I think most novel genres are originally created by and for the working class, but heavy metal has the material constraint that it requires heavily distorted electric guitar, so its history tightly tracks the history of our ability to produce guitar amplifiers, and how affordable they are in various areas of the world at a given time. The bedroom studio revolution is directly responsible for djent among many other subgenres, and the big names in n the first generation of that group are mostly people of color, although their class character is more muddled.
I’d super love someone more knowledgeable about heavy guitar music in the periphery to share some analysis of that.
Fwiw, and I could be wrong about this, I’ve heard the origins of the heavily distorted sound comes from bands having to overvolt smaller amplifiers to try to match the sound of the PA systems some bigger bands were traveling with in the age before a venue could be counted on to have a decent PA system to plug into.
I’ve heard that before. I think there was a long period of experimentation that basically involved breaking amplifiers to see how they sounded as well. Slashing the cones, rubbing dirt on them, etc.
I think most novel genres are originally created by and for the working class, but heavy metal has the material constraint that it requires heavily distorted electric guitar, so its history tightly tracks the history of our ability to produce guitar amplifiers, and how affordable they are in various areas of the world at a given time. The bedroom studio revolution is directly responsible for djent among many other subgenres, and the big names in n the first generation of that group are mostly people of color, although their class character is more muddled.
I’d super love someone more knowledgeable about heavy guitar music in the periphery to share some analysis of that.
Fwiw, and I could be wrong about this, I’ve heard the origins of the heavily distorted sound comes from bands having to overvolt smaller amplifiers to try to match the sound of the PA systems some bigger bands were traveling with in the age before a venue could be counted on to have a decent PA system to plug into.
I’ve heard that before. I think there was a long period of experimentation that basically involved breaking amplifiers to see how they sounded as well. Slashing the cones, rubbing dirt on them, etc.
That’s so cool.