I like Mortal Decay/Demilich low vocals and i wos wondering how i get those low growls? Also how do you get a recorded whisper as loud if not louder than the other vocals?

the lows you just do a standard growl and lower it, bring it down your throat i guess... whispers are just mixed higher.

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Yes that is me...

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Turn up the volume maybe?.

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Any suggestions for singing like Jon from Dissection?

I realize I should have asked WAY earlier, but what is the diaphram? It's like something I KNOW I know, but just can't think of it.

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Diaphragm is this thing in your stomach that pushes air through your lung erstuminmethinks. Look it up in an anatomy(sp) book, or on the internet. But really all the matters is your squeaze your stomach really hard and use it as your main vocal tool.

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To tell you the truth, if it doesn't feel or sound good, don't do it (someone might have said this already).


Anyways, when I first tried growling I did it from my throat, which was a bad decision. Now I have whyskey voice without realy well... drinking whyskey or hard alcoholic drinks (all of these are bad ideas to do to "improve" your voice).
I think when I stoped growling from my throat and started to practice and apply actual singing techniques, singing from your diaphraghm (sp?), my throat felt much better, I felt much better over all, and my voice improved and now I have this weird singing with a growl over voice, which I like a lot and has been making a name for our band.

Just don't start all these rituals and learn how to do it the wrong way first, because it's much harder to re-teach yourself on how to do it right, and chances are that you wont be able to fix whatever problems with your voice later on. Use the bassic singing techniques, apply some growling methods (not from the throat, not for me anyways), use that volume knob on the PA, and you should be fine.

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That's a good post for a New Blood. Good job, sir darkexodite!

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Well, let's all agree that the growling technique isn't something you can master after days or even weeks. I learned by having LOTS of patience and by hours of listening from other bands. And if the passion/motivation isn't there, you simply can't pull it off. give it lots and lots of time. And if the sounds coming out of your throat by then is still human, give it more time. And for gods sake, don't grind your vocal chords, it can ruin your voice completely (just listen to chris barnes). People always tend to simplify this way of expression but it's not really that easy, but i garantee you this: you WILL be satsified with your hard work

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I tried from the back of my throat, but I still cannot growl. I'm trying to sound like Belphegor or Behemoth and I totally suck at it. I thank you demons for your advice on it, but I really need more help on it. I sound so bad.



Dimebag will live forever through his music. Fukk the Bastard son of god.

If you watch a ton of live videos just keep your eyes on the singer.

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Hey guys the stuff you post on this board is very helpful so keep up the good work

I have a problem though,I cant seem to get balls in my growling,I think Im doing it from my throat but it doesnt hurt or anything but the problem is there is no low end to it, its just kindof of a raspy throat noise(bad description I know) Vocalists that I would like to base off of are: the Singer on "The Crusher" album by Amon Amarth, Mikeal Åkerfeldt of Opeth, Corpsegrinder of CC and Lord Worm of Cryptopsy.

A problem might be that Im still only 13 and my body might not have developed yet. anyways thanks alot!

I came to believe James Hetfield now uses a loud clean voice for his screaming parts, as opposed to his old style of lung-powered screaming. How true is this?

If I didn't figure out his old technique right, which did he use?

I sing a lot at shows and stuff and I can get low(not super low, but good enough). But when I am alone just growling and screaming by myself, My voice just sounds like really low talking/air leaking out. Is this normal to not be able to get this low sort of grinding alone?

Growling - easy... i cant scream... I don't know what do???

I can do growl/cannibal corpse kinda vocals pretty well, I don't find them that difficult. I do infact have trouble screaming. I've learned how to take a growl and go higher with it too make it sound like a scream. It doesnt hurt the vocal chords nearly as much. They sorta sound like Black Metal vox, a bit like Shagrath of Dimmu Borgir.

Screaming it is higher growl.... vocal chord how u eat lemon.... then u can scream... im understend it... now i can scream

He used to put a lot into it. He did it from his diafraghm, pushing it out and adding his manly growls. Now he just sings loudly, and he's not very good at it.. Whatever, he had his good days, I guess he either lost the ability to do what he did when he was younger, or wants to keep his voice (I think it's the former..).

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That's true acutally. Whenever I sing I usally do a couple growls and high pitched shreaks to clear the flem and shit. That and drinking hot water, works wonders.

I want Mustain vocal... and his scream... I have good low growl...

Amen to that. Mustaine has a great vocal sound and guitar sound imo.

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Yes!!! It's great... But I can't sing as Mustain... Difficult for me... But I training... He have tenor type of vocal... head register...

dont use your throat close up a bit and project air and voice from the pit of your stomache...i sound a mix between mark hunter and randy l.o.g and scream in a succesful metalcore band and thats what i do ...diaphram is the key lean foward think 'hate' while doing it give some agression its as much state of mind as technique.

dont use your throat close up a bit and project air and voice from the pit of your stomache...i sound a mix between mark hunter and randy l.o.g and scream in a succesful metalcore band and thats what i do ...diaphram is the key lean foward think 'hate' while doing it give some agression its as much state of mind as technique.

For everyone out there who wants to take all those tips on screaming/growling, listen up. I read this whole thread and a lot of people it seemed were just guessing, which is fine, but if you are an aspiring musician vocalist and you want to sing for a living, you don't want to make mistakes. You can really mess up your voice. So I figured I'd show what I've truly learned in my singing "career".

I'm in the band Triple Helix based in Bloomington, IL. We're working really hard at writing and performing and promoting ourselves. We're by no means the best band ever, but we think we're decent enough to carry on and learn and get better in front of crowds. Anyway...check us out at www.triplehelixband.com . We've got a couple Mp3s you can download and you will hear how I scream.

Anyway, the thing about drinking milk/cheese products....BAD idea. Whether you want a raspy voice or not, milk is not going to help..it just makes things worse...trust me, hahah

I used to have trouble singing higher notes for longer than one song, so I had a couple of quick homeroom lessons with my high school choir teacher. She taught me to sing through my diaphragm and it helped me a LOT! Basically what it means is to breathe so that only your stomach moves out, not your chest. That is actually how you are physically supposed to breathe all the time. If you can't get the hang of it, think of how you breathe when you yawn. That is how you should breathe to sing. All this applies to screaming and growling...it applies to any type of vocalization, really.

Another important thing she told me was that you need to warm up before actually going all out. Whether it's popping in a CD with scales, or getting your favorite rock album out, it's good to warm up. Take it easy at first...clear your throat of all the shit. Stretch your neck muscles out by rotating your head up down, left right and in circles. The basic point is to relax yourself. And the actual singing should also be relaxing..not tense. And yes, even screaming, believe it or not.

While singing, be sure to breathe a lot! You'll surprise yourself how little you actually might breathe while you usually sing. I still surprise myself all the time and it takes reminding myself to keep up proper technique. Take deep breaths before every note and especially for screams. Remember to breathe from the diaphragm.

While singing, also keep your head straightforward or slightly tilted down if you are in the habit of singing to the ceiling. Remembering to sing straight ahead is a key point in singing properly. It will almost force you to breathe correctly, which is obviously a good thing.

I can't really think of a whole lot more, but I'm sure there is. I'm still learning every time I sing, so I hope you guys don't think I'm some stuck-up ass who thinks he knows it all. I don't, and I'm planning on taking classical voice lessons very shortly to ensure that I am doing this all right. I plan on using this voice my whole life, whether it gets me somewhere in the industry or not, so I'm gonna take care of it just like you all should. If music is something you love, then you should love your instruments that you play it with. Your voice is an instrument just like any other. The only difference is that it's the product of a living organism and is probably the most complicated instrument of all. Take care of your instruments!!!

If anybody has any tips for me as well, I would love to hear them because that's the whole reason I ended up on this forum. I'm still learning and I'd love to be the best I can be. Good luck to all of you!

Brock-
Triple Helix
www.triplehelixband.com


p.s.- Any feedback on my band would be cool too! Sign up for our forum and let us know what you think!

Geez...I sure hope that post wasn't a spam...hint hint*j/k But you give nice tips. I have never sung to the ceiling and I've always said to-what you said. Woud you mind if you asked your teacher about a "lu test?" Usually it happens to the wind band but I'm wondering about singers as well.

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So how would you go about screaming like that for a whole song without ending up with a headache/sore throat/etc.?

Powersoft, I've never heard of the "lu test", and I'm actually not in high school anymore, so I don't see her on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Hahah, but I am planning on getting a hold of her some time soon, so I'll be sure to ask about that. Care to explain what it is?
Also no, the post wasn't a spam, hahah! But I could see how you'd think so. I wasn't really expecting my post to be so freakin' long, but it just ended up that way.


Local Hero- I'm still learning what it is to be a vocalist, so I don't know for certain, but from all the hints and tips and professional guidance I've gotten, there really isn't a "perfect" way to scream where you're not tearing up your throat. Technically speaking, I believe that the actually act of screaming or growling is moving your throat muscles an improper way to make the pressured air slam against your throat at an odd angle which creates the distorted sound that is screaming. Physically, it is hard on your body. So what I'm trying to find out is the best possible way to do it without ruining a good singing voice. I've gotten much better at it over the years because I follow all the singing tips and apply them to screaming.

So I guess what I'm saying is that I don't know how to scream or growl for an entire song without hurting your throat or feeling dizzy. If there is a way, I bet Maynard of Tool knows it. But I heard from someone that he won't perform Ticks and Leeches because he loses his voice. Same thing happened with James Hetfield cause he used to growl a lot.

As far as screaming/growling goes, I personally think it's overdone and doing it for an entire song or CD is excessive. Slipknot is the only band I've ever thought could make constant screaming sound good. Other than that, I think it's just a waste of energy. You're trying so hard to show your feelings(usually anger), but doing it too much just sounds boring. Plus, growling only exists to make you sound "cool" like you're evil or something, which spells out, "wannabe poser" to me.

I'm not bashing anybody, I'm just saying that tons of screaming shouldn't be necessary. Anyway, I hope I helped.


Brock
Triple Helix
www.triplehelixband.com

From what I have come to understand, it rarely happens to anybody except for brass players like trombone or tuba...something that requites a ton of air. What happens is that so much practicing and pushing out air, it does something to the throat whereas the place of the adam's apple is a gigantic, shall we say, "frog's throat." A teacher showed me his once and it literally looked like that. Like this size of a grapefruit muscle sticking out of the neck. But when he talked normally it was fine, just when he pushed out air his throat expanded... That's about all I can say about it, I hope you kinda understand what I'm saying.

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I've been experimenting lately, and I've been able to pull off some high pitched growls(like Immortal). Right now, I am trying to get low growls and I think I got the basics right - I don't use my vocal chords, so it sounds kind of guttural and it's impossible to get but one note out of it.

One thing I haven't figured out is how to scream while making it melodic and not fucking up your voice. I mean, I can scream a melody but I get headaches and lose my voice for a day, so I know that's not how it's supposed to be done. What say you?

maybe you ARE doing it right, but you just need more practice, as you don't have the lung capacity to pull it off?

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Lung capacity was never a problem for me. My vocal chords can't handle it though.

the only one i can do perfectly is Anders Friden from like back in the Jester Race, then i can get pretty close to Mikael Stanne in both screams and singing, and Tompa... someone could say they're the same but hell no, they do change in pitches and styles.... and i can get pretty close to Insomniums -.-havent tried brutal vocals yet

I can do vocals somewhere in between Black and Death metal vocals. I can do clean vocals too, which is a plus.

arg. thats exactly what i wish i could do... and exactly what im looking for in a singer for my band.

my specialty is those froglike kalmah-style screams, though I can stil do a fairly good demonic type scream, only problem is lung capacity and keeping my throat raw enough for an entire sitting. another scream I use pretty often that I haven't heard much elsewhere is a scream while breathing in, which sounds sort of weak unamplified but is wild on a mic. if anyone ever saw any of the 'alien' movies you know what I'm on about.

i can hit some pretty sick death metal vocals, nice and low, but i got nothing else.

i go by two methods i picked up from corpsegrinder and glen benton: the former to consume dairy products, adds a nice thickness to your voice, and glen benton: GROWL FROM YOUR STOMACH.

if you growl from your throat, your voice will go in about 30 seconds and you'll end up with vocal chord damage. tense your jaw and growl from deep inside. growl "AWWWWWWW." nice and low. you will avoid vocal chord damage this way and you'll get to sound deliciously brutal.

Hahaha, I've drunk milk on a daily basis for all my life, it doesnt really seem to help when I growl. Eh, I'm only 15, my voice is quite low when I speak normally, but the only things I can do are shitty black metal and some freakishly high power metal vocals.

But would someone tell me how to sing like Alexi Laiho [children of bodom]??
Someone told me long ago that I should move the end of my throat[how in the fuck is that possible}to left....

Well, for the most part you just kinda have to have that reg. voice like his. I actually sound close to his singing from the Hatebreeder album. His singing isn't that hard, you just growl with the back of your throat while kind like "crackling" your voice so you get that throat-splitting effect.

hmm its been a while since i've screamed i got sick and now i cannot get the Anders Friden that exact anymore T_T.... i dunno how to explain how to scream, but i usually scream along for a couple of hours and it doesnt hurt O_o, after being sick however, i did run out of air alot faster =(... oo and recently i've gotten pretty close to John Liiva.... and lmfao i can scream like Angela Gossow XD even though i can't get the womanliness in her voice =O -im a guy.. go figure :P- anyhow, what do you guys think is a fun song to sing/scream along? to me...
Arch Enemy - Dead Inside, Pilgrim, Silverwing
At the Gates - lots of em... Neverwhere, The Scar, Non-Divine, The Burning Darkness -TSD Version! I own Tompa at singing rofl, he shouldnt have tried =X-, The Beautiful Wound, The Fevered Circle, Under A Serpent Sun, Blinded By Fear, Cold and Unto Others just to keep it short >_>
Dark Tranquillity - I love switching between clean vocals and screams so, Lethe, No One, Dobermann, Alone, Nether Novas.. and for screams Punish My Heaven, Of Melancholy Burning, Tounges, The Treason Wall, Monochromatic Stains, Hours Passed in Exile....
In Flames - Jotun, Artifacts of the Black Rain, Ever-Opening Flower, Clad In Shadows, Lord Hypnos and December Flower
Insomnium - Under the Plaintive Sky, The Day It All Came Down and Dying Chant ( i love trying the deep growls XD)

erm.. got carried away... anyhow.. yeah

i dunno any technical facts bout screaming and singing... i just do it =/, started by trying to immitate XD started off with some song which had screams and singing... i could get the singing nearly the same but i couldnt do screams that well, so i just tried and tried until i got em, then i just went trying on every song i liked,
hmm in positions... well i can scream better while standing wether im moving around or not, dont feel a diff if im screaming to the ground or cealing or whatever, =/

hmm screaming melodies is just as screaming ........................
i dunno for example in Therein by DT 'therein lies the beauty...' in screams... its pretty easy.. just dunno howt o explain technical facts >_< and when screaming and prowling round my room i just drink coke with lots of ice... XD -prob the reason why i got sick -.- - I'm 15 too XDmy voice is kinda deep, and umm, people have told me i got some weird accent prob from around europe... which could explain me not being able to sing or scream to american bands =O... hence my mostly swedish repertoire... XD
the msot i've screamed for is like 2 hours... and it was because i found something else to do... XD

Hey im a guitarist so im not up on singing terms as much as i should, i was wondering how do you growl from your gut or diaphram? when ever i try it always comes from what feels like a tightend throat with me forcing my adams apple down as far as possible. Thanks, Drake

Hey guys.
Recently I have been practising vocals, i play mostly opeth so yeah i have been trying to sound like Akerfeildt. (though i can sound harder if its a good day)
I have the problem most people have with their metal voice, and thats being able to blast the sound out, i can sound quite good, and my friends think so too - but its not exactly loud, its about talking volume. And if I try to yell it, i cant get the same sound. Its either a really bad sounding growl or nothin

How loud are metal bands singing when they are live? Like does Mikael from opeth yell at the top of his lungs, or do some bands just have their vocal levels higher than guitars when they play.
At about talking volume i can sound very close to opeth, its definately rumbling from the back of my throat, and it doesnt hurt after doing it either it just dries my throat out a bit.

So im just wondering how loud do you have to do it, i think i have gotten louder through practice, i used to only be able to do it under my breath.

this a very general question in my eyes...i can do some shit under your breath, but where are the balls??? u dont get much rasp at all...and u can easily tell if its breathed...as for loudness...that depends 1/2 on the loudness of the PA you use...and 1/2 on you how loud you have to sing to get the pitches and the sustains...if u need practice what i do is short spurts of growling and try to sustain it more and more..but if u want the sustains, it kkinda has to be loud if you want it to have balls

This has got to be the most 'replied too' post ever. Seriousely. 146 replies, 1024 views? ho-lee-shit

I mean uh, 10,024 views.

...And I noticed that you're gay.

What got me started was drunken screaming to pantera. But here's some advice from a few friends;

1)Drink some room-temperature liquid before singing to relax your vocals
2)Cup the mic with one hand, the reverberation makes your voice sound that much better (cheap way to go for crappy vocalists like me)
3)Lemon juice (same as #1 but also good to help sustain your chords and keep them from swelling during singing)
4)Alcohol! Helps reduce your inhibitions if you don't like hearing your own voice.

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Psh, if you have to do #4 , then you should not be learning how to sing. Fear should not be in the vocabulary of a frontman.

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That is all too true, that and drunk in front of fans at a gig isn't really fair to them. But I have to admit, I have a hard enough time in the comfort of my own home hearing my own voice when all I'm doing is recording.

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Hahaha, then you should quit singing. If you don't even like it, why would anyone else?

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It's one thing not liking your voice and another doing something about it. If you don't like it and keep doing what you've been doing, then that's bad. if you try to fix it, and extract the positive things out of your voice, keeping in mind the negatives (and constantly working on them), then you're doing fine.

I hated my voice after the first demo my band recorded... now, we're recording again, I like it, and so do every other person who didn't like it before. Improving is a major key, once you've proven that, you can work on the specific problems.


Never let yourself down by not liking your voice, try to work with it, try to find the positive, and then work at fixing the negative once you accomplish that.

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So, when you guys talk about using your gut for low growls(Opeth, Nile), do you mean literally?

hahahaha, fraid not mr. hero. what we mean is don't do black metal "chokes" like one of the mayhem vocalists (possibly attila), or the second berzerker vocalist. the former sounds absolutely horrendous in that setting anyway. it means growl not with your throat, but make the sound come from your esophagus. clench your jaw a little bit as the sound escapes.

I literally yell/growl/scream/sing from my gut.

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From the esophagus? Wouldn't that be like forced burping(again, literally)?

(probably sounds like a stupid question but it had to be asked)

Anyone know how to do a Seth Putnam [Anal Cunt] type screech?

imagine taking a huge dump, but the bastard is stubborn, its that feeling that is the diaphram. you tighting your ab muscles and push out the air with the eeeenhhhgggggg sorta feeling. this also helps when u suck at low growls, still good for the ones who are good, but are looking to be better.

Yes... this is also what I do to get the grind-ish low vocals from the very early Napalm Death.

What I want to know is how to get those creepy haunting high pitched screams in the vein of Cannibal Corpse(think of the song "Devoured by Vermin"). Or the first scream in Cryptopsy's "Crown of Horns". Something like that. I can growl/rasp like the early Morbid Angel songs, but that doesn't work for this kind of scream, I know it's definately not done from the gut.

I can do something like that when screaming, but it doesn't sound as close as I want it to be. Since screaming isn't something I really do much, only for quick parts in songs, it won't damage my thoat.

I've been the singer in a death metal band for about a year now, its nothing too serious but its fun anyways, so I figured I might be able to give some insight to the people struggling with this vocal style. I'm not going to try to teach you how to growl, you are the best teacher for that, not me. Sorry if a lot of this has already been said, I didn't take the time to read every post so I'm not sure of whats been said and what has not been said.

First off I highly suggest taking singing lessons to learn proper singing techniques. In order to be able to growl ( and scream ) with any success you need to learn how to control and project your voice first. I'm not saying you should spend thousands of dollars at a musical academy, but as one other poster did, ask a chorus instructor at your school for some tips, or take a few cheap lessons from a local place.


"Brutalizing" your voice takes a lot of time, patience, and practice. I've been working at it for 3 years and I'm still not quite where I want to be, so don't expect overnight success. Practice whenever you can. Even just growling/screaming under your breath will help. It may not be possible, but if you can, always practice with a microphone. People have a tendancy to go balls out when they growl without a microphone because it doesn't sound as evil as they want. They just end up damaging their vocal cords. These kind of vocals were meant to be heard through a microphone, and if you don't know by now a microphone makes a huge difference in the way growling sounds. Also, many people have said, turn the volume up, but not to the point where you're cheating horribly . Growling is not like screaming, you shouldn't have to go a lot louder than a loud talking voice.

Getting the basic growling sound down can be very difficult but once you get the idea of how to create it, manipulating it will be easy given time. Don't expect to be a Lord Worm right away. For about a year I could only make a basic monotone death growl, but after much time and practice I'm very confident with the gutteral gurgle, the inhaling " pig squeal" or " cricket growl ", more of a barking style and several other styles as well. These you have to figure out yourself, but trust me its not as hard as it seems. Just have PATIENCE.

Some basic tips:
- Always always always warm up first
- Always have something to drink to soothe your throat
- Don't push your limits at first, give your voice time to adapt before you start really messing around with it
- use your diaphram as much as possible
- As I said before, practice with a microphone
- Bring out the metal fervor! nothing sounds worse than an uninspired singer.
- Don't cup the microphone to your mouth, it will make it sound muted and blatty. Hold it a few inches from your mouth and PROJECT.
- Don't clench your jaw up too much, you need to be able to move your mouth enough to enunciate, unless you want to be completely indecipherable. This also relaxes your throat which will in turn make growls flow out smoother.
- Don't mimmick, create your own style.
- hear it in your mind before you let it out
- Most importantly, Stop if it hurts too much. There is no way to growl without damaging your throat, so minimize damage by stopping once the pain grows to a certain point. Learn your limits. If you can hardly talk, you know you've gone too far. Don't be stupid and growl until your throat is raw and bleeding. Its not worth ruining your voice permanately just to sound like an angry cookie monster.




The best advice is to just keep at it. Don't give up if you can't do it right away, it takes time. Thanks for reading.

hehe, I never warm up.

-if you notice....ALL smart singers literally put their lips onto the microphone to sing. No one keeps it that far away, it doesn't make any sense.

-I've been growlin' for a week straight--3-5 or so hours a day--and nothing has happened to my voice execpt that it's getting very deep. No damaging at all; normal, healthy, and sounding more and more like corpsegrinder fisher style.

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Nothing happens if you growl and nothing happens if you don't do it with your throat lubed with milk or anything.

Except of course you will get better, I say don't lube your throat with any type of drink.

im just starting out in a death metal band and i can scream like dying fetus and it doestn hurn my throat or my stomach or anything even if i dont do any warm up or dring something special but i tryed at practise with the yogurt thing but it made the songs sound like shit and i tryed the hot water thing that made my voice die in the middle of a word so what should i do?

practice without using anything if that works.

ok my band is doing like a blood for blood song and i can do normal death metal but like nobody else in my band can sing like me at all any tips on how to sing like them? maybe?

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so I wanna learn to growl/scream, whats this about vocal/guttural fry? I know what it is and can do it, although quietly. Is this the proper way to scream? if it is, how would i get louder at it, as to where i can vary in volume and tone, would i just have to keep doing it and let my throat get stronger?

If anyone still cares you can practice into a pillow or blanket... However sometimes i tend to get lazy, as the pillow emits lower frequencies thus making the growl sound better, without trying as hard...

...gives you something to do at night when you cant get to sleep though

(B.T.W Disgorge's vocals are sick...thats my vocal goal)

The best vocals are done by Beherit's Holocausto, hands down. And that pillow technique is shit. If you really want practice, then practice laying down. It doesn't sound great, but it forces the muscles you use while screaming to develop.

Slipknot rulz!!!!!!111!!! j/k Hey guys this is my first post, I have been doing metal vox for a few months now, and have been searching these boards for quite a long time, which helped a alot. I see no one really likes new topics here, so I posted here. Anyway on topic, I have a few Q's: One is I have this damn weezy subtone in some of my growls, I just want to know how to get rid of that (maybe I'm using the wrong part of my throat/diaphragm?) My other prob is I cannot use my metal vox without warming up to a few songs first, yeah, I know it's a must to warm up, but I CAN'T have a ripped voice unless I warm up first. That pisses me off because I see tons of local vocalists just jump onstage and their voice is ready to go. If I try to scream all out without warm up, It;s about as ripped as a Hatebreed scream (which isn't very ripped at all) I just wanted to know if that's normal. My last prob is that my voice has a mind of it's own, one day it's great and the next it's utter shit. I know we all have our good days and bad days, but it gets really frusterating if you're trying to put on a good show and whatnot. Well, that's that. One thing I won't do, is drink stuff to (build mucus on your throat) and stuff like that. The only thing I will drink is water. Special thanks to Powersofterror and Infinity for their helpful posts. I hope I didn't piss anyone off

Unless you want to damage your voice, then you'll warm up, pretty much every vocalist will warm up backstage before they go on if they've got any sense. As for the subtone issue, its not very helpful but practise will probably get rid of it, im not much of a vocalist so i can't really say.

Hope that helps a little.

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I drink some milk to help build up the goop in my throat and use the goop to help myself sound better.And of course it helps to scream and growl before accually trying.

Yeah, sure. Goop in the throat a la Mutiilation. Have you ever heard that guy? Hahahahaha...

Oddly enough, I've started to get good at this growling thing.

Ever since I watched the video for "Sarcophagus", by Nile, and watched Karl Sanders and Dallas-Toler Wade pucker their lips to do their growling, I thought, "Does that actually do anything?" And instaneously I had a good deep growl, and I've been working on it daily. How about that.

i've been starting to growl, since i will be the vocalist (and 2nd guitarist) for my band, and i recorded myself doing a part of dead and dripping, other guitarist said it was good, but i can't make the same noise every time.. and that sucks

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Hey,
Ive got my growl down pretty good, but my throat hurts after it every time. Not the inside of my throat, but the muscles that are on the outside of your throat. Im not sure why im clenching the muscles, but it seems to be the only way i can get a growl. My jaw isnt clinched though.

Thanks! Drake

Also if you are going to drink something drink it about 10min before you go on stage, or your going to find yourself wanting to burp during a growl. Thats the worst thing ever.

Here are some things i do, im not sure if theyre correct, but they get the job done. Drink some water before, so your throat is wet, you only need to drink it once, after that your body will produce flem which keeps it wet. Also i notice i push my adam's apple down and take my tongue and push it back (sort of like when your gagging, push that part of your tongue back). This gets me good results, i can sing like (not identical) to Opeth, Amon Amarth, Cannibal Corpse, Necrophagist.. etc... im 16 now and ive been able to do this pretty well since i was 15. Basically once your voice stops cracking, thats when your ready (or at least i was)

Hope this helps.
Drake

Where d'you find that video?

Yeah, puckering my lips is the only way i can get a deep growl, but the thing is i feel stupid doing it, so i always try to not pucker, and its no where near as deep.

Just pucker up. It doesn't look stupid we all do it.

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Sorry if this has already been asked. I might have missed it while reading the whole thread.

Can anyone tell me how i can get a growling sound like Shagrath from Dimmu Borgir has?
I'm new to singing, but that is the style i want to reach. so i was wondering if anyone here could give me some pointers, on how to get startet, and moving in his vocal direction.

Hizawk

Hey, shagrath uses alot of effects and dubbing, if you want to try to get something like what his "common" scream is, record a mid/high pitched scream, and dub it with a lower scream, sometimes even a growl.

On Relapse's website.

He dug into the underground of the internet and sold his left testicle. With the money he made from that, he had to pay off the gnome at the entrance to the gates of hell in order to finally enter the band's record label's offical site. Trust me, it's not as easy as it seems...

Any advice concerning my last post would be appreciated. (Really needs help)

Okay, with your weezing problem, try this, make sure your throat is wet to start with, I have a wheeze if im not really trying too hard, just really get some air going, not a ton, just make sure your growl is a little bit louder than like a loud talking voice. Tilt your head down some also, and pucker up. And for your warm up problem, most singers do have to warm up, you just usally dont see it.

I suck in air rapidly and get a sort of Croaking sound that I use for singing. I also push air through my throat in such a way that it completely changes the way my voice sounds. I get a deep, deep sound that is much more understandable than my croak.

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When you croak, is it almost like snoring, where you suck air in and have your tongue vibrate in the back of your throat?

Its almost like a reverse Burp.

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Now if you want to hear effects on vox, in my sig there's plenty of that .... I'm doing a ton of experimentation with vox effects. Good or bad I'm not sure ...


As far as effects with vocals, Steve Austin of Today Is The Day is my favourite.

i like the vocals in insomnium. anyone know how to get that almost roaring feel, but still keep it throaty like niilo does?

Ok, I've started with growling since today.

I tried using the diaphragm, as suggested. I can breathe easily using it, but I don't understand completely how it works for singing. Just squeeze it as you want to grunt?

Also, it seems like using the diaphragm only provides air, and the growl still needs to be produced in the throat. I try to do that in the back (shaping the sound, but it hurts a bit, after a short period of singing.

I have recorded this on a short mp3 sample (taken from a song from a friend's band). I've put the music rather silent, as to hear my voice a bit better.

http://users.skynet.be/fa020387/sample.mp3

Please comment! I'd like tips to get more 'full' (yes it has been said a lot already but I don't find a concrete answer).

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I am also a beginner at singing, and when i try it sounds abit like Exodus666, is that the right way to go? and then just keep practising and you will learn to make it more deep/high and more agressive?
Or is it something else?

And i too get a hurt in my throat after doing this.

I recently worked out how to growl, thanks to this thread and other sources.
To Hizawk and Exodus, if it's hurting your throat after only a short time, your technique is probably wrong I'm guessing, and from the sample I heard by you (Exodus) it didn't sound all too correct.

Like I've read before, use the kind of back-bottom of your throat. You'll feel it when you try to clear your throat with that "a-hem" thingy. The way I do it, it's pretty much 'singing' with that 'clearing-of-throat' noise. When you put your all into growling like that, then you'll feel your stomach being tensed naturally; the more you try the more tensed you feel your stomach getting.

I'm not sure if that's the technique others before have described, but I can get a very decent sound out of it, and have my throat only tickle after maybe hour or so.
I guess it sounds like a sissier version of Karl Sanders haha. Then again not many can match his beastial voice (in my opinion).

i find tightining my jaw helps to filter my growl a little bit. and sing with your mouth in an oval shape

but thats just me

As I understand, the diaphragm is better to breathe with as it projects your voice alot more than from the chest. You can also draw more air from it.

Tightening your stomach muscles does help.

Exodus, in your example you posted, your technique doesn't seem quite right. Your growling sounds like you are not changing the pitch at all, so words become more like grunts rather than evil growls. You probably just need to work on practising growling at different pitches and slowly changing your pitch so you can pronounce words better in growls.

I'm not a singer, but getting a good death growl is one of my life goals. Can anyone tell me if I'm doing it right? Here's a very short clip of just my voice: http://s89374147.onlinehome.us/misc/sample_01.mp3

Has anyone tried "The Zen Of Screaming"? I have heard that it really improves your screams and growls. Might get it. For 25 bucks you can loose.

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For free put your nads in a vise grip youl scream like your favorite singer in no fucking tyme ouch