Bodypit1

How many different styles of blast beat are their, and how can u go about practicing them. What style of blast do u do Derek, as is sounds like u accent on the 3rd, but are you striking the bell and the snare at the same time, because i have got into that habit and im trying to adjust it to obtain a more intense sound. And do u always double time your thrash on the leading hand?? Merci. P.S Derek search fr a band called Sikth, adn listen to their drummer. some awsome time singnatures he uses!!

Blast_Duck

yeh Dan 'The Lord' Foord is an awsome drummer. Might be lucky enough to meet him at the upcoming drum show in england . As for 'odd' drumming i would probably rate Meshuggah's Thomas Haake as no. 1.

danny doubles

there is a gravity blast which uses the rim of the snare to do a free handed roll, then there is hitting a cymbal, the base drum, and snare a the same time, then there is hitting the snare and then cymbal right after with the base drum as if it werea a snare roll

Ernie Clifton

Many people tell me of the gravity blast but could you give me a detailed description... I think if you used triggers and hit the drum really light like that it would be considered cheating in my book. Anyway, I want to learn about it.
As for different types of blast beats, I would recomend listening to Nic Barker from Dimmu Borgir (Ex. Cradle of Filth). He does many variations on the blast beat and doesn't get boring like many.
Edit. Nic is out of Dimmu too.

fatalmoment

For "variations on blastbeats", try to find those video clips of Derek Roddy tracking "Behold Judas" off of I, Monarch. His snare hand blasts, and his ride hand just does whatever it wants, when it wants. He switches hands, switches cymbals, switches rhythms...every few seconds for the whole song. It's a lot of ideas.
Or, do what I did and buy the album.

To hear some gravity blasting, find and download the song "Carrionshine" by Cryptopsy which is the single off of their new album. Or, likewise, buy the album.

Basically, use your imagination. Wanna blast in 6 or 7? Half-time, double time cymbal? Straight or swung? It's your life...

IronCobraMan

best blast is the classic hi speed polka beat ....but my recent favorit is derek roddy's ride triplets one... i use it all the time

camos4life

1) both hands and single kick at same time as 8th notes
2) hands together on 1, and kick on the + as 8th noes
3) RH & RF together, then LF & LH together as 16th notes
4) hands togther with RF, and LF seperate as 16th notes

4) You know what I like is that Cannibal Corpse Death metal beat with the poka beat on snare and bass, but tripplets on the hi hat...thats sweet man... I do that beat live all the time... people don't know that I'm doing it, but Im happy and thats all that counts

Nightkast13

yo if u want some different blast beat notations try this link http://www.extremedrumming.net/phpb...d6a14aefd33cbec

if not just go to the site www.ExtremeDrumming.net

nevermore

BLASTMANIA! by Scratch

I think I need to clarify the way I do blastbeats, and what blastbeats
ARE. A blastbeat involves a fast, straight snare beat (8th notes at
180bpm or higher), often with a similar ride or hi-hat alternating
alongside - or occuring with - it. The bass drum patterns vary, but
the iron rule is a fast snare.
There were three main drummers who people claim started the blast -
Charlie Benante, on SOD's "Milk", Kurt Bretcht on DRI's "Dirty Rotten
LP", and Mick Harris on Napalm Death's "Scum". For the record, it's
Charlie ("Speak English Or Die" came out 2 years before the others.
Nuh!)
As for the methods of playing them, there are 2 main variants, the
European way, and the American way.
There are tons of cool effects you can do to make all of these sound cooler:
You can:
- add another bass drum underneath either of these to create a double
kick blast (as I will go into more detail later)...
- transpose any of these into 6/8 or 12/8 time, so there will be 3
snare notes per beat (or any other time signature for that matter)...
- experiment over different surfaces (a personal favourite of mine is
to, instead of the snare and hats, use the toms and ride bell/china!)
- and cut the cymbal work in half (instead of doing 8th notes on the
ride or hats, just do quarter notes instead).
Depending on which method you are using, the effect will be different.
There are several drummers who have taken the format further by adding
their own trademarks to the following templates. I will list those at
the end. On with the show!

1. The European method, variants, and masters...
a) STANDARD VERSION - "GRIND BLAST" (Hats leading)
This is the version used by many a black metal and grindcore band. The
classic European way involves alternating the hats and snare at 16th
notes, with bass hits coinciding with the snare. It's basically a
single stroke roll (RLRLRLRLRL etc) with your right hand on the hi
hats or ride.
The bass drum can either be on the beat or off the beat, and you can
always cut the footwork in half (some people stupidly call this the
"cheat blast") by splitting it over both your feet with two bass drums
when the tempo gets to 260+. It's good to do open handed also (the
sticking would switch round).

e.g.
hats- x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
snare -x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
bass- x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

RECOMMENDED TEMPO: 170-250 bpm (anything above that and there's very
little audible difference between any other blast IMO, as the offbeat
between the hats and snare is almost nonexistent.)
AS USED BY: Trym (Emperor), Hellhammer (Mayhem), Danny Herrara (Napalm
Death), Nasum etc.
CLASSIC USE: Ye Entracepurium (Emperor)

b) ALTERED VERSION (Snare first)
You can switch your hands around too, so the snare is leading. This
would be LRLRLRLRLR, and is a pretty good exercise for left hand work.
I quite dig this one and use it a lot, it has the punchiness of the
all-at-once American blast with the washy chaos of the European blast.
Again, you can put the bass drum on the offbeat, but then you're just
doing the standard European version. And the footwork, again, can be
split in half.

e.g.
hats- -x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
snare x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
bass- x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

RECOMMENDED TEMPO: 190-260 bpm (anything below it sounds too slow and
not 'manic' enough, anything too fast sounds like an American version
done real sloppy).
AS USED BY: Well...no one comes to mind....maybe me!!!!
CLASSIC USE: My cool ass song that exists in my head.

c) DOUBLE KICK EUROPEAN BLAST BEATS - "BOMB BLASTS"

Basically, play the main version, and then add in your left foot so
you are alternating your kicks and doing a double bass pattern. There
is no way to "cheat" and cut your footwork in half if you're lazy...so
be warned, this is a toughie.

e.g.

hats- x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
snare -x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
bass1 x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
bass2 -x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

You can't really hear the double kick effect though, unless you're
well miked or have a nice click with your bass drums, as the snare
tends to drown it out. But still, when done properly it works great.
You can switch the hand work round too, of course, but that's quite
close to a "Cannibal Blast" - more on that later.

RECOMMENDED TEMPO: 180-260 bpm (this one works great transposed into 6/.
AS USED BY: No one really comes to mind.
CLASSIC USE: Again, some cool ass song that exists in my head.

2. The American method, variants, and masters...

a) STANDARD VERSION - "SUFFOCATION/HAMMER BLAST" - and the HYPERBLAST

As stated before - very simple - 8th note patterns on the hats, snare,
and ride, all at once. Mainly used by death metal acts - and Charlie
Benante, who brought this to life with the SOD classic "Milk" back in
'85.

e.g.
hats- x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
snare x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
bass- x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

This method requires quite serious co-ordination. Pretty much all
death metal drummers use this method at some points in their career,
it's very impressive when done at the speed of the masters. If you're
looking for an easy way to do this, do the European method, then synch
your hands together so you're slamming both your hands straight down
at the same time.
You can cut the footwork in half once the tempo reaches about 250+ -
as this, to my mind, is the only blast that really works a treat
upwards of 260. This isn't one just for those with slow feet, if you
have fast hands but can't hit the speed that you have with your hands
on your feet to make a double kick blast - just do this. Upwards of
270bpm - and as fast as 340 bpm (!), the two
footed Suffocation blast magically becomes a HYPERBLAST, as most
famously used by Flo Mounier.

e.g.
hats- x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
snare x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
bass1 x---x---x---x---
bass2 --x---x---x---x-

RECOMMENDED TEMPO: 180-340 bpm. (Practice your singles to reach that
kind of speed, it's worth it! But don't underestimate the power of
doing this blast at minimum speed - the reason it got the label
"Suffocation blast" is because Suffocation used it really slow - for
the sole purpose of cranking up the intensity, and it worked.
Brilliantly.)
AS USED BY: Doug Bahn (you guessed it...Suffocation), Flo Mounier
(Cryptopsy), The Berzerker, and tons of other death metal bands.
CLASSIC USE: Too many to mention, but if I had to pick one, I'd go for
Hate Eternal's "King Of All Kings". Searingly intense stuff.

b) OFFBEAT VERSION

A blastbeat that is used by Pete Sandoval almost exclusively, to gain
the same kind of effect that you can get with the European blast -
i.e. chaos - is to have the hats and snare hit simultaneously, and
then a kick hit - so it's a "snare led blast":

hats- x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
snare x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
bass -x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

RECOMMENDED TEMPO: 200-270bpm (Sandoval transposes it into 6/8 on many
songs, i.e. Rapture).
AS USED BY: Pete Sandoval (Morbid Angel).
CLASSIC USE: My personal favourite is "Heaving Earth".

c) DOUBLE KICK AMERICAN BLASTS - "CANNIBAL BLASTS"

Easily the most challenging blast - an utter ***** to do - you're
slamming both your hands down simultaneously, whilst doing 16th double
kicks. Work on your double kick and American blastbeat technique
throughouly before combining this.

e.g.
hats- x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
snare x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
bass1 x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
bass2 -x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

RECOMMENDED TEMPO: 200-as fast as you can get it bpm (of course it's
limited only by your kick speed really).
AS USED BY: Cannibal Corpse, Cryptopsy, Hate Eternal etc.
CLASSIC USE: Mithras - "Worlds Beyond The Veil". You probably haven't
heard this song, but it's an instant hit in my eyes.

3. Other methods...

a) "NORTHERN HYPERBLAST"

Kataklysm have prided themselves on their blast technique. Simply a
16th note snare pattern with quarters on the hats and bass. Sounds
like an utter jackhammer.

hats- x-------x-------
snare x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
bass- x-------x-------

RECOMMENDED TEMPO: 130-160bpm.
AS USED BY: Kataklysm.
CLASSIC USE: Kataklysm - "In Shadows And Dust".

b) "KRISIUN BLAST"

The drummer from Krisiun borrowed an idea from the Kreator drummer,
Ventor (who has 8th note ride, quarter note snare and triplet kicks to
form his "Ventor Beat"), and in tranposing it into a blast situation,
uses a modified version of the "Cannibal Blast". With simulataneous
hands and ride, instead of straight 16ths on the kicks, he does
triplets. This means you can blast at tempos you normally wouldn't be
able to with 16ths, depending on your technique. (Unfortunately,
because it's a 3 on 2 polyrhythm of sorts, I have no way of showing
you this through here because I can't space everything out!)

RECOMMENDED TEMPO: 220-300bpm (though I don't really care for this blast).
AS USED BY: Krisiun.
CLASSIC USE: The first track off "Works Of Carnage" is a good example
(I forget the name, and though it's good, it's probably not the best
either).

c) "GRAVITY BLAST"

In use by bands like Origin, and most recently, on Kataklysm's new
material. Again, like the Cannibal Blast, but you're doing a ONE
HANDED ROLL on the snare count! Utterly insane! So that's a 16th note
snare and kick pattern over the top of each other!

e.g.
hats- x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
snare xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
bass1 x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
bass2 -x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

RECOMMENDED TEMPO: 180-240bpm (good luck getting it fast as Longstreth!).
AS USED BY: Origin, Kataklysm etc.
CLASSIC USE: Kataklysm - Ambassador Of Pain (although it's a new tune,
I think it works GREAT in the context of the song!)

just my 2ct

__________________
I am the voyager
I have tasted pleasures of the flesh
And drunk the pleasures of the mind
To reach the point I've attained
Clear focused and defined

Images&Words

A friend of mine showed me some Sikth they are pretty good, good drumming, but my favorite odd time drummer is Bobby Jarzombek, he's a machine.

rosni

@Ernie Clifton

reagrding the gravity blast you mentioned before. i'm not sure, but i guess this movie shows how a gravity blast works. movie is not from me, just found it on my harddisk but can't remember from whom it is. so probably someone who knows how to paly gravity blasts can confirm or deny this.

http://83.133.82.15/~sit/gravityblast.avi

bye,
rosni

Ernie Clifton

Thanks for that Vid. I tried that technique there, it is difficult to get it loud and it is difficult period since my leg is in the way of the stick. I can barely do a rimshot and my snare is farely high. Any recomendations?

__________________
Absinthe and blast beats.

mathcore

Damn Nevermore, you're blastmaniac, and that should be published. THANKS!!!

__________________
I regret what I didn't do, not what I did

IronCobraMan

my personal favorit is the infant-skulls-grinding-in-a-wood-chipper-while-the-parents-of-the-victims-watch-tied-up-knowing-theyre-next blast beat