- How do I separate nu metal from alternative metal?
- Nu metal is the most sharply defined branch of alternative metal: hip-hop groove, riffs of very few notes, bass pushed forward, turntables and rapped vocals. Alternative metal is the wider category, keeping rock chords and melodic singing while experimenting with tone and structure, with no fixed rhythmic template.
- How do I prompt for the groove?
- Write 80–100 BPM, riff using only two or three notes, heavy syncopation and rests, bass forward with pick attack, hip-hop drum pocket, no double kick. The weight here comes from space and displacement, not from note density.
- My result sounds like generic metal.
- Check two things: tempo too fast, and too many notes in the riff. Specify seven-string tuned to drop A, minimal riff, gaps between hits, and explicitly exclude double kick and rapid down-picking, which pull the result toward thrash.
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