Genre Analysis Development Late 1960s and early 1970s U.K. then - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Genre Analysis

Development

— Late 1960s and early 1970s — U.K. then U.S.A. — Roots in Blues Rock & Psychedelic Rock

More extreme style of Rock Music

— Some bands became heavier:

— larger drum kits — louder and larger guitar amplification — introduction of wanted feedback & distortion

— Less syncopation & blues elements — More showmanship & brute force

Developing characteris9cs

— Highly amplified distortion — Extended guitar solos — Vigorous vocals — Dense bass-and-drum sounds — Emphatic beats & rhythms

all contributed to a

— thick, massive sound and — sense of overall loudness

Proto Metal Mid – Late 60’s

— Blue Cheer

— Loudest band in the world at the time

— Vanilla Fudge

&

— Iron Butterfly

— Both inspired Deep Purple with use of

heavy organ

— The Yardbirds

— Jimmy Page goes on to form Led Zeppelin

following the Yardbirds demise

Iron BuCerly – In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida

The Simpsons – In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida

Proto Metal Mid – Late 60’s

— Cream

— Unison riffing — Thunderous drumming and double kick

— Jimi Hendrix Experience

— Highly influential Debut LP - Are You Experienced (1967) — Single - “Purple Haze” — Hendrix's virtuosic guitar technique and use of deliberately

risqué sounds and performances would inspire many metal guitarists.

— Steppenwolf

— “Heavy Metal thunder…”

—

first mentioned as a lyric in the song, Born To Be Wild.

Early pioneers: Led Zeppelin (1968)

— Vision of Jimmy Page (Guitarist/ Bandleader/ Producer)

— Defined central aspects

— Combined:

— distorted riffing guitar & dramatic, wailing vocals

soaring over the top of the

— powerful low-end drum and bass rhythm section — Ie. Communication Breakdown — Whole Lotta Love — The Immigrant Song

Led Zeppelin – Communica9on Breakdown

Early Pioneers (1970) Deep Purple & Black Sabbath

— Early releases by both bands portrayed a more consistently heavy,

"purely" metal sound

— Attracted much criticism from the shocked media, however this

• nly encouraged their devoted youthful audiences.

— (a common occurrence throughout the history of the genre)

Black Sabbath – Iron Man

Early – Mid 1970’s

The first Heavy Metal scenes

— Black Sabbath is joined in the U.K. by:

— Budgie — UFO — Uriah Heep

— American Heavy Metal takes shape:

— Grand Funk Railroad — Blue Öyster Cult — Aerosmith — Kiss

Mid 1970’s

Doors open for Metal

— Commercial success became possible through Hard

Rockers:

— Scorpions (Germany) — AC/DC (Australia)

— Cross-over success was then achieved by

— Judas Priest — Thin Lizzy — Alice Cooper

— Stage show included guillotines, electric chairs, fake blood, boa

constrictors, baby dolls, and dueling swords

Judas Priest – You’ve Got Another Thing Coming

Punk Rock factor Mid - Late 70’s

— Punk Rock emerges as a counterculture and reaction to

• verindulgent, overproduced rock music of the time,

including Heavy Metal.

— Many young British Metal bands were then inspired by

Punk’s high-energy sound and "lo-fi", DIY ethos and began cheaply recording and releasing independently to small yet devoted audiences.

NWOBHM Mid - Late 70’s

— Motörhead emerges, straddled the Punk/Metal divide

introducing the movement:

— "New Wave of British Heavy Metal” — Although claiming to simply play Rock ‘N’ Roll, the band

influenced Thrash and Punk bands alike.

New Wave of Bri9sh Heavy Metal

— Iron Maiden — Saxon — Def Leppard

— Bands brought new energy and toughened up the sound

— Reduced blues elements & syncopation — Emphasised faster tempos and propulsive rhythm — Drum beats being accompanied by guitarists playing a palm-muted staccato-attack

technique would become a mainstay

— Heavy Metal fans became known as Metalheads & Headbangers.

A shi^ in Metal Late 70’s - 1980’s

— The 1st generation bands were ceding the limelight.

— Deep Purple were momentarily defunct after guitarist, Richie

Blackmore's departure

— Led Zeppelin broke up following drummer John Bonham's

death

— Black Sabbath were constantly upstaged in concert during

this period by LA opening act, Van Halen…

A shi^ in Metal Late 70’s - 1980’s

— Eddie Van Halen becomes Metal’s guitar hero

— his solo on "Eruption”, is considered a milestone in modern

guitar, pushing technique & speed.

Glam Metal/ Hair Metal 1980’s

— Inspired by Van Halen's success, the Glam Metal scene developed in the

clubs of L.A.'s Sunset Strip:

— Quiet Riot — Ratt — W.A.S.P. — Mötley Crüe

— Common Sex and Drugs themes — Rapid-fire shred guitar solos — Anthemic choruses — Pop-oriented melodic approach

Glam Metal/ Hair Metal 1980’s

— By the late 80’s, Arenas and MTV were dominated by:

— Poison — Warrant — Whitesnake — Bon Jovi

Underground – Thrash Metal 1980’s

— Meanwhile, in contrast, an Underground Metal scene had

fast developed, which ignored the pop world and spandex

— Thrash Metal took influence from the NWOBHM Bands

combined with Hardcore Punk, leading a series of more extreme and aggressive styles.

— "Big Four of Thrash”:

Metallica – Master of Puppets (Live)

Underground – Extreme Metal 1980’s

— A desire to become heavier, faster and less accessible to the mainstream

would continue through the emergence of bands in the following styles:

— Speed Metal — Death Metal — Black Metal

— Common themes include:

— Darker lyrics/ topics — Guttural, harsh or abrasive singing — Less musical focus on feel and more on technical control — Blast beat tempos reaching up to 350 bpm — Appearance and on stage demeanour — Use of satanic or occult imagery — Power Metal — Gothic Metal — Doom

The 1990’s - Grunge hits Demise of Glam Metal, rise of Alterna9ve p1

— Grunge bands crossed paths with Metal such as:

— Alice In Chains — Soundgarden

— Elements of Funk, Rap, Rock & Metal were combined by:

— Faith No More — Primus — Rage Against The Machine — the Red Hot Chili Peppers

The 1990’s - Grunge hits Demise of Glam Metal, rise of Alterna9ve p2

— Progressive Metal & Rock were mixed by:

— Tool — Dream Theater — Porcupine Tree

— Industrial and Metal were meshed by:

— Fear Factory — Ministry — Nine Inch Nails — Marilyn Manson

— with Alice Cooper influenced Shock Rock

Nu-Metal Late 90’s – Early 2000’s

— Into the new millennium, Alternative and Nu-Metal

garnered success combining a wide range of elements from Death Metal to Hip Hop:

— Slipknot — P.O.D. — Linkin Park — Papa Roach — Korn — Disturbed — Limp Bizkit

Europe Mid 2000’s - Today

— Scandinavia emerged as one of the areas producing innovative

and successful bands

— Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany are the largest markets.

— Successful European bands have included:

— Dimmu Borgir (Norway) — Children of Bodom (Finland) — Blind Guardian (Germany) — HammerFall (Sweden)

Dimmu Borgir - Gateways

Metal Mid 2000’s - Today

— Chart success has been achieved by:

— Lamb of God — Bullet For My Valentine — Trivium — Mastodon

— Also from Metalcore bands who combined hardcore punk

influence including:

— Killswitch Engage — Shadow’s Fall — and Australia’s Parkway Drive

Bullet For My Valen9ne – Scream at Fire

Parkway Drive - Karma

Metal Mid 2000’s - Today

— Even bands dubbed as “Retro-Metal” borrowing from the 70’s sound such as:

— The Sword (USA) — Graveyard (Sweden) — Witchcraft (Sweden) — Wolfmother (Australia)

— Prog-Metal and a newer form, Djent fuses many influences including Jazz:

— Opeth — Meshuggah — Animals as Leaders — Periphery — Born of Osiris

The Sword – The Veil of Isis

Lyrical topics and themes

— Lyrical content often portrays a state of discontent:

— Trauma — Aggression — Depression

— As well as the exploration of the surreal :

— Medieval — Folklore — Thematic & Mythical values.

Music characteris9cs Harmony, Scales, Modes

— Power Chords:

— Root + Perfect 5th (+ Octave)

—

ie: “A” power chord notes, A-D-A

— Tense-sounding chromatic or tritone relationships in chords and riffs are

commonly used.

— Tritone (Devil’s interval) = Dim 5th / Aug 4th

— eg: well-known riffs in

Iron Man, Smoke on the Water or Enter Sandman intro to Purple Haze

Music characteris9cs Harmony, Scales, Modes

— Alongside the Blues scale, Classical music and the use

• f Aeolian and Phrygian modes have continued to

influence Metal.

— Especially influential virtuoso guitarists ;

— Ritchie Blackmore, Uli Jon Roth, Eddie Van Halen, Randy

Rhoads and Yngwie Malmsteen.

— eg: Youtube – “johnhguitar” for brief examples on modes

Instruments

Produc9on - Drums

— Natural vs. Formulated

— Multi-miked, Samples, Triggers — How much of a “real” sound are you hoping to keep?

— Kick drum: More “click” than “boom” (especially with

faster tempos or modern styles)

— Snare drum: Tighter snare & wires — Cymbals: HPF - help keep them toppy and sit above

buzz of guitars etc

Produc9on - Bass

— Use of distortion more prominent — High “attack” frequencies can help it to cut through a

big guitar sound and improve definition of notes

— In some extreme cases, bass has been known to be

high-passed where there is a battle for the low end with drums, syphonic sounds or samples or even low- tuned guitars

Produc9on - Guitars

— Heavily Distorted

— Noise Gate to achieve tightness

— Tuned down low

— Particularly with the addition of 7, 8, 9 & 10 string guitars

— Scooped sound

— Low and high end boost, mid cut — Found in Nu-Metal, Modern styles

— Sludgy sound

— Prominent low end and midrange — Found in Retro styles

— Wall-of-guitars

— Multi-layered for extra size — Different tones, different mics or pedals for tonal separation

Produc9on - Vocals

— Distortion can help enhance the harsher sound of

growling etc.

— Dynamic microphone may better suit an aggressive

vocal

— Vocals sunk a little in to the mix can help achieve an

illusion of size and loudness of other instruments