I'm a pretty beginner drummer looking for easy black metal songs to play, but a little challenging so I can get better. The reason I need some help trying to find songs is, I can't blast or anything right now, and most songs either have a lot of blasting, or are slower epic songs with just a simple, slow, kick snare kick snare pattern.

You can definitely blast at slower speeds (if that's what you mean by snare kick patterns, it's about as simple as a snare on 2 and 4 bass on 1 and 3 rock rhythm), you could possibly look into Amesoeurs, their drumming is relatively slow and rocky still with some blasts.

Most of the Drakthrone style of black metal is quite easy to play.

Now, if you want some really primitive shit, you might look into Bone Awl, or some of the Burzum school of bm.

Been looking into some Krieg myself, as that also isn't very difficult to play.

A lot of black/thrash is also quite easy and can be used as a transition phase when you want to start practicing some faster stuff.

Might I recommend Krohm? Especially on The Haunting Presence.

The music is generally fairly mid-paced and quite easy to play.

In The Nightside Eclipse would be good if you can keep up.

Burzum - Det Som En Gang Var.

If I remember right, it opens with a lot of tom rolls and shit, then it goes into a standard 4/4 beat, then goes into a double bass part. It's 14 minutes long, and the last "verse" is a good way to train your hands to keep a beat (it's just a standard 4/4 rock beat, but the hi-hat is doing...8ths, I want to say?)

This is all from memory, so my descriptions might not be entirely accurate - however, it's still a good song to learn, and it's not that hard.

If you haven't already realized this, the key to playing fast is playing slow. You can't run before you can walk, so to speak. If you just try tackling fast stuff right off, you won't be able to keep a simple beat. So it's better to play the slow, standard "kick-snare-kick-snare" beats, and then maybe progressively speed them up with a metronome as you get more proficient. You'll be blasting in no time.

Did Varg play those or were they programmed?
And that is exactly right. The slower you can play slow in time, the faster you can play fast in time. This is especially true with drums, and don't forget to use a metronome as often as you can or if you're playing a song play along with the actual song to stay in time.

Start off slow. Just practice blast beats, want me to tab them out for you?

Practice rudiments to make your blasting better. Chances are your left hand will suck balls until you get it good (and then you can fly).

I could write a book on how to play drums right.

You should do it. I'll read it, assuming I don't have to pay anything
Also make sure you can see 3 or 4 knuckles on both of your hands the whole time you are playing.

I believe Varg played all the drums on all the albums (except the two ambient ones... obviously). You just can't get a drum sound that awesome from drum machines in 1992.

Seriously I love Burzum's drum sound.

I thought they were programmed, for some reason, but reading back he says that he played them all on whatever drumkit (usually cheap ones) the studio had at the time of the recording.

Care to bet me on this?

No, because honestly I'm sure you could. I just realized my Alesis SR-16 is from 1990 and it has pretty nice drum sounds.

But Burzum's drums are something else, especially on Hvis Lysett Tar Oss. So much beautiful reverb lol

I can tell they're not drum machines because he goes off time a few times in the first 3 albums.

It's always been my understanding those are real drums on the Burzum cds.

Believe it or not, If you hi pass (I think thats it) certain drum machines kick drums, I get a double bass sound very similar to Filosofem (Jesus Dod).

Burzum albums have real drums, played by Varg,

"When I recorded all the Burzum albums........When it came to drums I simply borrowed a drum kit from the drummer of Old Funeral (later Immortal), or another musician living nearby, and "of course" I have no idea what brand that was either. "

""Filosofem" was recorded (in March 1993) in only 17 hours, but that is largely due to the fact that I used a drum kit that was already there - in the studio, used by some jazz or rock band the day before - so that saved me a lot of time."

Both quotes from "A Burzum Story", chapter 6.
http://www.burzum.org/eng/library/a_bur ... ry06.shtml

I find it hard to believe Varg seriously did Jesus Dod...
Unless what he did is just play a segment and *somehow* looped it... but as a drummer I find that really really hard to do. I guess with a good audio engineer its quite the pain in the ass. For me, even with learning how to work audio programs... I don't think I can do loops with drum pieces. Its hard to make it smooth. He staticatizes everything so it might be possible.

Do you play drums?
Have you ever audio edited?
Do you know what a hi pass is?
Have you ever tried the above with double kick drums?

Have you ever tried playing 8 minutes of pure double bass? At that speed? You need legs of steel...

Varg said he wrote all those songs for all albums in a short time frame, I find it hard that he would suddenly have the ability to go from "Burzum S/T" to Filosofem drumming in 6 months, unless all he did was play double bass all day and night. In that case, then he could probably play that song-- but thats quite boring.
Plus the chances are it wasn't a jazz bands drum kit he would have used for that sound, unless they have some really GOOD audio engineers over there. Their bass drums (on jazz kits) can have a smaller " size, and thus a much lighter poppier sound.

Also for the future: Remember, if someone says it... it doesn't make it 100% fact.

It's very possible. If 8 minutes of double bass is gonna hurt you, then you shouldn't even consider playing a live set. I'm not saying Varg is the drummer of KRISIUN or anything, but it's not hard to do the drums on that.

And my guitarist is learning to play drums. With the right regimen and dedication, improving at a rapid rate is possible if you are dedicated.

Fuck a drum machine.

I'd believe Varg's word about how he recorded his albums. I highly doubt he used a drum machine to play that, it can be done.

Perhaps he played a minute or two of it and looped it? Or perhaps he just is that good at drums that he recorded it himself? Or perhaps he got an uncredited session player to play it? Who knows, but I doubt it's a drum machine.

Well, maybe Varg looped that pattern?

To the OP:
Try the songs off the first Immortal album.

CountBlagorath + vashts80,

Have either of you ever tried looping drums in a studio? Unless have really short sound, its quite hard to do, let alone properly.

Not saying you guys are wrong or anything, just I'm pretty sure Varg either looped it or drum machined it.

It's pretty difficult to do nonstop flatlines for eight minutes without going offbeat, and something tells me Varg had no intentions of being a live drummer for anyone.

He goes off time quite a few times though, noticeably. Even more so on Hvis Lyset Tar Oss

Time locations please?

Plus, if you drum edit, you can add in screw ups to make it real.
I really doubt it would go that far, its starting to become a conspiracy (lmao).

That's actually pretty funny the whole conspiracy concept.

I don't know exact times tbh I was just listening to it last night and noticed on In I Slottet Fra Droemmen most of the song is blasting and he goes off quite a bit actually.

It's called quantizing, creating a certain amount of time leeway for each hit to be off by random. Makes programmed drums sound a bit more organic. But I doubt Varg did that. I haven't listened to any Burzum in a while so my memory doesn't serve me that well, but I'm pretty sure he just gave'er on the drumset.

The double bass in Jesu' Dod is not that fast really.

No, quantizing does the exact opposite of that, that is, fitting each MIDI data into a fixed frame. You're thinking of artificially created humanization (whereas you could do like me and record the MIDI data in real time without quantization).

looping drums is pretty easy actually. You just have to zoom in on the sound clip, and cut it EXACTLY where the end of the measure stops and the next one begins. There is a small dead space, or if there isn't dead space, there is a certain point where the next sound wave starts that you can clip it at. I am not saying anything about Burzum.. but just keep in mind it is very possible. I do it on all my tracks myself in Acid, which is a cheap old program. Plus, Burzum's drum pattern does no fills and is just that double bass/snare riff so he could have just played it ONCE and looped it forever which is also very possible. But again, I'm not saying I personally think this.