Grunge

History and character

Grunge, at first called the "Seattle Sound", emerged in the mid-1980s in Washington state, mainly in Seattle and Olympia, around the independent label Sub Pop (Kurt Cobain credited its co-founder Jonathan Poneman with coining the term). The producer Jack Endino defined the raw, lo-fi sound by recording the early records of Soundgarden, Nirvana and others in cheap studios. Influences: the slow, heavy riffs of the Melvins, punk, Black Sabbath and indie bands such as Sonic Youth, Pixies and Dinosaur Jr.

Central bands: Green River, Melvins, Mudhoney (the Superfuzz Bigmuff EP), Soundgarden, Nirvana (Bleach, recorded in 1989), Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, Screaming Trees, Stone Temple Pilots (from San Diego). The genre exploded in 1991–92 with Nevermind (produced by Butch Vig, recorded at Sound City Studios in May 1991 and mixed by Andy Wallace), Ten, Badmotorfinger and Dirt, and became the most popular form of hard rock of the 1990s.

Musically: distorted, down-tuned guitars playing power-chord riffs, heavy and present bass, tempos slower than punk with a "sludgy" feel, dissonant harmonies, the quiet-loud dynamic (clean verse, distorted chorus) taken from the Pixies and made a convention by Nirvana, melodic and bluesy solos rather than virtuosic ones, and lyrics about alienation, insecurity, addiction and trauma. In the mid to late 1990s many bands broke up (Cobain died in 1994); grunge gave rise to post-grunge (Foo Fighters, Bush, Creed, Nickelback) and influenced all the rock that followed.

Scales and keys

Minor pentatonic and blues

• Formula: 1 b3 4 5 b7 / 1 b3 4 b5 5 b7.
• Example in E: E G A B D / E G A Bb B D; in D (drop D): D F G A C / D F G Ab A C.
• Characteristic note: b3 and b5 in the heavy riffs.
• Chords: D5 F5 G5 A5 C5 in drop D.
• Use: riffs (Soundgarden, Alice in Chains), short melodic solos (Cobain often played the distorted vocal melody as a solo).
• Real-world example: Nirvana — Smells Like Teen Spirit (solo that follows the verse melody); Soundgarden — Outshined.

Natural minor (Aeolian)

• Formula: 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 (W H W W H W W). In F: F G Ab Bb C Db Eb.
• Chords: i Fm, III Ab, iv Bbm, v Cm, VI Db, VII Eb.
• Use: melancholy verses, power-chord riffs over i–VI–III–VII.

Phrygian (the minor second)

• Formula: 1 b2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 (H W W W H W W). In E: E F G A B C D; in D (drop D): D Eb F G A Bb C.
• Characteristic note: the b2 (Eb in D): the heavy half step above the tonic, exploited with drop D (D5–Eb5).
• Chords in D Phrygian: i Dm, bII Eb, bIII F, iv Gm, v° Adim, bVI Bb, bvii Cm.
• Use: the "dark" riffs of Soundgarden and Alice in Chains, a bridge toward doom and alternative metal.
• Real-world example: Alice in Chains — Them Bones (riff in E with the minor second and chromaticism); Soundgarden — Rusty Cage (drop D and very low tuning in the final riff).

Dorian

• Formula: 1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7. In E: E F# G A B C# D.
• Use: i–IV vamps in the verses (Pearl Jam), more "classic rock" colors.
• Real-world example: Pearl Jam — Even Flow (riff in D with Dorian and Mixolydian colors; sources vary).

Chromaticism and "wrong chords"

• Grunge uses power chords that move by fourths or half steps without respecting a scale (Smells Like Teen Spirit: F–Bb–Ab–Db) and chords with dissonant open strings (Black Hole Sun has chromatic and modal harmonies that pass through many keys: verse in G with chromatic chords). It is not a mistake: it is deliberate ambiguity.
• Common mistake: "fixing" the dissonances with "correct" chords that strip away the character.

How to choose

• Heavy riff: pentatonic/blues in drop D. Sinister riff: Phrygian with the b2. Melancholy verse: Aeolian. Exploding chorus: chromatic power chords (parallel fourths) under a pentatonic melody.

Harmony

Function

Ambiguous and chromatic harmony: power chords moving in parallel fourths or half steps, a mode that is often undefined between major and minor, borrowed chords (bIII, bVI, bVII), dissonances with open strings. Functional cadences are rare; repetition and dynamic contrast are what matter.

Quiet-loud over the same progression

• Many songs play the same progression in the verse (clean guitar with chorus, or bass alone) and in the chorus (full distortion): the harmony doesn't change, the energy does.

Tunings

• Drop D (D A D G B E): power chords with one finger, fast and legato riffs (King's X, Soundgarden, Melvins).
• Drop Db / Eb: Nirvana and Alice in Chains used tunings a half step down (Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb) or drop Db.
• Lower, custom tunings (Soundgarden, Melvins).

Pedals and dissonances

• Open low D string as a pedal under chords moving on strings 4-3; intervals of a second and tritone.

Voicings

• Power chords with the octave, open chords with open strings in drop D, clean arpeggios with chorus, major chords with the third in the clean parts.

Typical progressions

Rhythm and groove

4/4 with a backbeat, medium or slow tempos compared with punk ("sludgy" feel), heavy straight eighth notes, half time in the choruses or codas. Some songs are in 3/4, 6/8 or with odd bars (Soundgarden, for example, writes riffs in odd meters such as Spoonman and Outshined: check the exact meter against transcriptions). The feel is human, recorded live, with a powerful drummer who sits "behind" the beat in the heavy parts and ahead of it in the punk parts.

Drums

Role

Powerful, big, raw drums: the heart of the quiet-loud dynamic. Models: Dave Grohl (Nevermind: very hard hits, epic fills, huge snare), Matt Cameron (Soundgarden: odd meters and groove), Sean Kinney (Alice in Chains, heavy and "swinging"), Dave Krusen and Jack Irons (Pearl Jam).

Kick

• 1 and 3 (steps 1 and 9) with "2&" and "3&" anticipations; eighth-note doubles in the punkier choruses.
• Big sound, little click, lots of body at 60–80 Hz.

Snare

• 2 and 4, very hard rimshots (velocity 120–127) in the choruses; verses with more controlled hits.
• Medium-low tuning, with lots of ambience.

Hi-hat, ride and cymbals

• Verse: closed or half-open hi-hat; chorus: crash-ride or wide-open hi-hat, a crash every bar in the explosions.

Interaction with bass and guitars

• In the verses the drums leave room for the bass (often the only instrument with the voice) and the clean guitar; in the chorus they join the wall of guitars.
• Stops and restarts with the whole band.

Sections

• Intro: riff (often alone on clean or distorted guitar), then the drums enter with a powerful fill (the intro of Smells Like Teen Spirit: clean guitar, then drums with a fill and full band).
• Quiet verse → pre-chorus with toms or snare in eighth notes → loud chorus → bridge with half time or a noisy section → repeated final chorus.

Fills

• Sixteenth-note snare–tom–floor tom fills with flams and final crashes; "cascading" fills of 1–2 bars before the chorus.

Sounds

• Big kit recorded in a live room (Sound City), very present room mics; on Nevermind Andy Wallace used kick and snare samples to feed the reverb.

Typical mistakes

• Verse and chorus at the same intensity; metal-style triggered drums; cymbals too low in the choruses.

Bass

Sound

Heavy, very present bass, often with a pick and distortion or fuzz (Krist Novoselic, Ben Shepherd, Jeff Ament with a 12-string Hamer and fretless, Mike Inez).

Role

• In the verses the bass is often the main instrument alongside the voice (Lithium, In Bloom: bass and drums, with the guitar coming in later).
• In the choruses, eighth-note roots under the distorted guitars.

Notes

• Root and riff in unison with the guitar in drop D (D1 at about 37 Hz); melodic lines in the verses.

Relationship with the kick

Bass and kick form a block in the 40–120 Hz range; the distorted bass must leave the sub clean (bass split).

Examples

• Nirvana — Lithium; Pearl Jam — Jeremy (intro with 12-string bass); Alice in Chains — Would? (bass line that opens the song).

Harmonic instruments

Guitars

• Fender Jaguar, Mustang and Stratocaster with a bridge humbucker (Cobain), Gibson Les Paul and SG, Guild (Kim Thayil).
• Amps and preamps: on Nevermind, a Mesa/Boogie Studio preamp with a Crown power amp and Marshall cabinets, plus Vox AC30 and Fender Bassman; Boss DS-1, Electro-Harmonix Big Muff (fuzz) and Small Clone (the "watery" chorus of Come as You Are and of the Teen Spirit pre-choruses) pedals.
• Quiet: clean guitar with chorus or arpeggio, in the center or L30. Loud: wall of 2–4 distorted rhythm guitars; Butch Vig convinced Cobain to double the vocals (and, according to many accounts, the guitar parts) "like John Lennon did".
• Feedback and noise as part of the arrangement.

Keyboards

• Rare; Mellotron and organ on a few songs (Soundgarden, Screaming Trees).

Voicings

• Power chords, open chords in drop D, chords with dissonant open strings, chorus arpeggios.

Melody and vocals

Vocals

• Intense, rough voices: Kurt Cobain (from whispered to screamed, with hoarseness), Chris Cornell (pushed-tenor range, over four octaves according to many sources), Eddie Vedder (full baritone with vibrato), Layne Staley (nasal and powerful voice).
• Pentatonic and modal melodies, low and "slurred" verses, screamed and repeated choruses.

Backing vocals and harmonies

• Alice in Chains harmonies: Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell in dissonant thirds and fourths, almost "crooked" (their trademark).
• Lead vocal doubles in the choruses (Nevermind), doubled screams.

Effects

• Dry vocals in the verses, doubles and a bit of ambience in the choruses; saturation and heavy compression.

Instruments

• Electric guitars (Jaguar, Mustang, Les Paul, SG) with distortion, fuzz, chorus; acoustics in the ballads and the Unplugged shows.
• Electric bass (including 12-string and fretless).
• Large acoustic drum kit.
• Voice and harmonies.
• Occasionally Mellotron, organ, cello (MTV Unplugged in New York).

Drum patterns

Synths and sounds

• Mellotron V — Strings and flutes: Dark, melancholy colors in grunge ballads (Soundgarden, Screaming Trees).
• B-3 V — Organ: Distorted background organ in the more classic-rock side of grunge (Pearl Jam, Temple of the Dog).
• Piano V — Piano: Post-grunge ballads and acoustic moments.
• Augmented Strings — Cello and strings: For Unplugged-style arrangements: cello doubling the bass or the melody.

Song structure

Form (3:30–5:00)

Mixing and mastering

Sonic goal

Dry, intimate verses, enormous choruses with thick guitars, big drums with room, full bass, vocals inside the band but intelligible. References: Nirvana — Nevermind (1991), Soundgarden — Superunknown (1994), Alice in Chains — Dirt (1992), Pearl Jam — Ten (1991).

Kick

• EQ: HP 30 Hz; +3 dB at 60–70 Hz; −4 dB at 350 Hz; +2 dB at 3 kHz.
• Compression 4:1, attack 15–25 ms, release 80 ms, 3–4 dB.

Snare

• EQ: +3 dB at 180–220 Hz; −3 dB at 500–700 Hz; +3 dB at 5 kHz.
• 1176 compression attack 5 ms, 5 dB; compressed parallel. Reverb: room 1–1.5 s or plate 1.5 s, also fed by a sample (the Wallace technique) for an even reverb.

Room and overheads

• Important rooms, compressed in parallel; overheads HP 150 Hz.
• Drum bus: 4:1, 3–4 dB, tape saturation.

Bass

• Bass split: clean track with LP at 150–200 Hz (stable sub) + distorted track (fuzz/SansAmp) with HP at 200–300 Hz; 1176 + opto compression.
• EQ: +2 dB at 70–80 Hz; −2 dB at 250 Hz; +3 dB at 800 Hz–1.2 kHz; HP 30 Hz (drop D!).

Guitars

• Verse: clean with chorus, mono or narrow stereo, HP 100 Hz, presence at 3 kHz, light room.
• Chorus: 2–4 distorted rhythm guitars L100/R100 (+L80/R80), ideally through different amps (Mesa and Marshall, Big Muff and DS-1).
• Distorted-guitar EQ: HP 80 Hz; −3/−4 dB at 250–400 Hz; +2 dB at 1–1.5 kHz; −2 dB at 4–5 kHz if the fuzz is fizzy; LP 10 kHz.
• Automation: the distorted guitars come in full at the chorus; lower the clean one.

Lead vocal

• Chain: EQ (HP 90 Hz, −3 dB at 300 Hz, +2/+3 dB at 3 kHz) → 1176 (6–10 dB: grunge vocals go from whisper to scream) → LA-2A 3 dB → de-esser → saturation.
• Dry verse; chorus with a double L15/R15 or centered (−3/−5 dB), short plate 1.2 s.
• Detailed volume automation between verse and chorus.

Backing vocals and harmonies

• Alice in Chains-style harmonies: second voice in the center or L20, at almost the same intensity, same compression as the lead.

FX

• Room, plate, noises and feedback panned.

Buses and groups

• Guitar bus with saturation and 1–2 dB of compression; glue on the mix.

Sidechain

• Dynamic EQ on the distorted guitars (−2 dB at 2–4 kHz) triggered by the vocal.

Master

• Chain: EQ → bus compressor (1–2 dB) → limiter. Nevermind was mastered by Howie Weinberg; the original masters are much less loud than modern rock.
• Target: −10/−8 LUFS integrated, verses 4–6 dB below the choruses in short-term; true peak −1 dBTP.

Common mistakes

• Distorted guitars with too much low-mid that cover the bass; quiet-loud flattened by the limiter; vocals too clean and "pop".

Reference tracks for the mix

• Nirvana — Smells Like Teen Spirit (1991); Pearl Jam — Alive (1991); Alice in Chains — Would? (1992); Soundgarden — Black Hole Sun (1994); Stone Temple Pilots — Plush (1992); Mudhoney — Touch Me I'm Sick (1988).

Reference listening

• Mudhoney — Touch Me I'm Sick (1988)
• Nirvana — Smells Like Teen Spirit (1991)
• Nirvana — Come as You Are (1991)
• Pearl Jam — Alive (1991)
• Soundgarden — Outshined (1991)
• Alice in Chains — Would? (1992)
• Stone Temple Pilots — Plush (1992)
• Soundgarden — Black Hole Sun (1994)
• Nirvana — Heart-Shaped Box (1993)