Im wondering what everyones view on blast beas are?
What are all of your personal thoughts about.

There's really no musical application for them outside of death metal, so I never really got into them. I'm sure there are some cool techniques involved.








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Rata-tata-zzzzzzz......Drums Always!

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Like you said blast beats are only really used in one kind of music. I play in a metal band and for a time the old singer wanted blast after blast . They're cool when used sparingly I think, like anything, if you keep doing it, it gets boring ( and tires you out). Charlie from Anthrax is great at throwing in a little blast here or there and it works. Then you get proper Death Metal bands where the drummer blasts all the way through the song and his whole kit's triggered and it just sounds LAME!








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I agree they're cool when used sparingly. I listen to alot of bands that use em. Mostly death metal. I never had any desire to learn how to do em,untill my last band. Flo from Cryptopsy,and John Longstreth (Origin/Red Chord) are some of my faves for blast beats. Charlie from Anthrax is one of the most underrated drummers. He is incredible,but never gets the credit he deserves. He's one hell of a guitar player too.

I use them in the band I play for now, and I have to say, they are one of the hardest things to do right that carry such a simple concept. I use multiple kinds of blasts and only do them in occasional spots, there are a few parts that I carry out blasts for over a minute.








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Blast beats arent only classified under death metal genre though.
Black metal harnesses blast beats a fair bit, almost to an overkill some instances.
I would say to check out Flo monier (not sure of spelling) and Nick Barker for awsome blast beats.
Also see the song blessings upon the throne of tyranny for awsome blasts from band Dimmu Borgir,and drummer Nick barker.
My personal fav

I got one word, look it up:

NECROPHAGIST

That dude can play some blast beats.








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Necrophagist programs their drums on CD...

Not the new one. And reguardless, dude plays some insanly fast shit originally played by a machine from the first record.








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Is it true that the former dimmu borgir drummer Nick barker triggers his drums?
If so what advantages does triggering hav on a persons kit and their playing ability? Does it help in anyway to improve blasts aswell?

Yes Nick Barker does trigger his drums. A lot of death/black metal drummers do, especially their bass drums. Triggers don't have any effect on the persons playing ability but they make a huge difference to the sound. If you're not sure how triggers work then let me explain.....The trigger is an electronic sensor that sits on the drum head and is linked up to some kind of sound module(brain), which is run through the PA. Everytime you hit the drum it triggers a signal to the brain and that produces the sound through the PA. You are basically playing your acoustic kit but with the controls of an electronic kit. Most people dampen the drums down so that they hardly make any acoustic noise and tyhen all you'll hear is the triggered sound. What that means is that you can set the velocity response on the brain so that no matter how hard you hit the drum you always get the same volume sound. That allows people to blast at ridiculous speeds because they are hardly hitting the drum and not using as much energy as a guy who is untriggered.
Personally I can't stand the sound of a triggered kit, bass drums I can see why but the rest of the drums sound shite when triggered.








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You're good son, You're real good. As long as I'm around, you'll always be second best, see?

Blast Beats really are used in all forms of extreme metal.From Black Metal to War Metal...I've even heard some doom metal with blast beats that will rotate heads.But I don't think they are used in just such context.I have heard alot of Jazz where mild blasts are performed.Its a good accent in the right context out of extreme metal.Especially when performed single bass,snare,and riding the splashes in the end of a song.

Maybe I'm getting old, but exactly how many types of metal are there now? Kinda crazy it seems.








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Rata-tata-zzzzzzz......Drums Always!

www.youtube.com/robthedrummer

How many forms...way too many.Obviously the classic heavy metal,hair metal,thrash metal,doom metal,black metal,white metal ( similar to black only very religion based ) death metal,war metal,nu-metal,Power Metal.. and I am sure there is a few I'm not thinking of.Metal is a very diverse form of music which is awsome since there are so many avenues in which to explore.

christian metal, metalcore ...etc








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