Reverse Subdivided 8th Note Blast Beat

For this 'blast beat' you will reversing the Subdivided 8th Note blast beat so that you have essentially the same part just starting on a snare. The point of a blast beat is to be incredibly noisey and aggressive and this form of blast does that by creating a very fast 'wall of noise' style sound where the stronger beats of the bar are more pronounced. These grooves are usually used at high tempos, but be sure to make sure you have the part down accurately slowly before pushing the speed. To get you started I'll give the groove as subdivided quarter notes first (basically the groove played as eighth notes) then the pattern will be developed through each exercise.


Example 1

In this slowed down version you will be playing the numbered counts on the hi hat and snare then on the '+' counts you will be playing kicks. This part will be very demanding on your hand to foot co ordination.

The subdivided eighth note blast beat as quarter notes

Use this exercise to get comfortable with the pattern this groove uses. Aim for a tempo between 180bpm and 200bpm before progressing.


Example 2

You will then double the note values to create a version of the final groove. Be prepared to spend a lot of time building up the temp of this groove and remember that the accuracy of your timing is incredibly important. While the intention is for this groove to be the 'wall of noise', it should also be very controlled.

The subdivided eighth note blast beat

Aim for a tempo between 160bpm and 170bpm before progressing.


Example 3

What you may have noticed with the previous exercise is that keeping the groove going for an extended period of time is very draining. One thing that can help with this is to use a double kick pattern for the feet. This example will sound exactly the same as example 2 only two feet are used. Notice here that the hands are playing singles as sixteenth notes and the feet are playing singles as eighths.

The subdivided eighth note blast beat with double kick

Aim for a tempo between 170bpm and 180bpm.


Example 4

A common variation on this groove is to shift the right hand to fall with the bass drum. This will create a single stroke pattern between the two hands and has the interesting effect of shifting the emphasis to the offbeats.

The subdivided eighth note blast beat with double kick

Aim for a tempo between 170bpm and 180bpm.


Example 5

Here is the same pattern again but with double kick used.

The subdivided eighth note blast beat with double kick

Aim for a tempo between 170bpm and 180bpm.


TASK

  1. Apply a blast to a structured pattern either as the groove or fill.
  2. Experiment with the orchestration of the grooves.

Lessons

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