Hammer Blast Beat drum pattern
A two-bar hammer blast: kick, snare and ride together on every eighth note, with a crash at the top of the phrase. Press Play to hear it with a sampled drum kit at 180 BPM, change the tempo or swing, and follow every hit on the grid.
How to count the Hammer Blast Beat
Count it as: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & · two bars. The pattern is a 2-bar phrase in 4/4 (two-bar unison eighth-note blast).
The Hammer Blast Beat pattern, hit by hit
Each character is one step of the grid and each group is one beat. X is an accented hit, x a normal hit, o a quiet or ghost note and - a rest.
| Voice | Bar 1 | Bar 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Kick | XX XX XX XX | XX XX XX XX |
| Snare | XX XX XX XX | XX XX XX XX |
| Open hat | X- -- -- -- | -- -- -- -- |
| Ride | -x xx xx xx | xx xx xx xx |
Tempo and feel
Pounding and flat. All three limbs land as one stroke; any flam between kick and snare shows up at once. The default tempo is 180 BPM. Slow it down until every hit is controlled, then raise the tempo a few BPM at a time.
How to practise the Hammer Blast Beat
Play kick and snare together in eighth notes at 120 BPM and listen for flams. Add the ride on every stroke with the right hand. Raise the tempo only while the three limbs still sound like one note.
Variations to try next
Play the cymbal on quarter notes only. Switch between two bars of hammer blast and two bars of traditional blast. Put the kick on 16ths with both feet under the unison hands.
Where to hear this feel
Records in this family include Death metal and grindcore blast sections. A practice study of the hammer blast: kick, snare and cymbal struck together on every eighth note, with one foot on the kick. Each limb plays the same eighth notes as in the traditional blast, but in unison instead of alternating, which gives a pounding wall rather than a roar. The open hi-hat stands in for the crash at the top of the phrase, and the ride is an informed choice for the cymbal. The default 180 BPM is a practice tempo below that of many records. It is authored for practice, not transcribed.