Blast beat
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Ablast beatis a type ofdrum beatthat originated inhardcore punkandgrindcore,and is often associated with certain styles ofextreme metal,namelyblack metalanddeath metal,[2]and occasionally inmetalcore.InAdam MacGregor's definition, "the blast-beat generally comprises a repeated, sixteenth-note figure played at a very fast tempo, and divided uniformly among the bass drum, snare, and ride, crash, or hi-hat cymbal."[2]Blast beats have been described byPopMatterscontributor Whitney Strub as, "maniacal percussive explosions, less about rhythm per se than sheer sonic violence".[3]
"The 'original' or traditional blastbeat is a single-stroke roll played between your cymbal and snare, with your kick playing simultaneously with every cymbal hit."[1]
Napalm Deathis said to have coined the term, though this style of drumming had previously been used by others for its characteristically chaotic sound.[citation needed]
History
[edit]Antecedents in jazz and rock
[edit]Although most commonly associated with hardcore punk and extreme metal, the earliest forms of what would later become the blast beat are noted to have appeared injazz music.A commonly cited early example that somewhat resembles the modern technique is a brief section ofSam Woodyard's drum solo during a 1962 rendition of "Kinda Dukish" with theDuke Ellingtonorchestra[4],with a clip of the performance under the title "The first blast beat in the world"having garnered almost one million views onYouTubeas of August 2024 (this example, however, lacks the modern inclusion of kick drum and cymbal work into the beat). Another early instance can be heard inSunny Murray's performance on the live recording "Holy Ghost", although this did not receive an official release until the 1998 reissue ofAlbert Ayler in Greenwich Village.[5]Prior to these two examples resurfacing and receiving the attention of the metal and grindcore communities in the 2010's,AllMusiccontributor Thom Jurek creditedTony Williamsas the "true inventor of the blastbeat" for his frenetic performance on "Dark Prince" forTrio of Doomin 1979, officially released only in 2007.[6]
Some early antecedents of blast beats have also been identified in rock music, four of which are all from 1970:King Crimson's "The Devil's Triangle" off their sophomore releaseIn the Wake of Poseidonincludes proto-blastbeats in the later half of the song; Mike Fouracre ofMarsupilamiperforms many blast beats throughout their self-tited album, most notably on "And the Eagle Chased the Dove to It's Ruin";Emerson, Lake & Palmer's track "The Barbarian" contains a very brief blast beat in the outro[7];Bill Ward,drummer of pioneering heavy metal bandBlack Sabbath,played a few blast beats on a live performance of their song "War Pigs" (e.g. at timestamps 3:52 and 6:38).[8]
Modern hardcore and metal blast beats
[edit]The blast beat as it is known today originated in the hardcore punk and grindcore scenes of the 1980s. Contrary to popular belief, blast beats originated from punk and hardcore music, not metal music.[9]In the UK punk and hardcore scene of the early 1980s there were many bands attempting to play as fast as possible. English bandNapalm Deathcoined the term "blast beat",[10]although this style of drumming had previously been practiced by others. Daniel Ekeroth argues that the [hardcore] blast beat was first performed by the Swedish group Asocial on their 1982 demo.[11]D.R.I.(1983, "No Sense"),[2]Beastie Boys(1982, track 5, "Riot Fight"),Sepultura(1985, track 11, "Antichrist"),S.O.D.(1985, track 11, "Milk"),Sarcófago(1986, track 10, "Satanas"), andRepulsion[12]also included the technique prior to Napalm Death's emergence.Rockdetectorcontributor Garry Sharpe-Young credits D.R.I.'s Eric Brecht as the first on their 1983 debut but credits Napalm Death with making it better known.[13]
In 1985, Napalm Death, then an emerging grindcore band, replaced their former drummer Miles "Rat" Ratledge withMick Harris,who brought to the band a whole new level of speed. Harris is credited with developing the term "blast beat", describing the fast notes played on the kick and snare.[14]Harris started using the blast beat as a fundamental aspect of Napalm Death's early musical compositions. It was finally with Napalm Death's first full-length albumScum(1987) that blast beat started to evolve into a distinct musical expression of its own. Blast beats became popular in extreme music from the mid to late 1980s.[15]The blast beat evolved into its modern form as it was developed in the American death metal and grindcore scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s.Pete Sandoval,drummer ofTerrorizer(1986–1989) and laterMorbid Angel(1984–2013), purportedly was the first to use blast beats in metronomic time (and not as arhythmic or non-metric white noise) and thus gave it a more useful musical characteristic for timekeeping.[15]
Blast beats eventually appeared in commercially successful metal music, beginning withFear Factory's albumDemanufacture(1995) andSlipknot's albumIowa(2001).[16]
Characteristics
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A blast beat is traditionally played as an alternating single-stroke roll broken up between the kick drum and the snare drum. Blast beats are counted in 32nd or 16th notes. In a modern musical context blast beats are usually regarded as such when played at a minimum of above 90beats per minute32nd notes, or 180 bpm 16th notes.[17]Early blast beats were generally quite slow and less precise compared to today's standards. Nowadays, a blast beat is normally played from 180 bpm 16th notes up to such high tempos as in the range of 250-280 bpm 16th notes (or even higher). There is also the "gravity blast", not to be confused with the one-handedgravity roll(see below). This technique uses the rim of the snare drum as afulcrum,allowing two snare hits with one downward motion (essentially doing the work of two hands with only one).
Typical blast beats consist of 8th-note patterns between both the bass and snare drum alternately, with the hi-hat or the ride synced. Variations exist such as displacing hi-hat/ride, snare and bass drum hits and/or using other cymbals such as splashes, crashes, chinas and even tambourines for accenting, for example when using odd time or playing progressively. While playing 8th or 8th note triplets some drummers choose to play in sync with one foot while others split the 8th notes between both feet. In blast beats in general, the notes on the kick drum can be played either with one foot only or by alternating both feet, referred to as a "two-foot" or "economy" blast.[9]
Variations
[edit]As blast beats have evolved, different types and interpretations have emerged. There are four main variations of the blast beat: the traditional blast, the bomb blast, the hammer blast and the freehand blast.[18]
Thetraditional blast beatis a single-stroke roll alternating between the snare drum and kick drum. The ride hand is usually playing in unison with the kick drum.[9]The traditional blast beat is structurally very similar to the skank beat, which can be regarded as a predecessor and a half time variation of the traditional blast beat. The skank beat originated in the early punk and thrash metal scene as a drum beat for extreme music. The skank beat is similar to the blast beat as it alternates between the kick and the snare, with the difference that the ride hand plays notes in unison with both kick and snare. A skank beat is in other words a sped up 2/4 rock or polka beat. In the US the skank beat was early on also referred to as the "Slayer" or "thrash" beat due to its popularity among thrash metal bands such asSlayer.[19]
Thebomb blastis essentially a combination of blast beat and double bass drumming. When measured in 16th notes a bomb blast consists of 8th notes on the snare played above a 16th notes kick drum line. Most drummers play this beat by leading with the snare, while the traditional blast beat is usually led with the kick. The bomb blast became popular among 1990s death metal bands such asCannibal Corpse,which is why the bomb blast is also referred to as the "Cannibal" blast.[20]
Thehammer blastis played with the kick and snare in unison. Instead of playing 8th notes kick and snare in alternation and thus creating a 16th notes roll, the hammer blast is played as a straight 8th notes roll on the kick and snare simultaneously. The advantage of the hammer blast is that only one fast hand is needed, which usually is the drummer's leading hand (right for right-handed and left for left-handed). If the weaker hand can't keep up with the 8th notes snare line, it can play quarter notes. The kick drum line can be played with one foot as well as a two-footed economy blast. When played at an extremely fast tempo, the hammer blast can be referred to as a "hyper blast". The hammer blast became popular in death metal music of the early 1990s.[21]
Thefreehand blast,also known as thegravity blast,utilizes the gravity roll technique in a blast beat context. Of all the main blast beat variations, this one is the most recent to have emerged. The snare line is played as a 16th notes single stroke roll, also known as a gravity roll or single handed roll. The roll is played with an up and down motion in which you push and pull the drumstick on and off the snare drum. By using the snare rim as a fulcrum you create a stroke each time you push and pull the drumstick up and down. In this way, the player can double the output of notes to match the amount of notes produced by two feet on the bass drum. It usually presents similarly to a unison hammer blast, but at double the tempo of what would be possible with normal techniques. One drawback is that this blast has a limited volume. The concept behind the gravity roll is not new, but is noted for being brought into modern music by drummer Johhny Rabb. Rabb has published the bookThe Official Freehand Technique,which covers the gravity roll technique.[22]The term "gravity roll" or "gravity blast," while common and accepted usage, is less correct than "freehand roll" or "fulcrum roll" in that the technique does not rely on gravity and can be played sideways, inverted, or in a zero gravity environment.[23]A combination of the gravity blast and the bomb blast (i.e. both the kick and the snare is playing 16th notes in unison) is called agravity bomb.
Examples
[edit]Examples of the four main blast beat variations indrum tab:
C- x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-| C- x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-| C- x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-| C- x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-| S- o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-| S- -o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o| S- o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-| S- oooooooooooooooo| B- o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-| B- o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-| B- oooooooooooooooo| B- o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-|
The first example is a hammer blast. The second example shows a traditional blast beat - essentially a skank beat played at a high tempo (this particular one leads with the bass drum, but the snare can lead as well). Example #3 shows a blast beat with double bass, known as a bomb blast. Example #4 illustrates a freehand blast, also known as a gravity blast and is the only one that showcases the proper speed of a modern blast beat.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^abSchlueter, Brad (2016). "11 Blastbeats To Master: Improve Your Technique With This Extreme Chops Challenge",DrumMagazine.com.
- ^abcAdam MacGregor,PCP TorpedobyAgoraphobic Nosebleedreview,Dusted,11 June 2006.[1]Archived21 December 2008 at theWayback MachineAccess date: 2 October 2008. "There is one uniformly present attribute in all examples of 'grindcore', that being the so-called 'blast-beat.'"
- ^Strub, Whitney (11 May 2006).""Behind the Key Club: An Interview with Mark 'Barney' Greenway of Napalm Death",PopMatters".Archived from the original on 30 October 2008.Retrieved4 July2017.
{{cite web}}
:CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^"Duke Ellington and His Orchestra - Kinda Dukish (Goodyear 1962)".YouTube.Storyville Records.
- ^"Albert Ayler – Live In Greenwich Village - The Complete Impulse Recordings".Discogs.
- ^Review ofThe Trio of Doom Liveby Thom Jurek,AllMusic."On 'Dark Prince' and elsewhere, it's obvious that Williams is the true inventor of the blastbeat, not some generic heavy metal drummer."
- ^"Emerson, Lake & Palmer - The Barbarian (Official Audio)".YouTube.Emerson, Lake & Palmer.1970.
- ^"BLACK SABBATH -" War Pigs "(Live Video)".YouTube.Black Sabbath.20 December 1970.
- ^abcRoddy, Derek(2007).The Evolution of Blast Beats.p. 22.ISBN978-1423460169.[2]DVD: ASIN: B002UD475Y.[3]
- ^Cite error: The named reference
greenway
was invoked but never defined (see thehelp page). - ^Ekeroth, Daniel (2008).Swedish Death Metal,p. 22. Bazillion Points Books.ISBN9780979616310.
- ^Matthew Widener, "Scared to Death: The Making of Repulsion'sHorrified",Decibelno. 46, August 2008, p. 63-69.
- ^Sharpe-Young, Garry (2007).Metal: The Definitive Guide,p.436 (and 162). Jawbone.ISBN9781906002015."The concept of this deadly device, a 200bpm-plusstaccatobarrage of kick and snare-drum. "
- ^Mudrian, Albert (2004).Choosing Death - The Improbable History of Death Metal & Grindcore.Los Angeles, CA: Feral House. pp. 30–37.ISBN1-932595-04-X.
- ^abRoddy (2007).The Evolution of Blast Beats.p. 10.ISBN978-1423460169.
- ^Ellis, Graham, "Decade of Horror,"Terrorizerissue 184, June 2009, p. 25.
- ^Roddy (2007). p. 10–11, 101.
- ^Roddy (2007). p. 18.
- ^Roddy (2007). p. 14.
- ^Roddy (2007). p. 26.
- ^Roddy (2007). p. 28.
- ^Roddy (2007), p. 30.
- ^Bloom, Ryan Alexander.Live Drum & Bass.New York: Hudson Music, 2018.