Im wanting to learn how to do blast beats. I can sort of get one going for a little bit but then either my arms get tired or something throws me off. Any suggestions about praticing or tequnique or whatever?

__________________

lots of practice, you can't sit down at a kit and blast for half an hour straight, you need to build up, try Dereks exercises (visist the derek forum to find them, they are explained better there than I can do) or try things like playing with heavy sticks against a pillow, (this is great for building wrists cause a pillow offers no rebound and so each hit is all from the wrists, a great little work out)

erm there are other little tricks etc. but on of the main points I learnt a while back about drumming, going slowly for ages works your endurance better than 5 seconds of shere speed.

hope that helps, I can blast for around a minute and I only tried blasting a year ago...

Yeah, its the same with blast beats as it is with running, you start out slow to get the technique in and get used to the motion and as you go on you can do it longer and longer and when your at a point where you can do it long (your choice) you can start working a little with speed.

__________________

Ive only been blasting for about 2 months and im not that bad for a starter. But i can only do it for like 10 seconds. My band wanted to do a Malevolent Creation song that started out with blast beats so i was forced to learn how to do it . But when i first started, i didnt realy know what a blastbeat was. I saw tabs on the different types of blasts and i have been just practicing playing them. I just play blasts while practicing randomly for like 10 seconds at a time. No hardcore practicing, just playing them for a couple seconds at a time. I can already see results. Other than that, i have nothing else to tell you.

__________________

thanks

__________________

hehe. it's all about relaxing your muscles. there's plenty of ways to blast (wrist, fingers, gravity, rebounding, whatever) and most people I know that are avid blasters use their fingers because it prevents as much strain and you can keep it up longer. I agree with that, but I do think using the wrist provides more power and more stick control. pretty much the best thing I can tell you to do is just exercise your wrist and blast as fast as you can for as long as you can, also doing paradiddles very quickly helps. you'll need to make the muscles loose and strong. I don't really know.....there's not much of a professional explanation for it. just do a few speed exercises like hitting your right foot with your right hand on the same beat and keeping it even while seeing how fast you can go. that's a good stamina-builder and also good for coordination with the legs.

^ thanks

__________________

I was just practicing today and found an effective method that helped with my double bass and blast beats. As i said, i just did it today so im not sure if it will have a big effect but it seemed like it did after i did it for about 5 minutes. So i thought i would share it. I just played a medium tempoed double bass beat. Dont work your ass off trying to do the double bass, just do it a good speed for you that you will be able to hold for a few minutes. So the double bass pattern would be RLRLRLRLRL. On every R, hit the snare and a cymbal of you choice at the same time. In other words, both hands hit the same time as your right foot. I was doing this for about 5 minutes straight, changing the cymbal i was playing on every few seconds. After i did it for about 5 minutes, i started blasting and playing double bass as fast i could, and it was pretty damn fast. The muscles in my wrists and legs felt sore after so i know it must work. Im going to start doing this everytime i practice to see if it makes a difference in my playing. You could probably change them around to practice different types of blast beats also. If you managed to read through the whole thing, i congratulate you.

__________________

what speed are you talking About?!

The easiest way to blast is using the rebound of the snare (so I had to put my snarehead as tight as possible) and put the stick back with your fingers...elsewhere you`ll hurt your wrists if you´re doin it wrong.

I dont know about you guys but when i blast at slower speeds, i use my wrists. Then when im doing faster blasts i use my fingers and my wrists.

__________________

the best advice i can give on the art of blasting is to sit at your set and play sixteenth notes with your right hand (or left if youre a leftie) until youre comfortable doing that (i dont mean youll be comfortable after one sitting) then work on the doublebass drum techniques. good songs to start out with would be 80s-era slayer (espicially reign in blood) when dave lombardo would play straight sixteenths and use the snare on down beats only, more modern blasting beating, like that of cannibal corpse, is a more intense and thus more difficult style, and cannibal corpse's drummer isnt that creative (doing mostly blast beats i mean)

What are blast beats? I've been playing the drums a long time, but I have never heard that term before.

.....I'm obviously new to this forum eh?

okay since you are obviously a CoF fan, you know the ending to duck and her embrace, right after the drum solo, that really fast beat that sounds like a slow snare roll, that is a blast beat.

it goes something like this:

HH *********
SN *********
BD *********

usually played as 16ths at around 120 Bpm.

they sound very cool

and are very Kvlt, there are other types of blast but that is your most basic and well known blast.

__________________

HH *-*-*-*-*-*
SN *-*-*-*-*-*
BD **********

But it needs much more work...especially in the 200+ zones.

what you have there mr. Worm, is a cannibal blast

__________________

Haha, this thread seams like a blast beat class. There are a ton of different blasts.

__________________

thats cause blast beats are so cool

__________________

Thanks, I get it now. I've seen them explained in drum magazines, but they didn't call it a blast beat, they just called it a "fast" beat.

yeah the technical name is a blast beat.

__________________

http://www.musicianforums.com/forum...p/t-246065.html

Actually, my teacher being a jazzman to the core, asked me to bring a song in so he could find out what blastbeats sound like. I was completely lost as to which song to bring, and my friend borrowed the only Morbid Angel album I own. Who, in your opinion, plays the best sounding blast beats?

__________________

whatever you give your teacher dont give him something that has triggered blasts beats, id say napalm death scum album, just the rawest of the raw,single pedal i believe<havent heard that album in years> flip his wig

oh yeah, if he cant do it,cant blast, cant really thrash fast, find a new guy, there are drum teachers who teach more of a metal style and listen to grind, so on. some teachers are dorks who assume cause they know the triple stroke roll or some shit, metal is all a piece of cake and they havent listened to anything faster and more recent than "and justice for all".

Derek Roddy or something by Flo I would suggest Black seeds of vengence by Nile (the song) would be good or perhaps Slit your Guts by Cryptopsy

that would be what I do

__________________

Too late. I gave him MA's Covenant and Astriaal's Renascent Misantropy. Besides, my teacher doesn't wear a wig. In fact, my teacher kicks a lot of ass, just not with my kind of music. Actually, he was into punk in his youth...

__________________

tatatatatata

__________________

the "flip his wig" comment is kinda an expression here in the states......not a literal flipping of the man's rugpiece

i took lessons for a year about 12 years ago from a berekely music grad in the boston area<jazz/fusion buff,50,000$drum major education, music degree, alot of people you see in modern drummer had spent some time there at some point in thier career as teachers and studio dorks or students>and im still trying to unlearn most of the shit that i was drilled with and he was preaching as scripture,he could only express a burning hatred for thrash metal and hardcore, grind wasnt even known then to these guys, if you like your teacher,cool, just beware the fire and brimstone of a guy with a music degree,30 years old,still lives with his mom, owns a 40 piece drumset, never toured in his fucking life, let alone under an indie label with no support whatsoever. i was 14 and looked up to this guy. he's still there at that little drum shop,still talking about neil pert, the "black page" by zappa, replaying horrible fusion musak noone listens to....

Well, some people are just assholes. My teacher respects all music and has an amazing ethic and he never went to uni, he's only going this year, and so did my classroom music teacher who had a formal education. The teacher before him wasn't as tolerant and considered some genres of music to be unworthy. My violin teacher sucked, eventhough she had a full formal education she made my violin screech when she played it. Some metalheads are utter asshole elitists aswell, it depends on the person.

__________________

would it depend on the person if you took karate lessons from a guy who's never fought a fight in his life, would it depend on the person if you learn any trade by people who arent journeyman, those whom have applied experience instead of credentials. whos word would you trust more?, a historian or an archeologist, in thier given field. would it depend if they were a nice person? one guy actual digs the dirt, anylizes the artifacts first-hand, the other reads about the people who dig, sees the artifacts in a museum

at 14 i couldn't make the distinction between a proffesional and an armchair general,a weekend warrior, and yeah i learned how to play basic beats but all the advice, all the technique was total shit and i suffered, i had to relearn all the theory, all the technique i embraced with this man ive since done about the exact opposite, if its elitist to warn others than so be it, im older now and if i want to learn something i take seriously i want the most qualified mofo available, not just a nice person, i've learn to cook japanese food under a vicious tyrant chef, endured his scorn, unending criticism,he is one son of a bitch,but the fucker knows his shit, hes been doing it most of his life, and i respect him very much

i'm also taking ju-jitsu,kickboxing lessons to unlearn all the years of useless strip-mall karate,wing-chung i experienced at a young age, which falls under a similiar principle

that last post was not enough, i only feel compelled now to specifically explain what the bad things was i was taught, and have since unlearned
my old drum teacher is a studio drummer whos dedication and loyalty to music can be purchased,bought by the highest bidder,irregardless if said drummer likes or enjoys the musical endeaver, money is the main motivation, not the music, i heard his "projects" all complete shit, treats his main band like a side project, his"studio work"like a job

rudiments:
not palming the stick,rudiments straight from the fingers, i was berated when i arched my wrist, berated if my thumb and forefinger clamped together

drilled with triple stroke rolls,flam taps, triple ratamacues within this first year of lessons, these things are good to know,good to learn later on, but they are drumline rudiments and are useless to a beginner, and just show-off moves when you actually do know them,unless you can make a wierd blast beat with them,irrelevent untill far later

theory and music taste:
too much emphisis on rudiments, makes your beats lack in degree, playing tempos good for rudiments not for potential songs, enjoying fusion shit noone cares about, streching out simple beats to flub rudiments inside the measure, odd counts that suck, done in bassanova, playing quiet rudiments<jazz is dead, lets move on here>ghost noting entire fills, double bass drumming that only enhances fills, drum solo theory, stick flipping<i wont even bother to explain>,the magic and mystery of military grip,etc etc etc

beats
swinging your rock beats,over emphisis on triplet based improvisation while playing rock,shuffle beats<why not learn swing/jazzbeats instead>,the dreaded bassanova claves< i hated that shit,but i guess necessary>,linear beats<that one sound at a time shit,fusion crap>,ghost notes<only something a studio drummer cares about, the stupidest,dummest shit ever>, nice things like the heel/toe kick,irrelevent to a beginner,usually ends up being ghost notes when surrounded by fullstacks anyway

my drum teachers preferences towards gear:
7a or anything under a 5a guaged stick, lighter stick=quiet, not able to be heard surrounded by fullstacks<seems many, almost all triggered drummers use these sticks........aaaarrrrrgghhh....i'll leave it at that>, 90 piece drumsets consisting of "accessories" cowbells,chimes,splash cymbal trees, roto toms,conga drums.......i cannot explain enough my hatred of spash cymbals or anything under a 14"diameter, roto toms and congas are only cool while falling from a very high drop only to land on pavement. drumracks......cool if you have tons of cymbals and utilize them well, but they have one very serious flaw....A>crazed fan collides with drumset...tipping the huge rack to one side<your fucked>...B>crazed fan collides with drumset,falls backwards still holding the rack<happened recently in providence>.........

shit left out:
left hand leads,beats,drumfill.....absolutely necessary, the earlier you drill the better in the longrun
making sure your single stroke rolls,fill and beats can go fast,doing them as fast as you can,building endurance,sharpening precision. this is fundemental for thrash and grind, the very building blocks, which this guy hated and refuted constantly
playing along with songs on the radio at full blast, doesnt matter what it is, fun and worthwhile in the beginner stages, i constantly did the look and read way which sucks
no advice about recording, micking,touring,merchendizing,booking,good vans,dealing with mechanics<mark these words>when your miles from home,the evil of labels,the evil of promoters,managers,venues,bouncers, psychotic fans.granted i was young but this guy didnt even have cool wars stories, no real road experience, these obstacles are the true test of a musician, in my view

sorry for the long post, sorry to drag this one out but its been on my mind lately, i also apologize about the last post on this being kinda crude

I cant blast beat for shit, so I just do the old skool thrash beat (Bass+Hi Hat, Snare) really fast but every time I hit the snare, I make sure my left kick goes with the snare at the same time. Also, my doube bass is as bad as it is, what I do in order to cover up that I cant do double bass for a long time, is that I do all of fills and jazz beats in middle of a death metal song. Also I do excercises everyday, like whenever I do homework, I tie weights on my calf area and do air double bass.

__________________

I've only been drumming for about a year but i have found that playing "true/kult" Black metal blast beats (also applys to death metal) its easier to play with your wrists relaxed (otherwise the tension in your arm may cause you to cramp up) holding the stick mainly between your index finger & thumb allowing a "bounce" off the snare & using your middle finger to tap/lever the stick back down to the snare just hard enough to get a good snap back.(the same style apply's for the hihat), your stick will bounce off a little if executed properly with minimal hand/wrist movement. If you can master this techniqe (study Hellhammers drumming on the Mayhem DVD for the best example of this).
Also to begin with if you match each hihat & snare hit to each kick of your bass drums/drum pedal you will build up that "stupidly necro" sound you hear on most "true" B.M records.

to start with:
H-x---x---x---x---x---x---x---x-
S o---o---o---o---o---o---o---o-
B-L---R---L---R---L---R---L---R-

to work up to
H-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx-
S-ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo-
B-LRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRL-

Terror & Blasphemy

-T-

none have mensioned the blastbeat when you play the hh and the bd once and the snare second and loose and do it fucking fast as hell

Check my sig for the 101 of blastbeats.

Tyrian Xort dude, what you described as the wrist technique is quite commmon. I use it, if I didn't I'd have to use 7A sticks. Tension is bad people, be lazy and find ways to do things with as little effort as possible! GRAR GRAR

Low Tech, the problem you had with your teacher is that he was biased, therefore he had bad ethic. In reality, you should bring CD's to your teacher and ask him to pull them apart and tell you what's going on and teach you exersises to achieve that, just to show him what you want to play.

If you hate your teachers - FUCKING DITCH THEM. Find a better one, teach yourself, learn from tapes, sell your soul, anything, but don't stick with a bad teacher! They might be a genius on drums and play technical crap that can make you orgasm over and over, but they won't teach you good ethic and you'll be left out in the cold with that, not knowing how to treat a band or deal with auditions (being auditioned and hosting them), musical tolerance (learning from other music genres that you mightn't listen to too often), and they will bias you against certain gear that you might like.

I don't know why everyone dislikes heel/toe, it's fucking great, makes your ankle so much smoother when you play heel up aswell and you can do some interesting sounding crap with it.

For now, I'm still on my lenghty road to blasting and then single foot blasting. My father promised me a double kicker and now he's refusing to buy it. I wish I could kill him and claim the life insurance and spend it all on my kit!

__________________