Post-rock

History and character

The term "post-rock" was coined by the critic Simon Reynolds in late 1993 in Melody Maker, used in a review of Hex by Bark Psychosis in Mojo (March 1994) and defined in The Wire (May 1994) as "using rock instrumentation for non-rock purposes". Founding works: Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock by Talk Talk, Spiderland by Slint (1991); Millions Now Living Will Never Die by Tortoise (1996) made the term stick.

First wave in the United Kingdom (Bark Psychosis, Seefeel, Stereolab, Disco Inferno, Pram) and the United States (Tortoise, Do Make Say Think, Labradford, Stars of the Lid); in Montréal, Godspeed You! Black Emperor (F♯ A♯ ∞, Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven). Second wave: Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky, Sigur Rós (Ágætis byrjun), Mono, This Will Destroy You, 65daysofstatic; Radiohead's Kid A and Amnesiac are cited by Reynolds as major examples of crossover. Many bands (Tortoise, Mogwai, GY!BE) reject the label.

Characteristics: priority given to texture, timbre and atmosphere over riffs and verse–chorus form; guitars as texture instruments (alternate tunings, delay, distortion, EBow, loops); long instrumental forms with repetitive crescendos, a wide dynamic range and climactic endings (a hallmark of the second wave); voice absent or used as an instrument (spoken word, samples); bass acting as a drone or a loop; drums sometimes with multiple kits and irregular tempos; the studio as a compositional instrument. It merges with metal in post-metal (Isis, Cult of Luna) and with black metal in blackgaze.

Scales and keys

Major and Lydian

• Major: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7. In E: E F# G# A B C# D#.
• Lydian: 1 2 3 #4 5 6 7. In D: D E F# G# A B C#.
• Characteristic note: in Lydian #4 → major II; in major, the 7 in maj7 voicings.
• Major chords in E: I E, ii F#m, iii G#m, IV A, V B, vi C#m, vii° D#dim.
• Use: "bright" crescendos (Explosions in the Sky, Sigur Rós), tremolo-picked guitar melodies on the high strings.
• Real-world example: Explosions in the Sky — Your Hand in Mine (major key with interwoven arpeggios; transcriptions vary); Sigur Rós — Hoppípolla (major with piano and strings).

Natural minor (Aeolian)

• Formula: 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7. In D: D E F G A Bb C.
• Chords: i Dm, III F, iv Gm, v Am, VI Bb, VII C.
• Use: melancholy, "cinematic" post-rock (Mogwai, GY!BE), dramatic VI–VII–i crescendos.
• Real-world example: Godspeed You! Black Emperor — East Hastings (minor theme that builds for minutes).

Dorian

• Formula: 1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7. In E: E F# G A B C# D.
• Use: jazz-post-rock grooves (Tortoise), i–IV vamps.

Major pentatonic (tremolo melodies)

• Formula: 1 2 3 5 6. In E: E F# G# B C#.
• Use: the tremolo-picked melodies over the crescendo: no half steps, an "open," singable sound.

Drones, tunings and pedal notes

• Alternate tunings (DADGAD, open D, strings tuned to unison) for drones and bell-like sounds; pedal notes held by EBow or feedback while the chords change.

How to choose

• Bright cathartic crescendo: major/Lydian with a pentatonic melody. Cinematic drama: Aeolian. Jazzy, minimalist groove: Dorian. Ambient: a single chord or drone with a change of timbral color.

Harmony

Function

Slow, cyclical harmony: progressions of 2–4 chords repeated for minutes while dynamics, density and timbre change. Cadences are rare; the "resolution" is the dynamic climax. Use of pedals, drones, extended chords (add9, maj7, sus2) and minimalist ostinatos (influence of Steve Reich and minimalism).

Harmonic crescendo

• The same progression is repeated while layers are added: clean arpeggio → second guitar → bass → drums → distortion → strings/winds → climax. Sometimes the last pass changes a single chord (e.g. the VI becomes iv) for emotional impact.

Guitar counterpoint

• Two or three guitars play different interlocking arpeggios (Explosions in the Sky), creating a rich harmony from the sum.

Voicings

• Open chords with open strings, high triads, arpeggios across several octaves, tremolo picking on single or double notes, string and synth pads.

Typical progressions

Rhythm and groove

Highly variable tempos, often slow (60–90) in the introductions and medium (100–130) in the crescendos; odd meters and changes (Slint, Tortoise), 3/4 and 6/8, free-time sections. The drums often enter midway through the piece: first mallets and cymbals, then eighth-note toms (crescendo), then a full beat with crash/ride in eighth notes at the climax. The tempo is often fluctuating (speeding up in the climaxes, slowing in the codas) and recorded live without a click.

Drums

Role

The drums build the crescendo: they are the instrument that governs the dynamics more than any other. They start absent or with mallets on the cymbals, grow with the toms, and explode at the climax.

Kick

• In the early phases: sparse quarter notes (steps 1 and 9) or only on 1; at the climax a full beat, sometimes eighth-note kicks.

Snare

• Absent in the intros; then snare with the snares off or a high tom in place of the snare (on 2 and 4); at the climax a full snare and crescendo rolls (sixteenth notes in the last beats before the climax).

Toms

• Low tom in eighth notes as the heartbeat of the crescendo (odd steps), high tom on the accents; velocity rising gradually from 60 to 127 over 16–32 bars.

Cymbals

• Mallets on cymbals (swells) in the intros, ride in eighth notes in the crescendo, crash on quarter notes or eighth notes at the climax.

Interaction

• Bass and guitars repeat the progression; the drums are the only element that changes sharply, together with the guitar volume.

Sections

• Intro (0–2 min): no drums or cymbals with mallets. Development: toms and kick. Pre-climax: long roll. Climax: full beat. Coda: the drums stop, the reverb remains.

Fills

• Long crescendo rolls, triplet tom fills; very few fills in the repetitive sections.

Sounds

• Natural kit with lots of room; Godspeed use two drummers; Battles and Tortoise also use electronic drums and sampling.

Typical mistakes

• A "stepped" crescendo that is too abrupt (raise velocity and volume gradually); a climax without cymbals; programming everything at fixed velocity.

Bass

Sound

Bass with a pick or fingers, clean or with fuzz in the climaxes; sometimes EBow or bow.

Role

• Drone or ostinato (1–2 bar loop), long notes on the root; at the climax, root doubled in eighth notes.
• Bass melodies in jazzy post-rock (Tortoise, who also use two basses).

Relationship with the kick

Long notes in the intros, eighth notes with the kick at the climax.

Examples

• Slint — Good Morning, Captain; Mogwai — Mogwai Fear Satan; Tortoise — Djed.

Harmonic instruments

Guitars

• 2–3 guitars with roles: clean arpeggio with delay (often dotted eighth), melodic tremolo picking on the high strings, held chords with EBow or volume swell, distorted wall (fuzz/Big Muff) at the climax.
• Pedals: delay (also tempo-synced, multiple), long reverb, fuzz, tremolo, looper, EBow.
• Layering: guitars L100/R100 with different parts and one in the center for the melody; at the climax distorted doubles L/R are added.

Keyboards, strings, winds

• Piano (Sigur Rós), glockenspiel, strings (violin, cello: GY!BE, Sigur Rós with Amiina), winds, synth, samples and field recordings.

Voicings

• Open chords with open strings, multi-octave arpeggios, tremolo on single notes.

Melody and vocals

Vocals

• Often absent. When present: used as an instrument (Jónsi of Sigur Rós in falsetto with a cello bow on the guitar and the invented language "Vonlenska"), spoken (Slint), samples of speeches and recordings (GY!BE).

Instrumental melody

• Melody entrusted to tremolo-picked guitar or to glockenspiel, violin, piano; long phrases, few notes, repeated and transposed up an octave at the climax.

Effects

• Very long reverbs, delay, treated voices.

Instruments

• Electric guitars (2–3), EBow, looper, bow.
• Electric bass.
• Drums (sometimes two), percussion, glockenspiel.
• Piano, organ, synth, sampler.
• Strings (violin, cello), winds (trumpet, horn), field recordings.
• Voice (optional).

Drum patterns

Synths and sounds

• Augmented Strings — Cinematic strings: Strings that enter midway through the crescendo: legato, mid register, then an octave higher at the climax.
• Piano V — Piano: Delicate arpeggios and melodies (Sigur Rós, Hammock): grand piano with felt (soft), long reverb.
• Prophet-VS V — Ambient pad: Evolving pads and drones under the guitars; automate the vector slowly.
• Solina V — Synth strings: Blurred string pads with phaser for the ambient sections.
• Mellotron V — Flutes and strings: Period textures and melancholy (Mogwai, Sigur Rós).
• Modular V — Drones and textures: Slow drones and modulated noises for intros and transitions.

Song structure

Form (6–12 minutes, sometimes 20+)

Variants: arch form (crescendo–decrescendo), multiple crescendo cycles, form in contrasting sections (Slint, Tortoise).

Mixing and mastering

Sonic goal

Enormous dynamic range and three-dimensional space: the intros must be truly quiet, the climax truly huge. References: Explosions in the Sky — The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place (2003), Mogwai — Young Team (1997), Sigur Rós — ( ) (2002), Godspeed You! Black Emperor — Lift Your Skinny Fists (2000).

Kick

• EQ: HP 30 Hz; +2 dB at 60 Hz; −3 dB at 350 Hz; +2 dB at 3 kHz. Light compression (2–3 dB) to preserve dynamics.

Snare and toms

• Snare: +2 dB at 200 Hz, +2 dB at 5 kHz, hall 2–3 s. Toms: +3 dB at 80–120 Hz, −4 dB at 400 Hz, large room reverb.

Room and overheads

• Very present rooms (the drums must sound like they're in a large hall), compressed in parallel and raised at the climax (automation).

Bass

• EQ: HP 30 Hz; +2 dB at 80 Hz; −2 dB at 250 Hz; compression 4 dB; fuzz in parallel at the climax.

Guitars

• Clean arpeggios L70/R70 with tempo-synced stereo delay (dotted 1/8, feedback 30–40%, filtered HP 300 Hz/LP 6 kHz) and long reverb (3–6 s).
• Melodic tremolo in the center, presence at 2–3 kHz.
• Distorted wall at the climax L100/R100 (2–4 tracks), HP 100 Hz, −3 dB at 300 Hz.
• Automation: volume and reverb send that grow through the crescendo; an LP filter that opens gradually (from 2 kHz to 18 kHz) on the guitars or the bus.

Strings, piano, glockenspiel

• Wide L/R strings, HP 100 Hz, hall; stereo piano L50/R50; glockenspiel R30 with reverb.

Vocals (if present)

• Treated as an instrument: long reverb, compression 4–6 dB, level equal to the guitar melody.

FX

• Very long reverbs (Valhalla, Fruity Reeverb 2 with 6–10 s decay), shimmer, tempo-synced delay, reverse reverb in transitions.

Buses and groups

• "Build" bus for the instruments that grow, with a single volume and filter automation; light compression on the mix.

Sidechain

• No (at most a ducking of the reverb from the climax).

Master

• Target: −14/−11 LUFS integrated (many post-rock records are dynamic); short-term at the climax −8/−7, intros as low as −25/−30. True peak −1 dBTP. Don't over-limit: the genre lives on contrast.

Common mistakes

• Compressing the mix until the intro is as loud as the climax; too many layers in the same band (mud at 200–500 Hz); a crescendo with no real increase in level.

Reference tracks for the mix

• Slint — Good Morning, Captain (1991); Mogwai — Mogwai Fear Satan (1997); Sigur Rós — Svefn-g-englar (1999); Godspeed You! Black Emperor — Storm (2000); Explosions in the Sky — Your Hand in Mine (2003); Mono — Ashes in the Snow (2009).

Reference listening

• Talk Talk — New Grass (1991)
• Slint — Good Morning, Captain (1991)
• Tortoise — Djed (1996)
• Mogwai — Mogwai Fear Satan (1997)
• Sigur Rós — Svefn-g-englar (1999)
• Godspeed You! Black Emperor — Storm (2000)
• Explosions in the Sky — Your Hand in Mine (2003)
• Sigur Rós — Hoppípolla (2005)
• This Will Destroy You — The Mighty Rio Grande (2008)