For this 'blast beat', sometimes referred to as a 'Bomb Blast', you will be playing constant eighth notes on the snare, kick and a cymbal. The point of a blast beat is to be incredibly loud and aggressive and this is easily achieved by combining three parts of the kit at once. 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. Our Hand/Foot Co Ordination Exercises will be useful here. To get you started I'll give the groove as quarter notes first then the pattern will be developed through each exercise.
Example 1
A constant eighth note blast beat played as crotchets.
Aim for a tempo between 180bpm and 200 bpm before progressing.
Example 2
You will then double the note values to create a version of the final groove.
Aim for a tempo between 160bpm and 170 bpm 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.
Aim for a tempo between 170bpm and 180 bpm before progressing.
Example 4
Another way to ease the strain on your stamina involves cheating slightly. In this example you are switching the 8th note rides to quarter notes. This still has a similar affect but isn't quite as in your face.
Aim for a tempo between 190bpm and 200 bpm before progressing.
Example 5
The final thing we'll look with this groove is an alternate notation. Sometimes this pattern is used as an almost double time pattern at lower tempos. In this case it is usually notated as 16th notes. This is shown below with the double kick pattern.
Aim for a tempo between 90bpm and 100 bpm before progressing.
TASK
- Apply a blast to a structured pattern either as the groove or fill.
- Experiment with the orchestration of the grooves.
