Ryan Alexander Bloom is an American drummer, author, and teacher. He is known for being a former member of the

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

-based

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

band Havok, member of death metal band Bloodstrike, and the author of several books including the ''Double Bass Drumming Explained'' series and ''Encyclopedia Rudimentia''.

Early life

Ryan grew up in a military family, his father Eric serving as a Lieutenant Colonel in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

. He attended Crested Butte Community School in Crested Butte, Colorado for high school and participated in soccer and

Track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

. In 2002, Ryan was named All-State Honorable Mention in soccer and finished 6th at the state championship track meet in the

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

. As of 2003, he held 7 school records in track and field (100m, 200m, Long Jump, Triple Jump, Pole Vault, 4x100, 4x200), all of which have since been broken except for the pole vault. Ryan graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a degree in music.

Music career

Ryan joined the band Havok in 2007, replacing later Speedwolf drummer Richie Tice, and shortly afterward the band got an offer from famed metal label Candlelight Records with whom they ultimately signed a record deal. Ryan contributed drum tracks and lyrics to Havok's 2009 debut album ''

Burn A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, cold, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ultraviolet radiation (like sunburn). Most burns are due to heat from hot liquids (called scalding), solids, or fire. Burns occur ma ...

'', and appeared in the music video for the song "Morbid Symmetry". Ryan toured with Havok for about 2 years, including the License to Thrash tour, but left Havok just before the official release of ''Burn''. In 2010 Ryan briefly joined up with Five Iron Frenzy guitarist Micah Ortega to form a death metal band called Mordheim which recorded a short demo called ''Brutal Demonstrations'' before disbanding. In 2011 Ryan was hired to record percussion on Amara Grace's album ''Can't Keep A Sunrise Down''. In 2012 he was contacted by Rob Hubbard of Synthetic Minister to record drums for a side project grunge/

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

band called Amish Warfare. The resulting EP was titled ''Immaculate Misconception''. In 2013, Ryan began working with Mackenzie Gault, of the platinum selling

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

band

Flobots Flobots is an experimental rap rock band from Denver, Colorado, formed in 2005 by Jamie Laurie. The band's origins date back 5 years earlier to a similar project by Laurie. Flobots found mainstream success with their major label debut ''Fight ...

, teaching drums at her music school, Denver Music Tree. In June 2014, Ryan's website announced that he had joined the

swedish death metal Swedish death metal is a death metal music scene developed in Sweden. Many Swedish death metal bands are associated with the melodic death metal movement, thus giving Swedish death metal a different sound from other variations of death metal. ...

band Bloodstrike and had recorded a demo called ''Necrobirth''. Bloodstrike features experienced band members including former members of Mausoleum Records artist Silencer and Root of All Evil Records artist Somnus. Also in 2014, Ryan began teaching at the Aurora, CO branch of the School of Rock, a chain of

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

-oriented music schools. In the late summer of 2015, Ryan's band Bloodstrike announced that they had signed with Redefining Darkness Records and would be releasing the full-length album, ''In Death We Rot'' on September 25. In 2017, Ryan recorded a second album with Bloodstrike called Execution of Violence with a release date of October 13. Bloodstrike subsequently toured with Brazil's Forceps on their Mastering Extinction US tour. Also in 2017, Ryan began filling in for Denver heavy metal and hard rock outfit Immortal Sÿnn as a live session drummer while regular drummer Axel Berrios was indisposed. This post would last into the summer of 2018 and included the US leg of Immortal Sÿnn's first tour. Since 2019, Bloom has been on the Topper Marching Band staff at

Los Alamos High School Los Alamos High School (LAHS) is the public high school in Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA. The school opened in 1946, and was originally supported by the Atomic Energy Commission. It has been academically recognized by ''Newsweek'', '' U.S. News & ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

Publishing career

As an instructional author, Ryan has published original books on bass drum technique, drum and bass breakbeats,

drum rudiments In ''rudimental drumming'', a form of percussion music, a drum rudiment is one of a number of relatively small patterns which form the foundation for more extended and complex drumming patterns. The term "drum rudiment" is most closely assoc ...

drumming, and subdivision and music reading. He has also transcribed two 19th century manuals into modern notation and translated a 20th century Swiss manual into English. The first book was ''Double Bass Drumming Explained: A Comprehensive Reference on the Art and Science of Double Bass'', in 2012, which discusses double bass drum technique, style, and theory. The book draws on Ryan's own critically acclaimed drumming techniques and his teaching experience. Ryan published his second book, ''Double Bass Drumming Explained Part 2: The Workbook'' in 2013. Where the first book was mostly text, this sequel is a traditional instructional method consisting of mainly beats and notated exercises for practice. In 2016, Ryan published a combined and revised edition of his books called ''The Complete Double Bass Drumming Explained''. This edition fixed minor errors and added new topics, notably a section on cam shape, while condensing the previous two books into a single volume. In April 2017, ''The Complete Double Bass Drumming Explained'' was picked up by publisher Hudson Music and re-released in an exclusive digital ebook format. In March 2018, Ryan secured a second deal with Hudson Music for the publication of his book, ''Live Drum & Bass - Breakbeats and Electronic Music for Real Drummers''. This was Ryan's first offering outside of double bass instruction, but just like the previous book, was similarly released in a digital ebook format by Hudson with an accompanying physical edition coming out separately. In early 2019 Ryan announced via his website that he would be releasing his third book with publisher Hudson Music called ''Encyclopedia Rudimentia - The Ultimate Drum Rudiment Collection''. Encompassing over 850

Drum rudiment In ''rudimental drumming'', a form of percussion music, a drum rudiment is one of a number of relatively small patterns which form the foundation for more extended and complex drumming patterns. The term "drum rudiment" is most closely assoc ...

s, this book diverges from his earlier works for drum set by compiling basic rudimental snare exercises from different cultures and traditions including

Drum Corps International Drum Corps International (DCI) is a governing body for junior drum and bugle corps responsible for developing and enforcing rules of competition, and for providing standardized adjudication at sanctioned drum and bugle corps competitions througho ...

hybrid rudiments, Ancient Fife and drum corps rudiments, and European military rudiments alongside the

Percussive Arts Society Percussive Arts Society (PAS) is a non-profit organization for professional percussionists and percussion educators. It was founded in 1961 in the United States and has over 5,000 members in 40 American chapters, with another 28 chapters abroad. It ...

and National Association of Rudimental Drummers standards. Also in 2019, Ryan released his first work of non-fiction outside of music entirely, called ''The Forgotten Side of Bandelier'', which deals with the archeology and anthropology of the

Tsankawi Tsankawi is a detached portion of Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico, near White Rock. It is accessible from a roadside parking area just north of the intersection of East Jemez Road and State Road 4. A self-guided 1.5-mile loop trail ...

section of

Bandelier National Monument Bandelier National Monument is a United States National Monument near Los Alamos in Sandoval and Los Alamos counties, New Mexico. The monument preserves the homes and territory of the Ancestral Puebloans of a later era in the Southwest. Most ...

. In 2020, Bloom published two books. The first, an edition of Charles Stewart Ashworth's 1812 Fife and Drum manual, ''A New, Useful, and Complete System of Drum Beating'' that updated the 19th century notation to 21st century standard drum music, was published in January. The second book was a method called ''Thrash Metal Drumming'' that detailed the types of beats and fills used in classic and modern

. It was published by Hudson Music on October 28. 2021 also saw the publication of two books. In April, Bloom released an edition of

Samuel Potter Samuel L. Potter (1772 - 1838) was a British drum major in the Band of the Coldstream Guards and an influential fife and drum manual author. Biography Potter was born in 1772 and in 1786, at the age of 14, he enlisted in the Coldstream Regime ...

's 1817 drum manual ''The Art of Beating the Drum'' that updated the ambiguous 19th century notation to modern percussion music. In June, he announced that Hudson would be releasing a book called ''Subdivide and Conquer,'' in collaboration with author Robert W. Miller, a method for counting and reading rhythms. In 2022, Bloom released an English translation of the Swiss military's World War I drum manual ''Tambour-Ordonnanz für die Schweizerische Infanterie 1917'', which had only previously been available in French and German.

Education

Ryan holds a BA in Music from the

University of Colorado at Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado sy ...

(2007).

Discography

*2005 – Errant – ''Perfect Secret'' (demo) *2009 – Havok – ''

'' (LP) *2010 – Mordheim – ''Brutal Demonstrations'' (demo) *2011 – Amara Grace – ''Can't Keep A Sunrise Down'' (LP) *2012 – Amish Warfare – ''Immaculate Misconception'' (EP) *2014 - Bloodstrike - ''Necrobirth'' (demo) *2015 - Bloodstrike - ''In Death We Rot'' (LP) *2017 - Bloodstrike - ''Execution of Violence'' (LP)

Bibliography

*2012 – ''Double Bass Drumming Explained: A Comprehensive Reference on the Art and Science of Double Bass'' *2013 – ''Double Bass Drumming Explained Part 2: The Workbook'' *2016 – ''The Complete Double Bass Drumming Explained- The Reference and The Workbook, Revised, Expanded & Updated'' *2018 – ''Live Drum & Bass - Breakbeats and Electronic Music for Real Drummers'' *2019 – ''Encyclopedia Rudimentia - The Ultimate Drum Rudiment Collection'' *2019 - ''The Forgotten Side of Bandelier - Archeology of the Tsankawi Ruins at Bandelier National Monument'' *2020 - ''A New, Useful, and Complete System of Drum Beating (transcribed) -'' Charles Stewart Ashworth *2020 - ''Thrash Metal Drumming'' *2021 - ''The Art of Beating the Drum (transcribed) -'' Samuel L Potter *2021 - ''Subdivide and Conquer'' (with Robert W. Miller) *2022 - ''Tambour-Ordonnanz 1917 (translated)'' - Schweizerische Militardepartement

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bloom, Ryan Living people Musicians from Colorado 1980s births Native American musicians University of Colorado alumni University of Colorado Boulder alumni American drummers 21st-century American drummers American writers