Heavy metal music can bring both positive and negative emotions: an increased sense of flow and empowerment as well as anger and aggression.
Metal songs differ from other genres in that they often contain slow sections that serve as breakdowns – these sections usually feature slow tempos and low-tuned instruments designed to increase sonic weight.
1. Bass
Heavy metal music requires powerful bass guitar to give its songs their signature sound and punchy basslines, typically sitting between 60Hz and 400Hz and must remain within this frequency range to avoid overwhelming other instruments in the mix. Frequencies above 120Hz may become overwhelming or become fatiguing – these must be reduced or filtered out as soon as possible for clarity’s sake and to avoid feedback issues.
Heavy metal emerged in the 1960s and 70s from rock ‘n’ roll music, becoming known for its distorted guitar sounds, aggressive themes, and power-driven drumming. Since its birth, metal has flourished into multiple subgenres with dedicated fans worldwide – this comprehensive guide to metal provides insight into its history, key characteristics, influential bands, as well as how its influence continues to evolve today.
Although electric guitar is often considered when discussing heavy music, bass plays an equally crucial role. Bass gives metal its signature sound by creating the wide wall of sound that fills up stereo field (Mynett Metal 203) and contributing to its signature timbre; adding density by broadening overtone spectrum and decreasing transient attack of other instruments.
Heavy vocals in metal add an additional heaviness that some listeners compare to being lifted off your feet. Layering performances using multiple voices, articulations patterns and pitch ranges can increase heaviness of music by giving it an otherworldly quality that single performances can’t provide alone. Some producers recommend adding reverb to further emphasize vocal weight and give an eerie quality to vocal performances.
Metal music’s drums are an integral component, as they must compete with thick and distorted guitars for attention. But to achieve their desired sound – usually characterized by a punchy kick with tight frequency response – requires careful manipulation using software drum modules that offer limited transient information transfer for their kick drum. This can prove challenging.
2. Mids
Distorted electric guitar is integral to metal music, contributing to its perceived heaviness and power. Heaviness is further amplified by high volumes, which enhance the spectral composition by increasing low frequencies while compressing dynamic range – this results in psychoacoustically powerful sounds as it extends human hearing threshold to higher frequency ranges.
Harmonic distortion on typical metal guitars provides the foundation for many core musical parameters associated with heaviness, including perceived weight, size and density (Berger and Fales 2005; Herbst 2017). Furthermore, heaviness can be further strengthened through slower tempos and subdivisions which extend riff duration and allow for larger physical gestures during mosh pit performances.
Over time, metal music has developed into various subgenres. Popular examples are thrash, death, black and power metal subgenres which explore various sonic terrains and lyrical themes; instrumentation advancement has enabled musicians to achieve higher technicality levels; this has lead to the birth of progressive and technical death metal genres that emphasize instrumental virtuosity.
Heavy metal bands have long experimented with various tuning styles in order to establish unique sounds and musical identities. Black Sabbath, considered the pioneers of heavy metal music, used twin lead guitars with leather-clad aesthetics as part of their signature sound, while Tony Iommi and Ozzy Osbourne’s guitar riffs established what later came to be known as heavyness in metal music.
Napalm Death, Cannibal Corpse and Carcass are also notable heavy metal acts that employ various tuning techniques including down-tuning. This technique involves dropping the bass string’s pitch by one or more semitones in order to achieve a deeper tone; creating an oppressive feel accompanied by harsh, grating tones; this has become an iconic characteristic of heavy metal music and often results in harmonic distortion of guitar strings that results in an extremely harsh and distorted soundscape.
3. Highs
Metal has earned itself the reputation for being loud, with sharp high frequencies often being heard. This is because creating an effective drum sound requires careful consideration from both kit manufacturers and recordings alike; kits may be adjusted with equalization to ensure tight clicks and full mid range presence, while toms and snares may be amplified – often by means of an equalization plugin – and low pass filters can be employed to filter any unnecessary high frequencies out.
Compressing kick and snare drums with a compressor with a flat Q can also help enhance midrange frequencies, although finding an appropriate balance with highs and mids may prove challenging; too much boost may create an overwhelming sound that is unsuited for metal music.
Metal songs have long been linked with aggression and violence, yet their signature large-than-life sound provides fans an outlet to vent emotions they might otherwise keep locked inside. Many metal fans find comfort in exploring tough topics like death, grief and pain through their favorite bands’ music as an outlet; many see this form of art therapy as a means of dealing with difficult times in their own lives; studies also indicate listening to certain genres can reduce stress levels.
Listening to metal music at high volumes can damage hearing and cause tinnitus, so it is crucial that mixes are performed at lower volumes and tested on multiple systems before listening at higher volumes. Earplugs may also help protect hearing when listening to metal at loud volumes.
Metal’s popularity declined during the disco era of the 1970s, yet British acts like Def Leppard, Iron Maiden and other groups like Kiss and Alice Cooper helped revive it with flashy guitar leads and flashier aesthetics – kissing leads by Alice Cooper made it even more accessible; American rockers Aerosmith and Van Halen took it in new directions while Motley Crue and Guns N’ Roses led another wave that featured gender-bending styles; currently, “heavy metal” music scenes can be more diverse than ever and distinguishing signature sonic signatures is becoming harder to pin down;
4. Rhythmic Delays
This single delay effect allows a repeated note or beat to come back milliseconds later after it was first played, often used on guitars and vocals for added character. Echoes can range from distinct to subtle echoes and rhythmic delays are especially helpful in reinforcing words or lyrics; as can vary feedback settings (the number of taps). Rhythmic delays also allow singers to reaffirm beats within lyrics while polyrhythmic effects may also be achieved through feedback settings (by changing feedback settings (such as number of taps).
If your project was recorded to click, syncing delay effects with its tempo is usually easiest, to ensure any new rhythms created by delay are in sync with its groove and won’t clash or sound out-of-place.
Metal musicians tend to utilize multiple modulation settings on their guitars in order to add depth and an expansiveness of sound to their playing style. However, excessive modulation may cause its sound to become muffled or even distort altogether.
Metal producers frequently employ another strategy used by metal musicians: distortion on drums, bass and guitars. This helps give their music more of an “live” feel while also adding aggression and making it sound more aggressive.
Delay can be an incredibly versatile audio effect, yet its use must be done carefully to avoid becoming excessive. Too much delay could create dense or murky tracks which won’t stand out against other bands within their genre.
Equalizing snare drums can be particularly challenging in metal. Their tone should be balanced so as to sound heavy without becoming boxy or dull; this can be accomplished by increasing frequencies between 200Hz and 450Hz or by increasing attack.
While metal performers tended to be predominantly male until the early 2010s, there are now an increasing number of female metal artists across symphonic and power metal genres. Although women still aren’t equally represented across genres like metal altogether, this trend shows promise.