Hey, I'm trying to learn how to do metal vocals (I'm starting a metal band with a friend of mine). I can do semidecent higher screams, but I have absolutely no endurance. I've read that your supposed to scream until you can't scream anymore, then call it quits and do the same thing the next day, but I'd like to know if there are any exercises that metal vocalists use to help get better. I'd also like to be able to do the Bruce Dickenson-type operatic vocals, but I want to learn how to scream first. Any tips?

Whoa.

If it hurts, you're doing it wrong and you'll only develop nodules or polyps on your vocal cords which may require surgery.

People that say "just belt it out" or "scream until you can't talk" are full of shit.

If you ever want to do Bruce Dickinson you'll have to make sure you're preserving your cords as best you can when you're doing screams.

What kind of scream style are you looking for? Pick a band...

I really like the screams in early Avenged Sevenfold stuff. I realise that they aren't metal, but that's what I'd like to sound like. Also, I like Alexi Laiho's screams.

Avenged Sevenfold is mostly metalcore. Metalcore is almost always vocal fry if they're not doing it wrong. All That Remains' This Calling has a great beginning demonstration of it. (Correct me if I'm wrong and that's not the style you're going for).

Zen of Screaming 2 has pretty good instruction on how to do fry, but not much on how to do other styles.

Some general tips:
You don't need to be loud or have a lot of air for vocal fry.
Learn to breathe from your stomach rather than your chest (your shoulders should move minimally when you take a breath).
Start on a vowel with a croaking sound and then modify the sound. The sound your going for won't actually be croaking, but croaking is the best approximation to it.
'Ahh', 'Err' sounds are good for practicing on
Raise your cheeks almost like your smiling

It's difficult to explain just with text. Again, Zen of Screaming 2 has good information on how to do fry.

As for Children of Bodom I'm actually not sure what he's doing.

Okay, my tips, learn the diaphragm, or learn however else you're going to do your vocals (I SUGGEST USING YOUR DIAPHRAGM) and then tweak your vocals and experiment with tongue/mouth/airflow/direction of airflow/and throat movements/tight or looseness, ect. find a tone you like
even if you're whisper screaming it, just find the tone.

once you find that tone, you're going to need to belt that mofo out.
find a metal song with somewhat-similar vocal styles, make sure you know the lyrics, or at least the general placement of words and look up the lyrics. and do kareoke to it, make sure you have loud enough speakers, loud speakers are the key, the louder it is, the more you're going to force yourself to hear yourself, but don't make it TOO loud unless you have a PA system to raise your volume personally.

eventually this will raise your endurance, and increase your tone.

Alright, I've been practicing this stuff for two days now. Yesterday I did "I Won't See You Tonight Part 2" by Avenged Sevenfold, and today I did "Second Heartbeat" and IWSYT by the same band. When I sing, I feel a tightness in my abs. Is that what you guys mean whe nyou say "sing from the diaphram"? And second, my throat feels kinda of raw after my practicing today. Is that bad or normal? Tomorrow I'm going to see about recording my vocals for crits, but based on what I've described there, am I doing it right, or am I on a one-way-trip to losing my voice for good?

Pushing from stomach good

Raw throat bad...

It's good that you're concerned about your voice. Surgery is not something you want.

It would be good to record your progress over the months ahead. Start the tape and say "Aug 23 2007" do your session. Always state the date, what your day was like (sick, tired, sleeping etc) when your last meal was and what it was. it sounds silly but trust me, it makes a difference. Plus, over the upcoming months, you'll appreciate it and you'll find out what days were better and the reasons why.

anyways, the 'breathing from your gut' is best described as:
you know when you want to fog up a window or mirror? you blow out the warm air, right? and it comes from your gut. Or, you hold your hand in front of your mouth to see if your breath stinks. it's like saying the word 'huh'. That is how I do my vox.

when I first started, yeah, it hurt. It's taken me about 8 months to stop feeling lightheaded and about 10 months for the hurting to subside.
this is not an overnight thing at all.

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