocalyptica use

Apocalyptica has accrued a wide-ranging fan base over the years. It's a multigenerational crew. Then there is the audience that was drawn to our later albums. This tour concept brings together fans from the different decades of Apocalyptica. It's a big gig with lots of different kinds of people — classical music followers, metal fans, old people, young people. It's a great mixture. A key attraction of the tour is the music of Metallica. That veteran heavy metal band formed in and still carries on with founding members guitarist-singer James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich.

With propulsive and thunderous signature numbers "Enter Sandman" and "Master of Puppets," Metallica reigns as an international star of the genre. Apocalyptica has enjoyed a long and friendly association with the members of Metallica. It was two nights, 14, people per night. That was the biggest crowd for us at the time. It was exciting and scary. We went on to open for them at different shows, including festivals with 50, people.

We've stayed in touch with the guys all through the years. An exceptional gig came when Apocalyptica joined Metallica on stage at the Fillmore in San Francisco in It was a show to celebrate the venerable metal act's 30th anniversary as a band.

Toppinen and the original members of Apocalyptica first met as young music students at Sibelius Academy, a music school in Helsinki. There was no proper plan of forming a band to build a career. Like millions of other heavy rock fans, they were deeply drawn to the work of Metallica.

Their version of "Orien" is classic, chugging metal riffage with a beautiful middle section perfect for this band. And is that smoke I can see coming out of it? By the end of the set there's a row of headbangers standing in front of the stage. At the finish the whole audience sings along with "Seek and Destroy". There is a bewildering array of heavy metals in the world: neoclassical, symphonic and power metal might all describe Apocalyptica. It is a joy to behold.

View previous newsletters. Skip to main content. Search form Search. What makes this band special is that they have taken the cello to a new audience By the end of the 19th century the cello had surprisingly little repertoire compared to many other typical orchestral instruments.

Average: 4 1 vote. Buy Apocalyptica on Amazon Apocalyptica tickets. The band struck a major chord with their cello-only versions of popular metal songs, and their debut album Plays Metallica by Four Cellos went a long way in shining a global spotlight on the string-loving metalheads. Since then, the group has grown in musical renown, releasing albums of original material and touring the world in the process.

Toppinen has a heart for beginning string players. In this exclusive conversation with StringOvation, the cellist and Apocalyptica frontman imparted wise words for those young performers still in training to protect their inspiration while steeped in education. A cello can take an eager musician to the wildest reaches of their creativity, but all that inspiration must come from an initial spark, no matter the scope of the dream.

For cellist Eicca Toppinen, he found inspiration in an unlikely source: heavy metal. As a young music fan and novice performer, Toppinen was along for the ride. And that was Metallica's instrumental song. From there, I just dove into it and the whole metal world. As a wide palette for history, art, and culture, classical music has a universal reach made up of multiple parts. Because Haydn is just Haydn. It has nothing to do with Shostakovich or Prokofiev or Stravinsky.

They all have different styles. It would be like talking about rap and metal and pop music as the same thing. The dual-minded approach has served Toppinen well in his career with Apocalyptica. Bursting onto the world stage with an album of instrumental Metallica covers, the cellist and his bandmates used the unlikely platform to launch a fruitful symphonic career. Today, the band is working on a new album, their ninth, and performing concerts internationally — and it all essentially started with a Metallica song.

He understands the importance of musical education in grooming a successful musician, but he also identifies with the free spirit of inspiration that has informed his forward-thinking undertakings. You have to study. But, from the outset, it's always important to play music that you really enjoy. I've seen too many kids giving up because they've been forced to play music they don't like, and that's not the whole idea of playing an instrument or playing music.