Heaviness in Metal Music Production: How and Why It Works

Heaviness in Metal Music Production, Volume I: How and Why it Works provides an in-depth analysis of the art and craft of producing heaviness, the fundamental musical quality in metal music. Using primarily ethnographic research, which draws on interviews and engineering documentation from various producers across different generations, the distinguishing feature of the study is the song 'In Solitude', which was written, recorded, and produced by the researchers themselves. Written by practising musicians, producers, and experts in music technology and musicology, this book offers a comprehensive understanding of the interplay between structural, performative and technological components of a metal recording, the perceptual and discursive factors determining heaviness, and the relationship between creative freedom and technical demands in contemporary metal music production. Heaviness in Metal Music Production serves as an informative and educational resource for metal practitioners and fans interested in the production of metal music, and is ideal supplementary reading for advanced undergraduates, postgraduates and researchers working in the fields of audio engineering and metal music production.