Publications, Articles & Resources

Below you will find an extensive list of project outputs alongside previously published works and articles from the lead HiMMP researchers. If you would like to know more about any specific article of desired impact, please get in touch.

Navigate to Section

HiMMP Project Outputs

Audio and Video

Media
HiMMP version of 'In Solitude' on Spotify
Music recording (2023)
Listen
Media
HiMMP YouTube video channel
Video collection (2023-2025)
Watch
Dataset
Complete HiMMP Research Dataset
Including multitrack of 'In Solitude', producers' mixes, and video interviews
Access

Books

Book
2025
Heaviness in Metal Music Production: How and Why It Works
Herbst, Jan & Mynett, Mark
Abingdon: Routledge (forthcoming)
Forthcoming
Book
2025
Heaviness in Metal Music Production: Learn from the Masters
Herbst, Jan & Mynett, Mark
Abingdon: Routledge (forthcoming)
Forthcoming

Articles and chapters

Chapter
2024
Contemporary Approaches to Metal Music Mixing and Production: Heavy Metal, Death Metal, and Metalcore
Herbst, Jan & Mynett, Mark
In Lori Burns & Ciro Scotto (eds.). The Routledge Handbook of Metal Music Composition. London: Routledge, pp. 469–481 (forthcoming)
Open Access
Article
2024
Masters of the Art of Mixing: 8 Producers – One Song – Infinite Insights
Mynett, Mark & Herbst, Jan
Sound on Sound, 9/2024, pp. 52–61
Open Access
Chapter
2023
Mapping the Origins of Heaviness Between 1970 and 1995: A Historical Overview of Metal Music Production
Herbst, Jan & Mynett, Mark
In Jan Herbst (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to Metal Music. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 29–42
Access
Article
2023
Lorna Shore's 'To the Hellfire': A Study in Heaviness
Herbst, Jan & Mynett, Mark
Metal Music Studies, 9(2), pp. 189–213
Open Access
Article
2023
"I Just Go with What Feels Right." Variance and Commonality in Metal Music Mixing Practice
Herbst, Jan & Mynett, Mark
El Oido Pensante, 11(1), pp. 4–31
Open Access
Article
2022
What Exactly Is "Heaviness" in Heavy Metal Music?
Herbst, Jan & Mynett, Mark
Futurum, 9/2022
Open Access
Article
2022
What is 'Heavy' in Metal? A Netnographic Analysis of Online Forums for Metal Musicians and Producers
Herbst, Jan & Mynett, Mark
Popular Music and Society, 45(5), pp. 633–653
Open Access
Article
2022
Toward a Systematic Understanding of "Heaviness" in Metal Music Production
Herbst, Jan & Mynett, Mark
Rock Music Studies, 10(1), pp. 16–37
Open Access
Article
2021
Nail the Mix: Standardization in Mixing Metal Music?
Herbst, Jan & Mynett, Mark
Popular Music and Society, 44(5), pp. 628–649
Open Access
Article
2021
(No?) Adventures in Recording Land: Engineering Conventions in Metal Music
Herbst, Jan & Mynett, Mark
Rock Music Studies, 9(2), pp. 137–156
Open Access

Prof. Dr. Dr. Jan Herbst // HiMMP Principal Investigator

Books (selection)

Book
2023
The Cambridge Companion to Metal Music
Herbst, Jan (Editor)
Cambridge University Press
Access
Book
2023
Rock Guitar Virtuosos. Advances in Electric Guitar Playing, Technology, and Culture
Herbst, Jan & Vallejo, Alexander
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Access
Book
2022
Rammsteins "Deutschland": Pop - Politik - Provokationen
Herbst, Jan et al.
Stuttgart: J.B. Metzler
Access
Book
2016
Die Gitarrenverzerrung in der Rockmusik. Studien zu Spielweise und Ästhetik
Herbst, Jan
Münster: LIT
Access

Academic Articles (selection)

  • 2023
    Harmonic Structures in Twenty-First-Century Metal Music: A Harmonic Analysis of Five Major Metal Genres
    Herbst, Jan & Boddington-Jordan, Jamie
    Metal Music Studies, 9(1), pp. 27–58
    Download
  • 2022
    Dissonance in Metal Music: Musical and Sociocultural Reasons for Metal's Appreciation of Dissonance
    Herbst, Jan & Swallow, Reuben
    Metal Music Studies, 8(3), pp. 351–379
    Download
  • 2022
    Keeper of the Seven Keys: Audio Heritage in Metal Music Production
    Herbst, Jan
    Metal Music Studies, 8(1), pp. 109–126
    Download
  • 2021
    Teutonic Metal: Effects of Place- and Mythology-Based Labels on Record Production
    Herbst, Jan & Bauerfeind, Karl
    International Journal of the Sociology of Leisure, 4, pp. 291–313
    Download
  • 2022
    The Recording Industry as the Enemy? A Case Study of Early West German Metal Music
    Herbst, Jan
    International Journal of the Sociology of Leisure, 5, pp. 229–254
    Download
  • 2021
    The Politics of Rammstein's Sound: Decoding a Production Aesthetic
    Herbst, Jan
    Journal of Popular Music Studies, 33(2), pp. 51–76
    Download
  • 2021
    Culture-Specific Production and Performance Characteristics. An Interview Study with "Teutonic" Metal Producers
    Herbst, Jan
    Metal Music Studies, 7(3), pp. 445–467
    Download
  • 2020
    Metronomic Precision of 'Teutonic Metal': A Methodological Challenge for Rhythm and Performance Research
    Herbst, Jan
    ASPM Samples, 18, pp. 1–27
    Download
  • 2020
    Sonic Signatures in Metal Music Production. Teutonic vs British vs American Sound
    Herbst, Jan
    ASPM Samples, 18, pp. 1–26
    Download
  • 2020
    From Bach to Helloween. "Teutonic" Stereotypes in the History of Popular Music
    Herbst, Jan
    Metal Music Studies, 6(1), pp. 87–108
    Download
  • 2019
    Distortion and Rock Guitar Harmony. The Influence of Distortion Level and Structural Complexity on Acoustic Features and Perceived Pleasantness of Guitar Chords
    Herbst, Jan
    Music Perception, 36(4), pp. 335-352
    Download
  • 2019
    The Formation of the West German Power Metal Scene and the Question of a "Teutonic" Sound
    Herbst, Jan
    Metal Music Studies, 5(2), pp. 201–223
    Download
  • 2019
    Old Sounds with New Technologies? Examining the Creative Potential of Guitar "Profiling" Technology and the Future of Metal Music from Producers' Perspectives
    Herbst, Jan
    Metal Music Studies, 5(1), pp. 53–69
    Download
  • 2018
    Guitar Profiling Technology in Metal Music Production: Public Reception, Capability, Consequences and Perspectives
    Herbst, Jan, Czedik-Eysenberg, Isabella & Reuter, Christoph
    Metal Music Studies, 4(3), pp. 481-506
    Download
  • 2018
    Heaviness and the Electric Guitar: Considering the Interaction Between Distortion and Harmonic Structures
    Herbst, Jan
    Metal Music Studies, 4(1), pp. 95–113
    Download
  • 2017
    Historical Development, Sound Aesthetics and Production Techniques of the Distorted Electric Guitar in Metal Music
    Herbst, Jan
    Metal Music Studies, 3(1), pp. 24–46
    Download

Book Chapters

  • 2020
    German Metal Attack: Power Metal in and from Germany
    Herbst, Jan
    In Oliver Seibt, Martin Ringsmut & David-Emil Wickström (eds). Made in Germany. London: Routledge, pp. 81–89
  • 2020
    Views of German Producers on "Teutonic" metal: Production Approaches and Generational Effects
    Herbst, Jan
    In Ralf von Appen & Thorsten Hindrichs (eds). One Nation Under a Groove. Nation als Kategorie populärer Musik?. Bielefeld: transcript, 183–206
    Download
  • 2017
    Influence of Distortion on Guitar Chord Structures: Acoustic Effects and Perceptual Correlates
    Herbst, Jan
    In Wolfgang Auhagen, Claudia Bullerjahn & Christoph Louven (eds). Musikpsychologie, vol. 27: Akustik und musikalische Hörwahrnehmung. Göttingen: Hogrefe, pp. 26–47
    Download

Thesis

  • 2024
    The Electric Guitar in Rock Music: Guitar Playing, Technology, and Culture
    Herbst, Jan
    Higher Doctorate by Publication, Leuphana University of Lüneburg
    Open Access
  • 2023
    Metal Music in the Federal Republic of Germany in the 1980s and 1990s: Record Production, Industry, and Heritage
    Herbst, Jan
    PhD by Publication, University of Huddersfield
    Open Access

The complete list of Jan's published work is available here.

Dr. Mark Mynett // HiMMP Co-Investigator

Thesis

  • 2013
    Contemporary Metal Music Production
    Mynett, Mark
    PhD thesis, University of Huddersfield
    Open Access

Books

Book
2017
Metal Music Manual: Producing, Engineering, Mixing, and Mastering Contemporary Heavy Music
Mynett, Mark
Routledge
Access

Academic Articles

  • 2019
    Defining Contemporary Metal Music: Performance, Sounds and Practices
    Mynett, Mark
    Metal Music Studies, 5(3), pp. 297–313
    Open Access
  • 2012
    Achieving Intelligibility whilst Maintaining Heaviness when Producing Contemporary Metal Music
    Mynett, Mark
    Journal on the Art of Record Production, 6
    Open Access
  • 2011
    Sound at Source: The Creative Practice of Re-Heading, Dampening and Drum Tuning for the Contemporary Metal Genre
    Mynett, Mark
    Journal on the Art of Record Production, 5
    Open Access

Book Chapters

  • 2020
    Maximum Sonic Impact: (Authenticity/Commerciality) Fidelity-Dualism in Contemporary Metal Music Production
    Mynett, Mark
    In Simon Zagorski-Thomas & Andrew Bourbon (eds). The Bloomsbury Handbook of Music Production. London: Bloomsbury, pp. 293–302
    Access
  • 2019
    Heaviness in Three Dimensions: The Use of Sonic Space in Contemporary Metal Music Production
    Mynett, Mark
    In Simon Zagorski-Thomas, Katia Isakoff, Sophie Stévance & Serge Lacasse (eds). The Art of Record Production: Creative Practice in the Studio. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 66–79
    Access
  • 2016
    The Distortion Paradox: Analysing Contemporary Metal Production
    Mynett, Mark
    In Andy R. Brown, Karl Spracklen, Keith Kahn-Harris & Niall Scott (eds). Global Metal Music and Culture: Current Directions in Metal Studies. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 68–87
    Access
  • 2010
    Intelligent Equalisation Principles and Techniques for Minimising Masking when Mixing the Extreme Modern Metal Genre
    Mynett, Mark, Wakefield, Jonathan & Till, Rupert
    In Rosemary Hill & Karl Spracklen (eds). Heavy Fundamentalisms: Music, Metal and Politics. Oxford: Inter-Disciplinary Press, pp. 141–146
    Open Access

Magazine Articles

Article
2018
Session Notes Pt. 3; Making Modern Metal, Mixing and Mastering
Mynett, Mark
Sound on Sound, 3/2018
Open Access
Article
2018
Session Notes Pt. 2; Making Modern Metal, Engineering
Mynett, Mark
Sound on Sound, 2/2018
Open Access
Article
2018
Session Notes Pt. 1; Making Modern Metal, Pre-Production
Mynett, Mark
Sound on Sound, 1/2018
Open Access
Article
2010
Get the Perfect Bass
Mynett, Mark
Computer Music, 12/2010, pp. 63–70
Article
2010
The Sound and the Fury: Part 2
Mynett, Mark
Guitar World, 5/2010, pp. 72–86
Open Access
Article
2010
The Sound and the Fury: Part 1
Mynett, Mark
Guitar World, 4/2010, pp. 71–80
Open Access
Article
2009
Mixing Metal: The SOS Guide to Extreme Metal Production: Part 2
Mynett, Mark
Sound on Sound, 12/2009, pp. 118–126
Open Access
Article
2009
Extreme Metal: The SOS Guide to Recording & Producing Modern Metal
Mynett, Mark
Sound on Sound, 11/2009, pp. 120–133
Open Access

The complete list of Mark's published work is available here.

Additional relevant material // Bibliography

Academic Texts

  • Heaviness in the Perception of Heavy Metal Guitar Timbres: The Match of Perceptual and Acoustic Features over Time
    Berger, Harris M. & Fales, Cornelia (2005)
    In Paul D. Greene & Thomas Porcello (eds). Wired for Sound. Engineering and Technology in Sonic Cultures. Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press, pp. 181–197
    Access
  • Was macht Musik "hart"? Klangliche Merkmale zur genreübergreifenden Identifikation musikalischer Härte ('What makes music "heavy"?')
    Czedik-Eysenberg, Isabella, Knauf, Denis & Reuter, Christoph (2017)
    Fortschritte der Akustik. DAGA 2017, 43th German Annual Conference for Acoustics, Kiel, 3–5 March, pp. 186–89
    Open Access
  • "Hardness" as a Semantic Audio Descriptor for Music Using Automatic Feature Extraction
    Czedik-Eysenberg, Isabella, Knauf, Denis & Reuter, Christoph (2017)
    Informatik 2017, Chemnitz
    Open Access
  • Extended Range Guitars: Cultural Impact, Specifications, and the Context of a Mix
    Gil, Victor (2014)
    MA thesis, California State University
    Open Access
  • Musical Style, Ideology, and Mythology in Norwegian Black Metal
    Hagen, Ross (2011)
    In Jeremy Wallach, Harris M. Berger & Paul D. Greene (eds). Metal Rules the Globe. Heavy Metal Music Around the World. Durham: Duke University Press, pp. 180–199
    Access
  • Difficulty as Heaviness: Links Between Rhythmic Difficulty and Perceived Heaviness in the Music of Meshuggah and The Dillinger Escape Plan
    Hannan, Calder (2018)
    Metal Music Studies, 3(1), pp. 433–458
    Access
  • Discordant Systems: Uses and Meanings of Rhythmic Difficulty in the Music of Meshuggah and Related Extreme and Progressive Metal Bands
    Hannan, Calder (2017)
    Major thesis, University of Virginia
    Open Access
  • Dealing with the 3rd: Anatomy of distorted chords and subsequent compositional features of classic heavy metal
    Lilja, Esa (2015)
    In Toni-Matti Karjalainen & Kimi Kärki (eds). Modern Heavy Metal. Markets, Practices and Cultures. Helsinki, Finland: Aalto University, pp. 393–403
    Open Access
  • What Makes Heavy Metal 'Heavy'?
    Miller, Jason (2021)
    The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 80(1), pp. 70–82
    Access
  • Blacker than Death: Recollecting the "Black Turn" in Metal Aesthetics
    Reyes, Ian (2013)
    Journal of Popular Music Studies, 25, pp. 240–257
    Open Access
  • Sound, Technology, and the Interpretation in Subcultures of Heavy Music Production
    Reyes, Ian (2008)
    PhD thesis, Pittsburgh University
    Open Access
  • Genre and Expression in Extreme Metal Music, ca. 1990–2015
    Smialek, Eric (2015)
    PhD thesis, McGill University
    Open Access
  • "It's kind of in the middle": The 'Mid-Fi' Aesthetic: Toward a New Designation of Black Metal Aesthetic of Recording. The Case of the Québec Black Metal Scene
    St-Laurent, Méi-Ra (2019)
    In Gullö, J.O., Rambarran, S., & Isakoff, K., (Eds.), Proceedings of the 12th Art of Record Production Conference Mono: Stereo: Multi. Stockholm: Royal College of Music, pp. 267–286
    Open Access
  • Production Perspectives of Heavy Metal Record Producers
    Thomas, Niall (2019)
    Popular Music, 38(3), pp. 498–517
    Open Access
  • The Development of Technology and its Influence on Recorded Heavy Metal Music 1969-2015
    Thomas, Niall (2015)
    PhD thesis, University of Hull
    Open Access
  • Outlining the Fundamental Production Aesthetics of Commercial Heavy Metal Music Utilising Systematic Empirical Analysis
    Turner, Dan (2009)
    The Art of Record Production Conference, Cardiff
    Open Access
  • Heaviness: A Key Concept of Metal Music Through the Lens of Deleuzian Philosophy
    Volák, Vojtěch (2022)
    Studia de Cultura, 14(3), pp. 53–62
    Access
  • Tracking Timbral Changes in Metal Productions from 1990 to 2013
    Williams, Duncan (2015)
    Metal Music Studies, 1(1), pp. 39–68
    Access
  • Real and Unreal Performances: The Interaction of Recording Technology and Rock Drum Kit Performance
    Zagorski-Thomas, Simon (2010)
    In Anne Danielsen (ed). Musical Rhythm in the Age of Digital Reproduction. Farnham: Ashgate, pp. 195–212
    Open Access

Professional Resources