| A blast beat is a drum beat made with rapid alternating or coinciding strokes primarily on the bass and snare drum. Diverse patterns and timings are also frequently used by more technical players, such as Gene Hoglan (Strapping Young Lad/Dark Angel), Alex Hernandez (Immolation) or Flo Mounier (Cryptopsy). Alternative styles of blast beats include using a two strokes on bass drum followed by one stroke of the snare drum, such as played by Pete Sandoval (Terrorizer, Morbid Angel), or using scarce strokes on the bass drum, which are frequently played by Max Duhamel (Kataklysm). Nowadays, a blast beat is normally played in tempos from 180 beats per minute upwards, with so-called "hyper blasts" existing in the range of 280-300 bpm (or even higher). There is also the "gravity blast", which implements a one-handed roll, called a gravity roll. This technique uses the rim of the snare as a fulcrum on which the stick is rocked back and forth, allowing two snare hits with each full arm motion (one on the down motion, and another coming up, 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. The following four blast beat lessons are provided by Romain Goulon. He is a skilled French drummer who actually plays with the bands Arsebreed/Disavowed, he is also the session drummer of the French Deathmetal band "Agressor" and he played in many French metal bands such as Imperial Sodomy of Belef. |
Lesson #1 - classical blast beat, with one foot and two in a 2nd time Lesson #2 - full speed and 6/6 blast beat Lesson #3 - feet stamina, speed working from 200 bpm to 260 bpm Lesson #4 - grind blast beat and gravity blast |
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