Feel free to learn more and view the classes from last three years below.
2023
Heavy Metal 101: Music and Culture
Wednesday January 25, 2023
An introduction to Heavy Metal. Topics include the musicology of Heavy Metal as well as an examination of Heavy Metal culture. This multimedia extravaganza covers everything you ever wanted to know about Heavy Metal!
The GUTS of Metal - Music Theory and Songwriting with Colin Brumley
Tuesday February 7, 2023
MIT Heavy Metal 101 is pleased to present guest lecturer, Colin Brumley. Titled "The GUTS of Heavy Metal: Metal Music Theory," join us for an evening of metal music theory and songwriting with Colin Brumley of Dormivore and Noctobre. This presentation will be a deep dive into how metal is made and how it works, from the granular to the bird’s-eye view. Topics will include foundations in classical music theory (no prior knowledge needed), scales and modalities utilized in different types of metal, how to expand your listening, and — new this year! — apply these ingredients, augmented with other musicological factors, towards songwriting via analysis of full original songs. We wouldn’t show you how to make the world’s greatest grilled cheese without actually dissecting one!
All About Harsh Vocals – History, Application, and Technique with Paul Buckley
Wednesday February 8, 2023
MIT Heavy Metal 101 is pleased to present guest lecturer, Paul Buckley. This talk will discuss some background information regarding harsh vocals, how to develop and maintain a harsh vocal style, and examples of how harsh vocals are applied in metal.
History of Heavy Metal, Part I (RESCHEDULED)
Thursday February 9, 2023
A seminar examining the history of Heavy Metal from the late 1960s through the early 1990s. Topics will include Hard Rock, Archetypal Heavy Metal, and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM).
Connections Between Metal and Literature with Dean Swinford
Wednesday February 15, 2023
MIT Heavy Metal 101 is pleased to present guest lecturer, Dean Swinford. We will discuss connections between metal and literature by talking about Dean's Death Metal Epic novels and his academic research on allegory and medieval themes in various metal genres. Decibel Magazine has called his novels “wild and imaginative” for the ways that they explore metal genres through a coming-of-age story of a wayward Floridian guitarist.
History of Heavy Metal: Part II
Tuesday February 21, 2023
A seminar examining the history of Heavy Metal from the early 1980s to the present. Topics include Power Metal, Thrash Metal and the Big 4, New American Metal, Metalcore and Grindcore, Black Metal, Death Metal, and Extreme Metal.
GeoShred and Technology-Based Expressive Musical Instruments with Jordan Rudess
Tuesday February 28, 2023
MIT Heavy Metal 101 is pleased to present guest lecturer, Jordan Rudess. Jordan Rudess, keyboardist with the prog metal band, Dream Theater, technologist, and app creator will present his physical modeling-based app GeoShred as a way to open dialogue about the advancements in technology-based expressive musical instruments.
History of Heavy Metal: Part III
Thursday March 2, 2023
This will be a seminar examining even more genres of Heavy Metal. Topics will include more obscure genres of Progressive Metal, Metal Fusion, Experimental and Avant-Garde Metal, and whatever else we missed so far. As always, it's going to get weird.
2022
Heavy Metal 101: Music and Culture
Monday January 10, 2022
An introduction to Heavy Metal. Topics include the musicology of Heavy Metal as well as an examination of Heavy Metal culture. This multimedia extravaganza covers everything you ever wanted to know about Heavy Metal!
History of Heavy Metal, Part I
Tuesday, January 11, 2022
A seminar examining the history of Heavy Metal from the late 1960s through the early 1990s. Topics will include Hard Rock, Archetypal Heavy Metal, the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM), Power Metal, Thrash Metal, and the Big 4.
MIT Heavy Metal 101: The GUTS of Metal - Music Theory and Songwriting with Colin Brumley
Wednesday January 12, 2022
MIT Heavy Metal 101 is pleased to present guest lecturer, Colin Brumley. Titled "The GUTS of Heavy Metal: Metal Music Theory," join us for an evening of metal music theory and songwriting with Colin Brumley of Dormivore and Noctobre. This presentation will be a deep dive into how metal is made and how it works, from the granular to the bird’s-eye view. Topics will include foundations in classical music theory (no prior knowledge needed), scales and modalities utilized in different types of metal, how to expand your listening, and — new this year! — apply these ingredients, augmented with other musicological factors, towards songwriting via analysis of full original songs. We wouldn’t show you how to make the world’s greatest grilled cheese without actually dissecting one!
MIT Heavy Metal 101: Panel About Stage Lighting at Metal Concerts with Shannon Knotts and John Santos
Thursday January 13, 2022
MIT Heavy Metal 101 is pleased to present guest panelists, John Santos and Shannon Knotts. What does it take to build the atmosphere of a live show with light and staging? This panel will feature two light and staging artists/engineers, John Santos and Shannon Knotts, who will discuss the process and challenges of creating successful shows and what sorts of thinking go into their production. Come with questions!
MIT Heavy Metal 101: Feminism and Motherhood with Joan Jocson-Singh
Tuesday January 18, 2022
MIT Heavy Metal 101 is pleased to present guest lecturer, Joan Jocson-Singh. Joining us to discuss her research surrounding Feminism in Metal/Extreme Metal, Vigilante Feminism, and Motherhood's role within metal, Joan will also open a discussion around the larger questions about metal music in academia and the importance of "academicizing" the genre.
MIT Heavy Metal 101: Heavy Metal Electronics 101 with Dr. Gore
Wednesday January 19, 2022
MIT Heavy Metal 101 is pleased to present guest lecturer, Dr. Görebläster Körpse-härvest Lunden. In this session, MIT alum and physicist Dr. Gore will present an overview of the complete chain of electronic circuits that makes the heavy metal guitar sound the way it does. The class will cover pickups, effects pedals, amplifiers, and speakers, focusing especially on what happens to the electronic waveform each step of the way. There will also be live demonstrations to accompany the theoretical explanations.
History of Heavy Metal: Part II
Thursday January 20, 2022
A seminar examining the history of Heavy Metal from the early 1990s to the present. Topics include New American Metal, Metalcore and Grindcore, Black Metal, Death Metal, and Extreme Metal.
No Zoom Recording due to an error, Recording from 2021 Available Here
MIT Heavy Metal 101: Metal Makeup and Fashion with Wacky Jacky
Tuesday January 25, 2022
MIT Heavy Metal 101 is pleased to present guest lecturer, Wacky Jacky. We've looked a lot at how metal formed and took shape over the years. Though, how can you better look the part, and what do the aesthetics say about the genre as a whole? Come by as Jacky explores various metal fashions and how they've evolved over time and across genres. P.S. Bring your battle vests, cuffs, and best corpse paint for this lecture.
MIT Heavy Metal 101: Vocals with Paul Buckley
Wednesday January 26, 2022
MIT Heavy Metal 101 is pleased to present guest lecturer, Paul Buckley. This talk will discuss some background information regarding harsh vocals, how to develop and maintain a harsh vocal style, and examples of how harsh vocals are applied in metal.
History of Heavy Metal: Part III, Rescheduled to 1/31
Monday January 31, 2022
This will be a seminar examining the many of the remaining genres of Heavy Metal. Topics will include more obscure genres of Metal Fusion, Experimental and Avant-Garde Metal, and really whatever else we missed so far. It's going to get weird.
MIT Heavy Metal 101: Extreme Decolonial Dialogues and Decolonial Heavy Metal with Nelson Varas-Díaz and Daniel Nevárez Araújo
Tuesday February 1, 2022
MIT Heavy Metal 101 is pleased to present guest lecturers, Nelson Varas-Díaz and Daniel Nevárez Araújo. Nelson and Daniel will discuss the topic of Extreme Decolonial Dialogues and Decolonial Heavy Metal. Throughout their research, they have revealed that metal as practiced, performed, and promoted in Latin America has a decolonial inflection whereby many bands in the region highlight their respective country’s colonial history and offer ways to challenge the conditions and ideologies inherited from said history. They will also discuss how their work in Latin American metal has inspired and informed a growing interest in the topic of metal in the Global South.
History of Heavy Metal: Part IV
Thursday February 3, 2022
An extra class? We'll have a couple extra surprises before we close this year out!
Heavy Metal 101: Music and Culture
Tuesday January 5, 2021
An introduction to Heavy Metal. Topics include the musicology of Heavy Metal as well as an examination of Heavy Metal culture. This multimedia extravaganza covers everything you ever wanted to know about Heavy Metal!
History of Heavy Metal, Part I
Thursday, January 7, 2021
A seminar examining the history of Heavy Metal from the late 1960s through the early 1990s. Topics will include Hard Rock, Archetypal Heavy Metal, the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM), Power Metal, Thrash Metal, and the Big 4.
MIT Heavy Metal 101: Metal Yoga with Tina Moroney-Ebarb of Black Widow Yoga
Tuesday January 12, 2021
MIT Heavy Metal 101 is pleased to present guest lecturer, Tina Moroney-Ebarb. Always wondered how to stay healthy & mobile while staying TRVE to your metal self? Tina, owner and creator of Black Widow Yoga will introduce you to her style of metal yoga so you can begin to explore the darker side of wellness!
History of Heavy Metal: Part II
Wednesday January 13, 2021
A seminar examining the history of Heavy Metal from the early 1990s to the present. Topics include New American Metal, Metalcore and Grindcore, Black Metal, Death Metal, and Extreme Metal.
MIT Heavy Metal 101: The GUTS of Heavy Metal: Metal Music Theory with Colin Brumley
Thursday January 14, 2021
MIT Heavy Metal 101 is pleased to present guest lecturer, Colin Brumley. Titled "The GUTS of Heavy Metal: Metal Music Theory," join us for an evening of metal music theory and songwriting with Colin Brumley of Dormivore and Noctobre. This presentation will be a deep dive into how metal is made and how it works, from the granular to the bird’s-eye view. Topics will include foundations in classical music theory (no prior knowledge needed), scales and modalities utilized in different types of metal, how to expand your listening, and how to use all of this to make your own home-brewed tunes.
MIT Heavy Metal 101: Vocal Technique with Paul Buckley
Tuesday January 19, 2021
MIT Heavy Metal 101 is pleased to present guest lecturer, Paul Buckley. Paul's talk will discuss how to develop and maintain a harsh vocal style as well as some examples of different harsh vocals used in metal.
MIT Heavy Metal 101: Concepts, Story Building, and Promoting Your Work with The Beast of Nod
Wednesday January 20, 2021
MIT's Heavy Metal 101 is pleased to present guest lecturers from the band, The Beast of Nod. This talk will discuss the process of creating story-based music as well as how to produce, release, and promote music as an independent artist.
MIT Heavy Metal 101: Modern Metal Guitar: Form, Function, and Fissicks with Görebläster Körpse-härvest Lunden
Thursday January 21, 2021
MIT's Heavy Metal 101 is pleased to present guest lecturer, Görebläster Körpse-härvest Lunden. Görebläster’s session will focus on the role the guitar has played in shaping the sound of heavy metal. He will demonstrate how the mechanics of the instrument have led people to utilize it in specific ways in various genres of metal, how the characteristically “flashy” lead guitar sounds are made and how they’ve evolved over the years, and how modern equipment and production are used to mitigate some inherent limitations of the instrument when it’s used to play some specific styles of metal. Explanations will be accompanied by some (loud) performances.
MIT Heavy Metal 101: Progressive Metal with Kelly Phillips of Tapestry Music Podcast
Tuesday January 26, 2021
MIT's Heavy Metal 101 is pleased to present guest lecturer, Kelly Phillips. Kelly will focus primarily on Progressive Metal, namely what it is, what elements make music "progressive," where its roots lie, and a smattering of examples of how progressiveness has infiltrated the different kinds of metal music.
MIT Heavy Metal 101: AI and Metal with CJ Carr
Wednesday January 27, 2021
MIT Heavy Metal 101 is pleased to present guest lecturer, CJ Carr, who will share his journey into Neural Metal that began in 2012 at MIT.
History of Heavy Metal: Part III
Thursday January 28, 2021
Friday January 29, 2021 DATE CHANGE
This will be a seminar examining the many of the remaining genres of Heavy Metal. Topics will include more obscure genres of Metal Fusion, Experimental and Avant-Garde Metal, and really whatever else we missed so far. It's going to get weird.