Re: Extreme Metal Bass Book Download
Jalisa Landgren
PS: I have the Dethklok: Bass Anthology and the Rock Bass Bible (Hal Leonard), but looking for something that goes beyond just tabs and puts some context in the choice/function/pattern of the bass line. Really enjoyed Bryan Beller's DVD Mastering Tone & Versatility where he explains some aspects of the Dethklok bass lines, but at the same time I feel I want with more theory focus to complement the practice.
Just came here to share my appreciation for this bass book. I teach bass and I'm currently using it as bass method for my students aiming at playing Rock / Metal / Prog and - so far - I've been having a blast as teacher. Really simple explanations, great exercises, can be easy to follow also for beginners but enough challenging for advanced players. I also use the technique exercises to give proper feedback also on the role of the bass player (and his technique), and how to make it functional within the band context, and the students have been really enthusiast so far. Of course this book is mainly focused on technique, and I use other sources for theory and reading.
Notes on Practicing: Like most other sources, practice with a metronome or drum machine is encouraged. However, the book goes one step beyond, in an interesting sign of the times, by including MIDI tracks so that readers who have access to digital audio workstation (DAW) software such as Pro Tools, Garageband or Cubase can practice using software. This gives them the ability to easily speed up or slow down the tempos of the songs and/or exercises to suit their capability and practice needs. Additionally, many of the exercises are presented on two tracks, one with full accompaniment and one without the bass (guitar & drum only).
1. Important Scales, Intervals and Chords for Extreme Metal: This section reviews scale patterns, discusses interval theory and gives a good overview of chords which Alex says are used frequently in the metal genre. He describes the sound, gives the history of use for some and makes other correlations between chords, scales and their use in music.
7. Sixteenth-Note Grooves: This chapter opens with the statement that a 16th-note groove accompanied by a double-bass kick drum pattern is one of the most common musical ideas in metal. After contrasting the feel created by patterns using triplets with those created by patterns using 16th notes, several exercises are explored. Some of the thoughts discussed are the use of sustained notes in parts and dynamics of unison playing with the drums or guitar for build-up.
9. Doom and Sludge: This chapter focuses on some of the slower variants of extreme metal. Elements of the heavier side of slow riffs are discussed, as are attributes such as the space they open for bass fills and ability to incorporate riffs based on the blues or pentatonic scales. Additional examples include use of trills utilizing the Hungarian and Minor Hungarian scales discussed in earlier chapters of the book.
For each of the songs examined, a breakdown of the song structures is given. This includes notes about parts like intros, verses, choruses, bridges, reprises and other elements of song structure. The notes explore why parts were constructed the way that they were, transition from one part to another, interplay with other instruments and other details. The final one is aimed to be a workout in the thrash/death veins of metal.
As a founding member of the iconic band Cannibal Corpse, Webster has spent his career defining what it means to be a metal bassist. His advanced technical prowess coupled with his creative compositions have kept the interest of heavy music lovers for over 20 years, with no signs of slowing down.
On the Obscura stuff, I'm thinking a fretless bass with low action for that sweet mwah, compression, lots of mids, and some tube-y saturation. Could probably reach a similar result in many ways, and I'm pretty new to Helix, but I'd probably try something like LA Studio Comp --> Ampeg SVT (for some mild tube saturation) --> Ampeg 8x10 miked with 421 or maybe 47 if you want a bit rounder tone --> EQ for mids. But bass tones are largely about playing technique/bass setup, compression and EQ anyway - can't give any magic bullet settings.
2.) Add heavy compression to the lower (bass frequencies) path and leave the upper path with light/zero compression depending on playing dynamics. Some light tube saturation can also work for the low freqs, experiment!
Heavy metal drumming is a style of rock music[1] drum kit playing that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United States and the United Kingdom.[2] With roots in blues rock and psychedelic/acid rock drum playing,[3] heavy metal drummers play with emphatic beats, and overall loudness using an aggressive performing style.[3] Heavy metal (or "metal") drumming is traditionally characterized by emphatic rhythms and dense bass guitar-and-drum sound.
A characteristic metal drumming technique is the cymbal choke, which consists of striking a cymbal and then immediately silencing it by grabbing it with the other hand (or, in some cases, the same striking hand), producing a burst of sound. The metal drum setup is generally much larger than those employed in other forms of rock music.[4] Black metal, death metal and some "mainstream metal" bands "all depend upon double-kicks and blast beats".[5]
Brief, abrupt, and detached rhythmic cells are joined into rhythmic phrases with a distinctive, often jerky texture. Heavy metal songs also use longer rhythmic figures such as whole note- or dotted quarter note-length chords in slow-tempo power ballads. The tempos in early heavy metal music tended to be "slow, even ponderous".[4] By the late 1970s, however, metal bands were employing a wide variety of tempos. In the 2000s decade, metal tempos range from slow ballad tempos (quarter note = 60 beats per minute) to extremely fast blast beat tempos (quarter note = 350 beats per minute).[6]
Like drummers from other rock music genres, metal drummers use a drum kit, a collection of drums and other percussion instruments, typically cymbals, which are set up on stands to be played by a single player[7] with drumsticks held in both hands and the feet operating pedals that control the hi-hat cymbal and the beater for the bass drum. Many metal drummers extend their kits from the basic "snare drum, bass drum, toms and cymbals" pattern, adding more drums, more cymbals, and many other instruments. In some styles of music particular extensions are normal, for example double bass drums in heavy metal music.
While some quieter, acoustic genres of music, such as jazz and traditional blues may not use microphones ("mics") in club gigs, in metal, the very loud stage volume from the huge guitar speaker stacks and powerful bass amplifiers means that drums are usually miked. In "miking" a drum kit in metal, dynamic microphones, which can handle high sound-pressure levels, are usually used to close-mic drums, which is the predominant way to mic drums for live shows. Condenser microphones are used for overheads and room mics, an approach which is more common with sound recording applications. Close miking of drums may be done using stands or by mounting the microphones on the rims of the drums, or even using microphones built into the drum itself, which eliminates the need for stands for these microphones, reducing both clutter and set-up time, as well as isolating them.
In metal, drummers use noise gates that mute the attached microphone when the signal is below a threshold volume. This allows the sound engineer to use a higher overall volume for the drum kit by reducing the number of "active" mics which could produce unwanted feedback at any one time. When a drumkit is entirely miked and amplified through the sound reinforcement system, the drummer or the sound engineer can add other electronic effects to the drum sound, such as reverb or digital delay.
Thrash metal emerged in the early 1980s under the influence of hardcore punk and the new wave of British heavy metal,[9] particularly songs in the revved-up style known as speed metal. The movement began in the United States, with Bay Area thrash metal being the leading scene. The drumming sound developed by thrash groups was faster and more aggressive than that of the original metal bands and their glam metal successors.[9]
In the mid- and late 1990s came a new wave of U.S. metal groups inspired by the alternative metal bands and their mix of genres.[12] Dubbed "nu metal", bands such as Slipknot, Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach, P.O.D., Korn and Disturbed incorporated elements ranging from death metal to hip hop beats.[13] Nu metal gained mainstream success through heavy MTV rotation and Ozzy Osbourne's 1996 introduction of Ozzfest, which led the media to talk of a resurgence of heavy metal.
Modern extreme metal is anything but a passing fad. With countless clubs, fan/webzines and mainstream magazines and radio stations nurturing and sustaining the scene, it comes as no surprise that an act as extreme as Slipknot gained the number one position in the US Billboard 200 with their last album, All Hope Is Gone.Slipknot have sold over 10 million albums without toning down their extreme metal sound. Over their career, the band have sold more than 10 million albums worldwide.
Apart from the actual playing, the most important aspect of any bass or guitar recording for modern metal is choosing the right equipment for the task. Good bass and guitar sounds in an extreme metal production depend on at least six factors:
Quite often, as soon as the drums have been completed I will intersperse tracking the bass and guitars with recording the vocals. In order to do this, you may need to start tracking vocals to a guide guitar. If doing so, be completely sure that this guitar was correctly intonated, to avoid potential vocal tuning issues with the final rhythm guitar tracks. Make sure the lyrics are completed and that multiple copies are printed out prior to the first session. I can also recommend separating out recording sessions for different vocal styles onto different days, concentrating on getting any cleaner, melodic parts recorded first; aggressive hardcore styles can often have a negative impact on vocal range.
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