Blast beats

Re: The Blast Beat

For example, in "Rose of Sharyn" by Killswitch Engage, drummer Justin Foley plays a blast beat with a syncopated guitar melody. The bass guitar is on the down beat (which is mimicked by the bass drum) and the guitars play the melody on the upbeat (snare drum), thus creating a very complimentary blast beat pattern.

Don't ge tme wrong, i LOVE killswitch but the part your describing isn't really a blast beat. Justin is just playing fast upstrokes there.

In the song "A Bid Farewell," once the second guitar riff is going (after the first verse) Foley plays a blast that seems very out of place to me. That song is an example of where blast beats aren't quite the most apporpriate groove for the application.

Here we have a perfect taste can differ. I can totally understand why u don't like this blasting, why I absolutely love it and i think it's genious.

It's also a good example of what i think a blast beat is good for. It's that one thing to play when u need to speed up into a climax and you're tired of those upstrokes or downstrokes. I myself ain't that good at blasting. It have not yet come to the point of actually use it in any of y band's songs but occasionally i throw it in at the ending of a song right before the guitar hits it's last chords.

Obviously, i play metal.
 
what are blast beats i hear people talkiung about them but have no idea what they are is it just like double timing the snare or something?

There are many forms of blast beats, but the one I commonly use is this one:

R= x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
S= -x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
R= x---x---x---x---
L= --x---x---x---x-


'R' is used to signify the ride cymbal (or hi-hat, or china, or whatever), 'S' is the snare, 'R' being your right foot and 'L' your left.

So basically, you're playing 16th-note single strokes (RLRLRLRL) with the right hand on the ride (or whatever) cymbal and the left hand on the snare, and playing alternating 8th-notes with the feet, ensuring that the bass drum notes fall in unison with the right hand.

Hope this helps .... somewhat.
 
He used to visit here every so often. You might still be able to find his thread in Your Playing. Still the most viewed thread in that sub-forum I believe.
 
<<just for your amazement: Everyone must look up Lord Marco Pitruzella of BRAIN DRILL. This guy is unquestionably in the top ten fastest drummers in the world. Read the description of the band on myspace and Watch the videos to witness the brutality!!!. His one handed roll is godly!!!

www.myspace.com/braindrill
Also check out sickdrummer.com- great resource for extreme metal and blasting.

Funnily enough, I heard a rumour he went to the WFD and got his arse handed to him. Heh.
 
Funnily enough, I heard a rumour he went to the WFD and got his arse handed to him. Heh.

It's not a rumor. I was there and Marco was more than 200 strokes behind the winner in the feet. His hands are fast with scores approaching 1000 and his one hand roll is perfect but he was pretty much in the same range as me with the feet at the time (750 range)
 
It's not a rumor. I was there and Marco was more than 200 strokes behind the winner in the feet.
To be fair though he handled it extremely well in my opinion. He was quite surprised at the numbers and swore that he was going to better the next time. For all of the bluster associated with the competition, I'm always pleased to see how humble the WFD competitors are whether they win or lose.
 
There are many forms of blast beats, but the one I commonly use is this one:

R= x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
S= -x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
R= x---x---x---x---
L= --x---x---x---x-


'R' is used to signify the ride cymbal (or hi-hat, or china, or whatever), 'S' is the snare, 'R' being your right foot and 'L' your left.

So basically, you're playing 16th-note single strokes (RLRLRLRL) with the right hand on the ride (or whatever) cymbal and the left hand on the snare, and playing alternating 8th-notes with the feet, ensuring that the bass drum notes fall in unison with the right hand.

Hope this helps .... somewhat.

If you doublestroke on the snare it sounds a little thrashier. I tried that one as well.
 
one if my favorite bands is band called nile. check out some of their stuff when they had george kollias as a drummer. hes wicked insane. blasting throughout whole songs switching into double time on the kick yet they're music is so tight and clean with great use of china and bell patterns it never seems to get repetative.
 
Is there any drummer or know someone in Montreal that can blast-beat and wants to play in my band?

Y a tu des drummeurs ou connait des drummeurs qui blast à Montréal et qui voudrait try-out pour mon groupe?

Anwser me by sending a private message so we won't disturbe this thread/ Répondez moi par message privé pour ne pas parasiter cette discussion

Thank you / Merci
 
wow i never knew there where so many types of blasts

There are only 4 different types of blast beats..actually. There are just hundreds of variations with-in those 4.

Traditional blast..... kick snare kick snare alternating (order of notes doesn't matter...if they're alternating...it's a traditional blast)
Bomb blast... Just add double bass.
Hammer (or when played super fast) the hyper blast.... This is the blast that all hits are in unison.
and the freehand/Gravity blast...... where kick and snare are playing 32 notes together. The snare hand utilizes Johnny Rabbs freehand motion. The hi hat hand plays in half time obviously.

Cheers guys
D.
 
Well no, there are lots of others. The Cannibal blast, upbeat blasts, there's even a Hoglan blast.
 
this is a blast i use often, is this just considered a modified hammer blast?


B=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
S=x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
R=x----x----x---x-x-x----x----x----x----x-x-x--
 
this is a blast i use often, is this just considered a modified hammer blast?


B=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
S=x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
R=x----x----x---x-x-x----x----x----x----x-x-x--

I'm more than willing to bet that if that's played on the ride, the triplets on the right hand are on the bell. Am I right?
 
I'm more than willing to bet that if that's played on the ride, the triplets on the right hand are on the bell. Am I right?

yep for the most part, but sometimes i like to mix it up a bit and ill play it on the hi hat with the triplets on my ride, splash or my 12" china.
 
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