Slapping and popping are ways to produce percussive sounds on a stringed instrument. They are primarily used on the double bass or bass guitar. Slapping on bass guitar involves using the edge of one's knuckle, where it is particularly bony, to quickly strike the string against the fretboard. On bass guitars, this is commonly done with the thumb, while on double bass, the edge of the hand or index finger may be used. Popping refers to pulling the string away from the fretboard and quickly releasing it so it snaps back against the fretboard. On bass guitar, the two techniques are commonly used together in alternation, though either may be used separately.
Paul Brandon Gilbert is an American hard rock and heavy metal guitarist. He is the co-founder of the band Mr. Big, and was also a member of Racer X, with whom he released several albums. In 1996, Gilbert launched a solo career, for which he has released numerous solo albums, and featured in numerous collaborations and guest appearances on other musicians' albums.
Steve Di Giorgio is an American bass guitarist. He is known for his work with numerous heavy metal bands such as Sadus, Death, Testament, Megadeth, Sebastian Bach, Iced Earth, Autopsy, Obituary, Control Denied, Dragonlord and Charred Walls of the Damned, and he has performed on over 50 albums as a guest, session or full-time band musician.
Stephen Percy Harris is an English musician and songwriter, best known as the bassist, keyboardist, backing vocalist, primary songwriter, founder, and leader of heavy metal band Iron Maiden. He is the band's only constant member since their inception in 1975 and, along with guitarist Dave Murray, the only member to appear on every album.
DragonForce are a British power metal band from London. The band was formed in 1999 by guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman, and are known for their long and fast guitar solos, fantasy-themed lyrics and retro video game-influenced sound. The band themselves refer to their music as "extreme power metal".
The seven-string guitar adds one additional string to the more common six-string guitar, commonly used to extend the bass range or also to extend the treble range.
D-A-D is a Danish rock band. They were originally named Disneyland After Dark, but changed their name to avoid a lawsuit from The Walt Disney Company.
Herman Li is a Hong Kong-born British musician. He is one of two lead guitarists and one of the producers and songwriters for the power metal band DragonForce. Li has played with the band based in England since it was formed in 1999 by Li along with Sam Totman, both of whom are also the remaining original members of the band. Before DragonForce he was in the black metal band Demoniac.
Fredrik Carl Thordendal is a Swedish musician best known as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for the extreme metal band Meshuggah, of which he is a founding member. Along with Meshuggah's rhythm guitarist Mårten Hagström, Thordendal was rated No. 35 by Guitar World in their list of the top 100 greatest heavy metal guitarists of all time.
Dino Cazares is an American musician, best known as the guitarist and one of the co-founders of industrial metal band Fear Factory. He is also a co-founder of Divine Heresy, Asesino, and Brujeria. Cazares popularized the use of digital amp modelling processors, as well as the use of seven and eight-string guitars in metal music.
Ryan Daniel Martinie is an American musician, best known as the bassist for heavy metal band Mudvayne.
Brian Helicopter is the stage name of Gareth Holder, an English musician, based in the United States. He is best known for playing bass guitar for the UK punk rock band The Shapes. He also played for many other bands, the most notable being the NWOBHM bands Rogue Male and HellsBelles. For a short time in the early 1980s, he was also a member of British R&B band The Mosquitos, with guitarist Steve Walwyn of Dr. Feelgood and Eddie and the Hot Rods, and can be seen on the cover of The Mosquitos only single "Somethin' Outta Nothin'". A prolific session player, he appears both credited and uncredited on many releases throughout the 1980s and early 1990s under both his real and stage name. He was one of the first bassists in the nascent UK punk scene to adopt the Rickenbacker bass guitar which he still uses to this day. He was also one of the first bass guitarists in the world to use Trace Elliot amplification. His bass playing style is characterized by a very fast precise pick attack, and fast runs. Unusually for a bass guitarist, he sometimes utilizes an overhand tapping technique more common to six string players. He continues to play professionally, reverting between his real name and his stage name as the fancy takes him. He is also a professional skydiving coach and instructor, currently holding seven world records in the sport. He can be seen in an episode of MythBusters aired on the Discovery Channel taking presenter Kari Byron skydiving whilst testing the falling airplane blue ice myth. He is also a vegetarian. He can be seen in the independent film Six Sex Scenes and a Murder, in the role of the bounty hunter. He currently resides in California, where he plays bass for the San Francisco Bay Area band Ghosthookers. Ghosthookers released a record in 2008 which features Brian Helicopter on bass under his real name.
Frédéric Alexandre "Fred" Leclercq is a French musician and producer, best known as the former longtime bassist for British power metal band DragonForce. He is currently the guitarist and main songwriter in the death metal supergroup Sinsaenum, the guitarist and vocalist in Maladaptive, the bassist and a guitarist in Amahiru, and the bassist of German thrash metal group Kreator and French death metal band Loudblast. He is a session musician for various other bands, including George Lynch's Souls of We. He is also a former member of power metal band Heavenly and played several shows with Carnival in Coal and Sabaton.
"Through the Fire and Flames" ("TTFAF") is a song by British power metal band DragonForce. The song is acclaimed as the most successful song by the band. The song was the lead single and opening track from DragonForce's third album, Inhuman Rampage. It is known primarily for its rapid twin guitar solos by Herman Li and Sam Totman.
Christian Münzner is a German guitarist who played for the bands Obscura and Alkaloid. He is also known for playing for the technical death metal band Necrophagist from 2002 until 2006, appearing on their 2004 release Epitaph. As well as Necrophagist, Münzner played in Defeated Sanity from 1999 to 2002 and Obscura from 2008 to 2014, after which he left to co-found the extreme progressive metal supergroup Alkaloid. He rejoined Obscura in 2020 and left again in 2024.
Biomechanical are an English heavy metal band from London. The band was founded in April 1999 by Greek vocalist John K.
Heavy metal bass is the use of the bass guitar in the rock music genres of heavy metal and hard rock. The bassist is part of the rhythm section in a heavy metal band, along with the drummer, rhythm guitarist and, in some bands, a keyboard player. The prominent role of the bass is key to the metal sound, and the interplay of bass and distorted electric guitar is a central element of metal. The bass guitar provides the low-end sound crucial to making the music "heavy". The bass plays a crucial role in heavy metal and a more important role than in traditional rock."
Heavy metal guitar is the use of highly-amplified electric guitar in heavy metal. Heavy metal guitar playing is rooted in the guitar playing styles developed in 1960s-era blues rock and psychedelic rock, and folk harmonic traditions and it uses a massive sound, characterized by highly amplified distortion, extended guitar solos and overall loudness. The electric guitar and the sonic power that it projects through amplification has historically been the key element in heavy metal. The heavy metal guitar sound comes from a combined use of high volumes and heavy distortion.
