programmed on a drum machine, and the bass line was a combination of electric bass guitar and Bell Labs Digital Synthesizer Synergy keyboard. This hybrid bass style was retained for the main recording session. The song is played in the key of E minor at a moderately fast tempo of 138 beats per minute. In the song, Jackson's vocal range is B3 to A5. Upon hearing the first recorded vocals, Jones stated that it was exactly what he was looking for. The song begins with seven distinct synthesizer notes played on the Synclavier digital synthesizer, with Tom Bahler credited for the Synclavier performance on the song. The intro is taken note for note from a demo LP released the year before, called "The Incredible Sounds of Synclavier II" first published in 1981 by Denny Jaeger Creative Services, Inc., and sold by New England Digital, makers of the Synclavier. The drums were played by Toto co-founder Jeff Porcaro. Jermaine Jackson has suggested the inspiration of "Beat It" and its video came from the Jackson family experiencing gang activity in Gary, Indiana. "From our front window, we witnessed, about three bad rumbles between rival gangs." The lyrics of "Beat It" have been described as a "sad commentary on human nature". The line "don't be a macho man" is said to express Jackson's dislike of violence, while also referring to the childhood abuse he faced at the hands of his father Joseph. Eddie Van Halen's guitar solo Eddie Van Halen, lead guitarist of hard rock band Van Halen, was asked to add a guitar solo. When initially contacted by Jones, VanHalen thought he was receiving a prank call. Having established that the call was genuine, VanHalen used a Hartley–Thompson amplifier borrowed from guitarist Allan Holdsworth and recorded his guitar solo free of charge. "I did it as a favor", the musician later said. "I was a complete fool, according to the rest of the band, our manager and everyone else. I was not used. I knew what I was doing—I don't do something unless I want to do it." Van Halen recorded his contribution following Jones and Jackson arriving at the guitarist's house with a "skeleton version" of the song. Fellow guitarist Steve Lukather recalled, "Initially, we rocked it out as Eddie had played a good solo—but Quincy thought it was too tough. So I had to reduce the distorted guitar sound and