cmsuter Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 I have been a singer for 5 or so years, and consider myself to be a pretty competent singer, but i've mostly been in rock bands and i very much enjoy a good scream. I have tried and tried over the years to learn but I am just missing something. To my understanding, at first, while your muscles get used to it, you will feel some discomfort, possibly even a little pain, but if the pain is excessive then you're doing it wrong. My question is, how do I know what is normal and if I'm doing it wrong? I mean, pain is pain and I unfortunately dont have anyone who can just hear/watch me and tell me what I'm doing wrong. I've heard a lot that lower screams are easier, yet when i try to go low, it just hurts more. below is an example of what I'm going for, which to me sounds like someone who has really perfected his craft so I'm not expecting to be that good right away. I guess I'm just a little frustrated because I've tried for so long and i just cant figure out what I'm doing wrong. Help me!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 Without proper guidance, you could damage your voice. If this is something you really want to pursue, get a coach ASAP and don't mess around with it until you do. IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonpall Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 Get the cvt book for this type of vocals, imo. The 4 pillars also has a section on this. Pain is your indicator if you're doing it wrong or not. Don't do these sounds for too long at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoverOs Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 Disclaimer: Generally rasp isn't healthy if it isn't natural, but it's your risks you take. Low and high screams are the most dangerous for your muscles. There's no guarantee that you will be able to growl off the bat. Middle rasps are the best to learn distortion on, because it's the easiest to isolate your vocal cords. If you can rasp in the middle really well, then you can slowly bend the rasp lower, or jump to a growl configuration, and you should see a significant decrease in the strain. It's important to realize that a middle rasp isn't gonna turn into what you want, but the better you get at rasping, the less your voice is going to strain in the extreme parts, which will lead you to finding the right sounds. If you try this and it hurts more than what you normally do. stop D: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonpall Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 I find it interesting that very often when guys here want to learn distortion, they want to use it for death metal-type vocals, i.e. vocals where you hear the distortion, but not really any melody underneath it. Compare that to f.ex. the heavy metal of the 70s and 80s, when rock singers often sang "raspy" but sang very memorable melodies - and that was also much harder to do. DoverOs, where do you get those facts, if I may ask? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jens Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 Yeah i wonder that to high screams are usually more dangerous, highnotes in general are more dangerous. They wear out your folds more Than low notes the reason women pays more visits to ents and are at alot higher chance of getting vocaldamage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoverOs Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 I find it interesting that very often when guys here want to learn distortion, they want to use it for death metal-type vocals, i.e. vocals where you hear the distortion, but not really any melody underneath it. Compare that to f.ex. the heavy metal of the 70s and 80s, when rock singers often sang "raspy" but sang very memorable melodies - and that was also much harder to do. DoverOs, where do you get those facts, if I may ask? Experience I guess. I'm assuming this guy is in the same boat as me, then our low growls have more trouble getting the cords in the proper configuration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Robert Lunte Posted September 2, 2012 Administrator Share Posted September 2, 2012 Ouch. Be careful with that... In any case, too much of the 'screamo' gets boring anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmsuter Posted September 3, 2012 Author Share Posted September 3, 2012 yeah i'm more of a singer, but the band i'm in could use the occasional scream and i just cant figure out what i'm doing wrong. everytime i try to do it, i cant help but close up my throat and i end up pushing with my cords, which i know is a no no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srs7593 Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 I agree with Rob Lunte that a lot of these vocalists are really one dimensional, but on the other hand, a lot of them aren't. I definitely disagree with the widespread notion that it is just a fad. Rock n roll is just a fad. Perotin was told polyphony was a fad. I think the forum could use more screamers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonpall Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 Yeah, but I think it's way cooler to sing a raspy melody than to sometimes sing a clean melody and sometimes simply make distorted noises. But of course I realize that screamo type of music has its fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bounce Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 I'm a big fan of bands that combine screaming and singing, but I've never been able to scream and sing back and forth. Screaming would wreck my clean singing; I guess I must've been doing it wrong Also I think some people have naturally more resilient vocal folds that can take more pressure. All I can say is, good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonpall Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 The art of raspy singing is the art of constantly using as little and correct pressure possible to create those sounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev Drucifer Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 I was doing the screaming thing for the past 10 years or so. Borrowed a lot of tone/phrasing from guys like Phil Anselmo, Randy Blythe and Chad Gray. It took me a long time to 'get it'. I'm not going to give ANY advice on actual technique, because I'm not a teacher and I wouldn't want anything I've done to injure someone else. Melissa Cross' DVD's, The Art Of Screaming helped quite a bit. There are some good warm-ups in those. Doesn't cover everything, but it's a great basis. For me personally, it's 75% support system with a very open throat. If I'm not warmed up, it'll kill any form of clean singing power I have. One cool benefit of doing this for years is that it really helped me on my bridging, from chest to head to falsetto. I'm not sure how a lot of other screamers approach it, but whenever I'm getting up there in the high range, it's all head voice and falsetto. With the right amount of hydration, mic technique and support, it works for me. (A live clip from a former band I sang in) Very bored of that style of singing now, back to my roots as a die hard Alice In Chains and Queensryche fan! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronws Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 I also likes me some AIC. It would be cool to hear some of their covers in here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consumingfire39 Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 If I were you, I would try to emulate somebody with a more healthy screaming style. For example, listen to Red's Michael Barnes. He is a very good vocalists and also a top-notch screamer. His screaming has never effected his vocal ability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonpall Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 Isn't Red's vocalist one of those vocalists who prefers to have no underlying specific note when he screams? So that his scream is just noise not a raspy voice singing a melody at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consumingfire39 Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 Isn't Red's vocalist one of those vocalists who prefers to have no underlying specific note when he screams? So that his scream is just noise not a raspy voice singing a melody at the same time. No, he basically starts a note in a pharyngeal typed onset and turns it into a scream. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonpall Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 Do you have a good youtube example of this? I vaguely recall having heard one of their songs and remember that he was a good singer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consumingfire39 Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 Do you have a good youtube example of this? I vaguely recall having heard one of their songs and remember that he was a good singer. I actually posted a pretty good example a few posts up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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