Screaming Vocals: For Anyone Who's Interested or Experienced

[finaleclipse06]

Ah.  I see.  Thanks!

[Ankle]

Came across this:

Been listening to death metal for years...still have NO idea how to death growl.

are there any techniques?

Well, if you are a tenor you are probably better off not even trying, but if you are a basso or baritone you might have a shoot. If you are a tenor you can try singing like Chuck Schuldiner or Alexi Laiho, though.

[Xeero]

Remember that if it starts to hurt to scream, stop.  I used to do it and after doing it for a while my voice would be shot - granted I had no singing experience at all so it was pretty much random wailing with my voice.

There are techniques out there to make it so you don't ruin your vocal chords, but I don't know what they are.

[finaleclipse06]

It's been a while since I posted this topic, so I thought I'd update on my progress. I have been screaming as I feel like it, which is not necessarily every day. However, I have noticed that when I first started, my throat would start to hurt after only a little while, at which point I'd stop at least until it had been feeling fine for a good while (as in, several hours, at the very least).

Now, I can practice, and my voice doesn't get shot nearly as quickly. I'd say I can go for at least 3 to 4 times the length I was able to when starting out, and my throat will usually feel better after less time than when I first started. I've also noticed that some days, my throat will get dry quicker than on others, and some days, it never gets dry. Is there a reason for this?

Also, I have yet to be able to hold a scream for a prolonged period of time. I CAN hold it for a decent amount of time, but then I am in need of breath. Is there any special way I should practice to be able to hold a scream for, say, at least 10 to 15 seconds? Any special way of releasing breath? And I'm not talking about a death grunt. I'm talking about an actual higher pitched scream, in which more air is released. Does this ability just come from practicing holding a scream? Or some other way of training my voice?

Thanks for the advice everybody! Keep it coming!

[Jack Lupino]

www.myspace.com/noyalty

check em out, its a band i preformed a lot of shows with, and good friends of me.

maybe Daniel - Screamer can give you some pointers.

[BeautifulNightmare]

Yup! In Flames rock at it as somone said earlier!

But, as for advice, I haven't heard much.. but what I have heard is to not do anything different or special for your voice at all... as stupid as this sounds, looking after it has the opposite effect because your voice will be less prepared when you start to use it (going from being well looked after from being forced to shout/scream/grunt) resulting in your sound not being as good as it could be. (Btw, I'm not saying grate your throat with a cheese grater.  ) I heard the best thing to do was just to go about your normal daily life and build on it gradually. However, if your throat does start to hurt then give it a rest for a day or two.. if you build on it over a period of time though and just do whatever your body's used to, it shouldn't cause too many problems  I hope this helps!!

[Jack Lupino]

Nightmare, where is your christmas hat ?!!

[BeautifulNightmare]

Nightmare, where is your christmas hat ?!!

I can't really add one to my avatar... The hat would be a notch too low! Unless I put it in a random place.

[MDX]

Yup! In Flames rock at it as somone said earlier!

But, as for advice, I haven't heard much.. but what I have heard is to not do anything different or special for your voice at all... as stupid as this sounds, looking after it has the opposite effect because your voice will be less prepared when you start to use it (going from being well looked after from being forced to shout/scream/grunt) resulting in your sound not being as good as it could be. (Btw, I'm not saying grate your throat with a cheese grater.  ) I heard the best thing to do was just to go about your normal daily life and build on it gradually. However, if your throat does start to hurt then give it a rest for a day or two.. if you build on it over a period of time though and just do whatever your body's used to, it shouldn't cause too many problems  I hope this helps!!

The lady has a christmas face, that is all that is needed.

Quickly, to the MDXMADEATHREADANDPOSTEDSTUFFINIT..MOBILE!

[Jack Lupino]

I really looked into this one, listen to this interview.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5043994

Then http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054856511

I really want to figure out how to do it properly, and not to damage my vocal chords.

If you have the money, look for the dvd called : The Zen Of Screaming.

Hmm.. anyway, ill be back later with another update if i find anything out.

[finaleclipse06]

Wow! Thanks so much for those links, Rad! I didn't even know there was a DVD about learning to scream w/o hurting your vocal chords. Now I just need to get it.

Once again, thank you sooo much!!!

[chompy]

Cool, bookmarked for future reference.

[finaleclipse06]

I ordered the DVD lol. It should prove to be very enlightening, once I get it.

[Jack Lupino]

Woot !! once you have it, i want to download it haha or something..

Can you send a copy to my house

[Baltech]

It's been a while since I posted this topic, so I thought I'd update on my progress. I have been screaming as I feel like it, which is not necessarily every day. However, I have noticed that when I first started, my throat would start to hurt after only a little while, at which point I'd stop at least until it had been feeling fine for a good while (as in, several hours, at the very least).

Now, I can practice, and my voice doesn't get shot nearly as quickly. I'd say I can go for at least 3 to 4 times the length I was able to when starting out, and my throat will usually feel better after less time than when I first started. I've also noticed that some days, my throat will get dry quicker than on others, and some days, it never gets dry. Is there a reason for this?

Also, I have yet to be able to hold a scream for a prolonged period of time. I CAN hold it for a decent amount of time, but then I am in need of breath. Is there any special way I should practice to be able to hold a scream for, say, at least 10 to 15 seconds? Any special way of releasing breath? And I'm not talking about a death grunt. I'm talking about an actual higher pitched scream, in which more air is released. Does this ability just come from practicing holding a scream? Or some other way of training my voice?

Thanks for the advice everybody! Keep it coming!

The only thing I can tell you about holding a scream longer would be to breath really deeply. Don't get me wrong but most people don't nearly fill their lung to full capacity. Don't breath with your chest, but with your belly. While breathing in, put your belly out. This will strech the diaphragm downwards thereby widening the volume of your lung. You will have to parctice this because you have to do this conciously in the beginning.

Another thing, if you didn't already realize it: Don't scream at the top of your voice all the time. You won't need to because you'll use a microphone anyway. It's more useful to... sort of put a little of preassure on your breath and push it through your vocal chords. At least, that's what I do. Also, only use a pitch which you are comfortable with. If you try to push your voice up too high, you'll get sore too fast (I myself can't scream very long or powerful, but 'brutal death grunts' are no problem at all).

And the most important thing of all: Don't try to emulate another singer. You HAVE to finde your own voice and pitch, where you'll feel comfortable.