What makes djent djent

Meshuggah is widely credited as the bad to popularize and coin the djent tone, though it now applies to a variety of progressive meta, pop metal, and metalcore bands who implement djent breakdowns into the songs. Check out some djent riff compilations on YouTube. If you want to hear the riff specifically to get a sense of the sound that Fredrik was originally referring to, there are a variety of "djent comps" on YouTube that stream together the heaviest and most "djenty" of the djent riffs.

It's a good way to do some quick research. Listen to other types of music for djent influence. Again, the existence of djent as a particular genre is somewhat debatable, and it's primarily a trend that peaked in some metalcore bands between and Because of this, there aren't a lot of bands that self-identify as "djent" bands, but you might be able to hear the influence or the style in their music, since it merely refers to a particular tone and style of riff.

You might find djent riffs in: Deathcore or straight-up death metal Metalcore, pop metal, or screamo Prog metal or math rock. Part 2. Get a guitar with extra strings. Primarily, the chugging djent riff is played on the lowest string of a guitar with added strings, primarily one down-tuned to D or possibly lower.

While it's perfectly fine to play djent riffs of a six-string guitar, having a guitar with multiple strings makes it easier to reserve a particular string to play the breakdown riff without having to sacrifice a particular string to do it.

Generally, djent guitarists will leave the six strings tuned to standard EADGBE , then down tune the lowest string on the guitar to the key that matches the particular song. Mind your gain. Contrary to popular belief, the Djent tone is characterized by low gain when compared to other heavy styles. After you plug in your hopefully multi-string guitar, turn the gain up on either a distortion pedal or at your amp to the point where soft playing just barely brakes up and low notes sound almost unaffected.

Depending on the amp you use, you generally want to turn down most if not all other effects, especially effects such as delay, tremolo, or reverb. Djent tone is really crisp and dry, so you want things as as sharp as possible.

Get an overdrive pedal or effect. For the purposes of playing breakdowns, it's common to get a little volume boost and punch when you're ready to throw down a djent riff during a breakdown. The best way to do this is with an overdrive pedal. Overdrive plus high gain will equal a crunchy tone for djenting.

Use a compressor effect, as well, to help keep your signal regulated and your notes at the same amplitude. This helps to keep the djent riff at the same level of all the other notes that you're playing in the song, and the individual notes in the riff equalized. Since it's so percussive, this is an essential pedal in your chain. Use a chorus effect or an octave unit. While it's not necessary to play a djent riff, the specific tone of the djent riff is interesting and unique, because it goes both high and low at the same time, even though it's on a single note.

Partially, this is a virtue of the low tuning and a result of the microtones and harmony of the guitar, but you can emphasize this effect by using a chorus or octave unit in your pedal chain, with the volume turned quite low. Depending on your rig and guitar, this may be totally unnecessary and kill your tone. If you're happy with your djent-style riffs without either of these pedals, it's safe to leave out of your chain.

Part 3. But what the hell is it anyway? Full text. Join the Houston Press community and help support independent local journalism in Houston. Get the latest updates in news, food, music and culture, and receive special offers direct to your inbox. Support Us Houston's independent source of local news and culture. Since we started the Houston Press , it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Houston, and we'd like to keep it that way. With local media under siege, it's more important than ever for us to rally support behind funding our local journalism.

You can help by participating in our "I Support" program, allowing us to keep offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food and culture with no paywalls. Word of the Day. Meanings Meanings. Examples Origin Usage. Pop Culture dictionary djent [jent] or [dih- jent ] What does djent mean?

What's hot. Where does djent come from? Examples of djent Trying to djent on a cheap les paul is hard. Originally used as a joke term by Fredrik Thordendal of Meshuggah whilst drunk according to Marten Hagstrom, the other guitarist.

It was used to describe the guitar sound they were going for in the early days of their band around the time of the release of Contradictions Collapse. They were aiming for a really high-gain, distorted guitar tone, with lots of palm-muting and reasonably low tunings.

At this time the band was using 7 string guitars tuned one half step down to Bb standard. At the time, this carried on in the underground scene, with Meshuggah becoming one of the bigger bands in aggressive heavy metal for people who wanted a rhythmically technical sound that you could still headbang very satisfyingly to. Using 7 strings tuned down to 8 string tuning and then a further half step F standard and slowing the tempo they used down a lot from their previous release Chaosphere solidified them as a powerhouse of low tuned, odd timed groove.

One of the most prominent earlier bands in this movement was English band Sikth.