24 replies to this topic

[atomicbrh]

I am a geeser(old person) and have been a Competitive Rifle shooter for an eternity. Started shooting the Action Pistol sports Mid-2011 because I was getting too set in my ways and losing problem solving skills. Also losing balance, eyesight and coordination plus other things.

I prefer acoustic music(Bluegrass) but as soon as I started shooting the Handguns I became drawn to Heavy Metal Music. The rhythms had the same feel as drawing, firing, transitions and all the other things this sport encompasses. There had to be some connection between Heavy Metal and USPSA. Here's the strange part.

I did some research. A Michael Dawson wrote an article called "Chris Adler:More Than Meets The Eye" on Modern Drummer Online. A quote from that article: "The essence of metal drumming is creating a loud, constant beat for the band using the "trifecta of speed, power, and precision."

The terminology from the USPSA Handgun Competition Rules January 2008 Principles of USPSA is almost the same.
2. Accuracy, power and speed are the equivalent elements of practical shooting and practical competition must be conducted in such a way as to evaluate these elements equally.

I thought I had read in a older USPSA Rulebook where the exact terms "speed, power, precision" were used as in the Heavy Metal article.

Has anyone else noticed these similarities?

[Cd662]

I am a bass player and I think your observations are very interesting. I thought of another potentially coincidental observation regarding metal and USPSA. There is still a pretty pravelent pop culture association with metal and "extreme" things. Similarly, USPSA may seem to be wild, completely adrenaline fueled, and out of control to the observor. However, both require a lot of technical knowledge and a combination of mental concentration and also the ability to "exist in the moment" in order to be successful. Just as a shooter cannot be good merely from practicing technical drills without practice in applying it, so too will a musician who only knows scales, chords, and patterns fail without being able to completely experience the "present tense" that Mr. Enos talks about in his book.

[NicVerAZ]

Heavy metal can be very gimmicky. When I work (I am a programmer) I like to listen to either progressive metal or symphonic metal.

Symphonic metal is very, very interesting, to say the least.

For some reason, my concentration level goes much higher that any other musical genre.

Why? No idea whatsoever.

[benos]

Band (name) examples for symphonic metal?

[NicVerAZ]

Sure, Brian. With an album to start.

Nightwish - Once
Epica - Design Your Universe
Therion - Live Gothic
Within Temptation - The Unforgiving
Leaves' Eyes - Vinland Saga

Usually a female singer with classical training. Sometimes with a live symphonic band. Very Northern European.

[benos]

Thanks NicVerAZ. What would be your pick for a newbee's first record venture into symphonic metal?

[NicVerAZ]

Thanks NicVerAZ. What would be your pick for a newbee's first record venture into symphonic metal?

Any of these are fun to listen to. Nightwish is the most famous but the most accomplished according to me is Therion. Nightwish's former singer, Tarja, was fired and replaced by a less-talented singer I would avoid the most recent ones.

Sometimes these bands perform with a real symphonic orchestra. The Miskolc orchestra has been the most open-minded so far and has recorded with both Therion and Epica, so either of these albums are worth a listen.

Edited by NicVerAZ, 21 June 2012 - 04:21 PM.

[benos]

Thanks - I'll check them out. Downloading Therion's Secret of the Runes now...

[spideysteve]

Odd ...

I actually really like classical music, just don't listen to it that often. I also like most heavy metal. Kinda like peanut butter and chocolate ... they really go together

I downloaded Therion .. The Miskolc Experience which was recorded live with the Miskolc Orchestra ... listened to it as I was cleaning up the garage ... just awesome! Going to download a few more albums right now.

Thanks to NicVerAZ for the recommendations!

[spideysteve]

Just another note about this ... I've downloaded 4 albums ...

Therion - The Miskolc Experience
Therion - Sitra Ahra
Epica - Design Your Universe
Nightwish - Once

I have to say that Nightwish is my favorite of these, with Therion a close second. The male singer from Epica reminds me of the old Gwar stuff with his guttural voice and tone.

Great stuff though. Wish I had found it sooner!

[sarnburg]

Some great stuff there
Thanks for posting

[Biloxi23]

Thanks NicVerAZ. What would be your pick for a newbee's first record venture into symphonic metal?

BE, have you ever listened to Rhapsody? I belived they are from Italy. Try "Keeper of the Dragon Flame."

[Sam]

I have done some study in recent months on binaural frequencies. These are usually related to the Schumann Resonance, which is the frequency of the earth, measured between the surface and someplace in the upper atmosphere. Generally, this is a pretty low frequency, and it varies from about 7.8 HZ to 11HZ.

I bought one off of Amazon called "four hours of sleep in 40 minutes". (you might find it a little irritating) While in deep sleep,our brain wave frequencies fall to about 7.8HZ. This is where healing and repair of the body takes place. There are other frequencies that accompany other activities. Surely this Heavy Metal craving has something to do with the new brain activity that you are developing along with the pistol skills. It is a very interesting topic that you have begun here. I hope we explore it much further. Sometimes, all we have to do is listen.

[spideysteve]

Not to take away from this thread, but how did "four hours sleep in 40 minutes" work? I've tried similar things (low frequency) and they seemed to be just annoying to me, as you mention it might.

[Seeker]

Regarding binaural frequencies and those related to the Schumann Resonance (7.83hz), which are in the Theta range, If one was interested in this as a useful tool then there are more flexible ways to get exactly what you are interested in. The audio Cd's usually are limited to one type of entrainment.


I recommend that Neuro-Programmer 3 is given a once over. You can program any wave you want for any period you want and/or transition. Ie beta to theta to delta back to theta etc.with appropriate background sound. ie rain, wind surf etc.
You can then export this to an MP3 which can be played on your computer, I-pod or burned to audio Disc.

Download a two week free trial.

http://www.transpare...ts/np/index.php

[Sam]

Maybe the annoyance is my ego....

[Sam]

Maybe the annoyance is my ego....

[carbon9]

YMMV but I find I can't "exist in the moment" to/with music unless I'm listening to a vacuum tube based system, solid state amps start to annoy me after a few songs especially if my source is digital based. I find the tubes take away the etch and glare of downloaded/digital sourced music. I'm positive it has to do with the different distortion characteristics between tubes and transistors.

One other experience in which I can consistently hit the "just be" is in a float tank/iso tank. There was a place off the 101 near Westworld called True Rest that just moved to Tempe. I haven't tried the new location yet but will soon. Not only does it help me with pain management and quicker healing but I can simply drift with no concept of time nor place. Pretty crazy experience every time, almost like a clean slate or new world every time I exit the tank. What I wouldn't give to have one in my home.

I've always liked frequency/sine wave based mental tweaking but most stereos won't even get close to playing 7.83hz except for the crazy(or not so) pipe organ aficionados.

Now to fire up Spotify, try some of the suggestions and if they draw me in I'll see if I can find those bands on my second favorite anachronism, Vinyl.

Thank you for the recommendations.

[Sasquatch]

I've always been intrigued by the connection between music and shooting and I think this topic is fascinating. The effects of various types of music on intellectual pursuits has been fairly well studied, but I'd LOVE to see some actual research on the same principals applied to shooting. I definitely feel that there are many principals shared between learning/practicing shooting and learning/practicing a musical instrument. I wonder, atomicbrh, do you play any instruments yourself? I play a little blues harp and just learning banjo, but whenever I hear a song with those instruments especially I get almost the same feeling as if I was playing it myself. Almost like how visualizing shooting a stage can sort of be practice for actually doing it. I wonder if making music is perhaps a way to 'exercise' that 'muscle'.

[sarnburg]

Just another note about this ... I've downloaded 4 albums ...

Therion - The Miskolc Experience
Therion - Sitra Ahra
Epica - Design Your Universe
Nightwish - Once

I have to say that Nightwish is my favorite of these, with Therion a close second. The male singer from Epica reminds me of the old Gwar stuff with his guttural voice and tone.

Great stuff though. Wish I had found it sooner!

I really like Nightwish it is a trade off with Metallica S&M when I am do data crunching type desk work..

My pre-match & pre- practice mix always includes Volbeat - Warriors Call, Korn - Coming undone, and Pantera - Walk. These three have become my trigger to set the mental game in motion.

Scott

[redbird1976]

I noticed it playing with some of my video editing. Depending on the song, the rythem of the shots matched the beat of the music. It was very cool to watch on film with the track layed over the video.

[Ed Robinson]

Dream theater- the mirror. Great before shooting

[atomicbrh]

I definitely feel that there are many principals shared between learning/practicing shooting and learning/practicing a musical instrument. I wonder, atomicbrh, do you play any instruments yourself? I play a little blues harp and just learning banjo,

Due to my schedule I am only able to shoot steel matchs. When I shoot steel as correctly as I can for a neophyte, the riffs from Iron Maiden's song "Trooper" just come into my head. The transitions must bring it on. The very fast symphonic metal must be for the GM's.

In contrast when I shoot the Precision Rifle Sports I do not listen to music period and that means for weeks before a major match. The Rifle can only be shot in a rhythm when there is no wind. No wind condtions rarely happen. I want no songs to enter my head to make me hurry a shot with the rifle.

I played the Harp when I was younger, soaked them in a glass of water to make them scream, squeal and wail.
Almost every member of my family plays guitar. I wind up performing basic maintenance on the guitars but cannot play them.

The reason I think the banjo came into this conversation is because it also can be "driven" hard like a good, fast racegun if the player knows what he is doing. Some think the banjo replaced the bagpipes because the pipes were too hard to maintain in the early days of America.

The banjo has a fifth string "drone" like the bagpipes if I am not mistaken. A good piper can "drive" the pipes very aggressively also.

There is a big, strong flute player from Shreveport, LA. who does not wear shoes that can drive a flute. I never thought the flute was an instrument that could be played so aggressively until I saw that guy at a Celticfest.

Edited by atomicbrh, 25 August 2012 - 05:46 PM.

[kneelingatlas]

Band (name) examples for symphonic metal?

How about Metallica S&M? (performed with the San Francisco Symphony on April 21/22, 1999)Master of Puppets

[swhiteh3]

Very interesting thread for me... I'm a musician (guitar player) who plays everything from Blues to Progressive Metal. Musically, I listed to a lot of Rush, Dream Theater, but you'll catch me listening to everything from classical to Heavy Metal.

For Progressive / Symphonic metal, btw, I'd recommend listening to Dream Theater and Lacuna Coil respectively.

I also fight Mixed Martial Arts. When I'm sparring, I need to get my blood flowing. Welcome to the Jungle, by GNR, and several other heavy songs get that juice going. KoRN, Rammstein, and numerous other angry bands do that for me. "Angry" music to me is very different than heavy music. Progressive metal is not angry enough for me for this purpose. Some Rap music often does this for me too.

But for me at least, I can't be that juiced up to shoot - and just about any heavy or angry music would do that. I think it would make me more stressed than I already am. I feel like I need the opposite experience. As someone who is relatively new to competitive shooting, *I may be wrong here*, but I still feel my heart race and my sweat reflex kick in when I come up to the line. That reaction forces me to work to calm myself down and focus. I feel like any heavy / angry music would just make this worse.

I don't listen to music at the range, but maybe I should. I'll experiment with it.