Mark Mynett
Biographic Data
| ID | 2159323 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Mark Mynett |
| GIVEN NAMES | Mark |
| FAMILY NAME | Mynett |
| SIGNATURE | MYNETT M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Huddersfield |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5145-4668 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 10 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 5 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 10 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2017 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Metal Music and the Aesthetics of Heaviness
This article examines heaviness in metal, drawing on interviews with 36 music professionals. Findings indicate that heaviness is shaped by acoustic, structural, and affective factors rather than representing a fixed sonic property. While performance and production extremes contribute to heaviness, perception is equally influenced by atmosphere, emotion, and listener expectations. Participants identified heaviness in other genres, challenging styl…
Aesthetic Tensions in Metal Production
While metal production is often described as standardized, this article argues that its aesthetics are shaped by competing ideological tensions in its production and reception that hardly allow for homogenization. We examine these tensions through a qualitative thematic analysis of 631 YouTube comments from viewers evaluating nine different professional mixes of the same song. Drawing on theories of subcultural capital and authenticity, our findi…
The Cambridge Companion to Metal Music
Since its beginnings more than fifty years ago, metal music has grown in popularity worldwide, not only as a musical culture but increasingly as a recognised field of study. This Cambridge Companion reflects the maturing field of 'metal music studies' by introducing the music and its cultures, as well as recent research perspectives from disciplines ranging from musicology and music technology to religious studies, Classics, and Scandinavian and …
Lorna Shore’s ‘To the Hellfire’
Since its inception, metal music has been on a quest for greater heaviness. However, despite its fundamental relevance to the genre, what actually makes metal music perceptually ‘heavy’ is still poorly understood. This article examines the musical, performative and production features that contribute to the heaviness of Lorna Shore’s ‘To the Hellfire’, Loudwire magazine’s metal song of the year 2021. The musicological analysis is supported by ric…
Toward a Systematic Understanding of “Heaviness” in Metal Music Production
“Heaviness” has been one of metal music’s defining features in three decades of metal scholarship. Research acknowledged its essential quality, but no comprehensive definition of musical heaviness was developed. This article, therefore, elaborates a preliminary framework of musical heaviness by identifying its constituent production, performance, and compositional components, including their relationships. The findings suggest that while structur…
I Just Go with What Feels Right”. Variance and Commonality in Metal Music Mixing Practice
Metal music is a genre defined by transgression, usually with the musical pursuit of heaviness. Interestingly, this commonly accepted genre-defining criterion, which can be considered as involving progress, conflicts with recent suggestions that the production of metal music is becoming more and more standardized, potentially hindering metal music’s musical evolution. Based on interviews with eight leading metal producers, this study investigates…
(No?) Adventures in Recording Land
Inspired by claims that metal music production has become standardized, this article draws on interviews with eight internationally recognized producers examining whether a uniform methodology in recording metal exists and where creative freedom remains. The findings suggest that although recordists must abide by electroacoustic laws and metal music’s pursuit of ever-heavier music, which entails some best practices, decades-long careers build on …
What is “Heavy” in Metal? A Netnographic Analysis of Online Forums for Metal Musicians and Producers
Metal music studies defines “heaviness” as the genre’s sonic signature but has rarely explored the sonics or the related discourse. This study analyzes message boards to determine how music producers and musicians use the “heavy” metaphor in their discussions. Practitioners’ strategies employed to achieve heaviness are scrutinized to learn about what considerations influence their decisions. The findings suggest that while heaviness is based on a…
Nail the Mix
This article explores how the proliferation of affordable digital tools and the availability of specialist knowledge have affected the mixing stage of metal music productions, asking whether a standard methodology is apparent in producers’ use of templates and presets, processing of audio, and choice of tools. Analyzing fifty professional metal mixes on the platform Nail The Mix, the findings suggest that although producers follow a vaguely defin…
Identifying people and things
What is “Heavy” in Metal? A Netnographic Analysis of Online Forums for Metal Musicians and Producers
Metal music studies defines “heaviness” as the genre’s sonic signature but has rarely explored the sonics or the related discourse. This study analyzes message boards to determine how music producers and musicians use the “heavy” metaphor in their discussions. Practitioners’ strategies employed to achieve heaviness are scrutinized to learn about what considerations influence their decisions. The findings suggest that while heaviness is based on a…
Nail the Mix
This article explores how the proliferation of affordable digital tools and the availability of specialist knowledge have affected the mixing stage of metal music productions, asking whether a standard methodology is apparent in producers’ use of templates and presets, processing of audio, and choice of tools. Analyzing fifty professional metal mixes on the platform Nail The Mix, the findings suggest that although producers follow a vaguely defin…
Identifying people and things
Nail the Mix
This article explores how the proliferation of affordable digital tools and the availability of specialist knowledge have affected the mixing stage of metal music productions, asking whether a standard methodology is apparent in producers’ use of templates and presets, processing of audio, and choice of tools. Analyzing fifty professional metal mixes on the platform Nail The Mix, the findings suggest that although producers follow a vaguely defin…
(No?) Adventures in Recording Land
Inspired by claims that metal music production has become standardized, this article draws on interviews with eight internationally recognized producers examining whether a uniform methodology in recording metal exists and where creative freedom remains. The findings suggest that although recordists must abide by electroacoustic laws and metal music’s pursuit of ever-heavier music, which entails some best practices, decades-long careers build on …
What is “Heavy” in Metal? A Netnographic Analysis of Online Forums for Metal Musicians and Producers
Metal music studies defines “heaviness” as the genre’s sonic signature but has rarely explored the sonics or the related discourse. This study analyzes message boards to determine how music producers and musicians use the “heavy” metaphor in their discussions. Practitioners’ strategies employed to achieve heaviness are scrutinized to learn about what considerations influence their decisions. The findings suggest that while heaviness is based on a…
The Cambridge Companion to Metal Music
Since its beginnings more than fifty years ago, metal music has grown in popularity worldwide, not only as a musical culture but increasingly as a recognised field of study. This Cambridge Companion reflects the maturing field of 'metal music studies' by introducing the music and its cultures, as well as recent research perspectives from disciplines ranging from musicology and music technology to religious studies, Classics, and Scandinavian and …
Lorna Shore’s ‘To the Hellfire’
Since its inception, metal music has been on a quest for greater heaviness. However, despite its fundamental relevance to the genre, what actually makes metal music perceptually ‘heavy’ is still poorly understood. This article examines the musical, performative and production features that contribute to the heaviness of Lorna Shore’s ‘To the Hellfire’, Loudwire magazine’s metal song of the year 2021. The musicological analysis is supported by ric…
Toward a Systematic Understanding of “Heaviness” in Metal Music Production
“Heaviness” has been one of metal music’s defining features in three decades of metal scholarship. Research acknowledged its essential quality, but no comprehensive definition of musical heaviness was developed. This article, therefore, elaborates a preliminary framework of musical heaviness by identifying its constituent production, performance, and compositional components, including their relationships. The findings suggest that while structur…
I Just Go with What Feels Right”. Variance and Commonality in Metal Music Mixing Practice
Metal music is a genre defined by transgression, usually with the musical pursuit of heaviness. Interestingly, this commonly accepted genre-defining criterion, which can be considered as involving progress, conflicts with recent suggestions that the production of metal music is becoming more and more standardized, potentially hindering metal music’s musical evolution. Based on interviews with eight leading metal producers, this study investigates…
Metal Music and the Aesthetics of Heaviness
This article examines heaviness in metal, drawing on interviews with 36 music professionals. Findings indicate that heaviness is shaped by acoustic, structural, and affective factors rather than representing a fixed sonic property. While performance and production extremes contribute to heaviness, perception is equally influenced by atmosphere, emotion, and listener expectations. Participants identified heaviness in other genres, challenging styl…
Aesthetic Tensions in Metal Production
While metal production is often described as standardized, this article argues that its aesthetics are shaped by competing ideological tensions in its production and reception that hardly allow for homogenization. We examine these tensions through a qualitative thematic analysis of 631 YouTube comments from viewers evaluating nine different professional mixes of the same song. Drawing on theories of subcultural capital and authenticity, our findi…
Music History and Culture (9 works) · Art (8 works) · Music Technology and Sound Studies (8 works) · Aesthetics (6 works) · Visual arts (5 works) · Diverse Musicological Studies (4 works) · Business (3 works) · History (3 works) · Law (3 works) · Political science (3 works)