Metal Introduction - Playing Two Drum Voices

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# Metal Drumming: An Introduction

Okay, so now we're going to start thinking about metal drumming.

## Origin of Metal Drumming

Metal drumming originated as a sort of extension of rock. In the 1970s, many rock bands began to develop a heavier style. Bands like:

- **Led Zeppelin**
- **Black Sabbath**

These groups were essentially rock bands, but they took the genre to a slightly different level. Later, other bands like **Metallica** and **Slayer** took it even further. Music is always developing, and today, genres are perhaps a little more blurred.

## The Excitement of Blended Genres

This blending of influences is exciting, as it allows for a variety of sounds and styles. One song I often mention to my students when discussing heavier rock is:

### "Immigrant Song" by Led Zeppelin

The reason I bring this up is that it includes quite a lot of fast bass drum patterns, making it great for developing bass drum technique.

## Heel Up vs. Heel Down

I talked a little bit about heel-up versus heel-down techniques, as well as the heel-toe method, where you combine both. For me, playing this type of groove, I definitely prefer the heel-up position to achieve speed and maintain a more even volume in all those bass drum notes.

However, some may successfully use the heel-down technique—it's ultimately up to you.

## Sound Dynamics in Metal Drumming

Other elements that affect the sound we aim to achieve include:

- **Loud music**: You might want to have the hi-hat slightly open.
- **Snare technique**: Play the snare harder and louder. You might even want to turn the stick over, as discussed previously. A lot of rock players use this for a very consistent backbeat.

The snare drums typically land on beats two and four.

## John Bonham: A Drumming Legend

Now, about this Led Zeppelin groove—I'll do my best to do it justice. **John Bonham** was a brilliant drummer, and we owe a lot to him. Here’s my little version of it:

- Hit the hi-hats with a bit more attack.
- Play the snare louder.
- Keep the bass drums consistent.

Naturally, when playing multiple 16th note bass drums in a row, the volume may vary slightly. However, with this style of music, we want to keep everything as even as possible—both in volume and in power.

## Developing Coordination

We're going to focus on developing coordination by playing different voices in unison, which we haven't done yet. It’s important to ensure that when we play a hi-hat and bass drum together, they really land together—avoiding any flams.

### What is a Flam?

A flam is a rudiment where we play intentionally slightly out of time. For grooves like this, we want to maintain a solid pulse. So, let’s make sure everything is landing together.

Now, let's get on with the examples!

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