Hi, this is my first post here.

I am an aspiring vocalist for a black/death metal band I am forming but I have a kind of strange situation currently.

For this month, I have been working in a Haunted House, and in the house I get a lot of screaming done, which, in a way, I guess I consider it a bit of practice. But lately, I have been noticing that because of this screaming, the power behind some of my lower pitched growls feel as if they are weakening.
I have been trying to compensate by not putting so much power and give my voice some time to cool off. But I am still a bit concerned. After this job, which will basically end at the start of November, I will be giving about 2 weeks for my vocals to cool down.
I usually drink green tea to soothe my vocal chords and throat because the screaming does weaken them.

But does anyone have any suggestions, or have any other ideas to what I am doing, have have any idea whether it is the right way to go?

By the way, I have been told that my lower pitched stuff sounds like Dying Fetus (I have not heard too much by them, I found this out on a spur of the moment type thing), my vocals have developed since the last time I heard them for myself (without a microphone). And I am still working on some higher pitched stuff, which I don't have much of a foundation for yet. SO if this helps in any way, that's why I added it.

Thank you in advance.

well if ur sceming and uts hurting something is wrong. Or maybe you need to clam it down a bit....

I took singing lessons and here is some shit i got from it:

Don't
Clear your throat frequently
Yell, cheer, or scream. Avoid Talking in noisy situation.
Sing beyond comfortable pitch and loudnes ranges
Whisper. Talk quielty instead
Use your voice extensively when you have a cold or when you feel tired
Expose your trhoat to ecessive pollution: ciggerette smoke and blah blah
ignore proloned symptoms of vocal strain hoarseness and etc
smoke
drink ice water when prac or before a performace. Drink cool water without the ice
eat or drink dairy products before you sing

Do:
Drink plenty of water everyday
Sip water while practicing
Get plenty of rest for your vody and voice
Eat healthy
Avoid execess amounts of cafeeine and alchohol


A note : And exercise for you to do


the 10 10 10

Lie on your back and inhale slowly for 10 seconds, hold for 10, then exhale slowly for 10 seconds. Keep doing this and everytime increase exhalation time ten seconds untill you reach your maximum time. Over time you should be able to exhale longer.

that should help you alot.


sorry for typos

__________________

Wow, someone knows about singing alright. Shit, I gotta start practicing some o' these.

__________________

Thanks a lot, these are actually mostly things that I do or don't do. Aside from never having an interest, I knew that smoking and excessive alcohol could have a bad impact on my throat. Once I get out of work, I wont need to yell or scream anymore, when I scare people, I do a sort of hybrid yelling and growling thing, I can get decent volume (if I'm not wearing a mask). And I am a very quiet person in most cases, so I wont be loud.

But the exercise thing could definitely be helpful, but that brings up another question. When I am lying down, I really cannot scream/growl/do anything, does this mean that I might be doing something wrong/right or that my muscles are not fully developed?

Also, does humming help at all? Because I have been humming a lot after scaring people, and it makes me last longer, is this normal or am I just lucky enough to not be suffering any ill effects just yet?

erm, that list of things you put down is for SINGING and singing only. for instance, drinking milk helps with growling. dont "Yell, cheer, or scream"?? if you're going to be doing it on stage practice helps....

__________________

Aslong as you can sing standing up dont worry about it just do the breathing exercise on the floor. Posture is the main thing while singing. The main posture is like head str8(head stays level at all times), Shoulders should be held back and down, with chest held high, the abdomen when inhaling should exapnd along with your rib cage. You should expand all the way around. You should feel the back push out aswell(this is how you know you have a good breath). Hands should be relaxed still at sides. kness should be loose or sligltly bent. feet should be slightly apart one slightly in front of he other, the weight of the body forward.

You dont have to follow all the advice im giving you just do most of it while prac. it will help alot. I mean most of the stuff is for people who make a living singing. All half this shit does is allow you to become a better singer over a short period of time.

As for the humming it possible can help. When humming you have to like act like there is a round object in your mouth. Kind of like act lik theres a golf ball in there or something and hold that kind of space in your mouth and inhale deepely and go from soft humming to higher humming using "AH" it works pretty well. Also when you have time do it with your mouth open, keep the tongue down, and take a deep breath and go from a low tone to a higher tone using "Ah".

Sorry for typos.

__________________

No problem for typos, I got the message.

I can imagine that a lot of stuff that helps out with singing can actually help out with harsh vocals (and I do want to learn clean singing eventually).

One thing I probably should have mentioned before is that I am also the bassist in the project that we are working on. So I don't know how much the "hands relaxed" thing will be since I am trying to be a pretty technical bassist (for someone who has only been playing for a year and a half, I have been told that I am pretty good)

I actually have a sweet deal tonight, because I am not going to be doing any screaming, so I am probably going to bring my headphones and hum for the entire night.

And I forgot, my growls do not really hurt at all, even after about an hour of using that type of vocals (I went for two once but had to stop because I was really winded)
And I can do higher pitched screaming for about 30 minutes (safety area), refreshing myself after each song. Once I went for 45 minutes and it was a bit too much, so I am going to be working on that.

And yes, I STRONGLY believe in practicing your growling and screaming. To me it is as much of an instrument as my bass. I haven't "performed" yet and I don't plan to for a good year, maybe two. Except for surprising family members.

I mean you dont have to follow all those rules. Half of those rule are for people who make a living singing.

__________________

that's all good advice bar one thing, when growling it's best to have your head tilted slightly downward.

__________________

i heard somtin about gargling baking soda and water helps with growling

O k, i had to look that up. On not one legitimate site except on metal tabs and another site like it can i find anything about this. All it came up with is unclogging a drain with baking soda and vinegar or if you have a sore mouth gargle baking soda and water. I just don't understand what it could possible do for your vocal chords, unless the gargling is done like by exhaling the air for awhile, then it could possible be seen as a breathing exercise.

Ok i see where you got the shit from.



Dude all that shit sounds awful for your vocal chords. That fucking 2nd option could truly fuck you up and make it so you cant growl. If it hurts fucking stop, untill the next day. I mean every muscle needs rest.


I sure hope that guy was playing about that shit! DO NOT FOLLOW THAT ADVICE! He want be singing or talking by the time his 30! He'll whisper the rest of his fucking life!!!

__________________

Wow, that seems like a REALLY bad idea. The baking soda thing seems absolutely ridiculous and the smoking one is just as bad...

Actually, I have no problem at all with low pitched vocals, it is more the high pitched screams (and the growls) that need work.

Right now, I am trying not to do any vocals until November 15th, which is hard cause I like to scream along to songs. I'm giving my lungs/diaphragm and throat a break from everything until then.
But since I'm not working in a job that needs me to scream right now, I think I'll be fine.

In case it matters at all I'm 18, I do not know if I mentioned that before.