Oi, death metal vocalists!

[Vicky]

[SIZE=1]Yeah, you!

Black metal, death metal, plain metal... whatever you want to call it, I'm sure there's a few metal vocalists out there. I suppose this can be a general discussion thread about your favourite vocalists and whatnot, but I really started this thread to ask a question on behalf of a good friend of mine.

Do you clever bunch have any tips? He's starting out as a vocalist for a band, and they're doing a sort of black metal and death metal style, I think, and he was looking for some advice.

From what I understand, this kind of music isn't too easy to sing/scream along to. Any tips for training your voice for a death metal band?

It's really easy to find classical training for your voice, but how many places do you know to get death metal vocal coaching? Huh? Not many I tell thee.

So yeah, any tips for my friend?[/SIZE]

[AshesofKamikaze]

[I]The Zen of Screaming[/I]

Two DVDs, done by a real vocal coach. She is admittedly a poorly teacher of tone and pitch, but your friend can get the basics from her. I'm more of a hardcore kid than a metalhead, but I used to have a buddy who was a wizard when it came to vocal techniques for heavy music.

He introduced me to most of the little extreme metal that I do enjoy. Little as I know about it, I can say this:

Your friend should likely not start an extreme metal band if he doesn't already know how to do the vocals. It's not going to sound good if he's inexperienced.

[Nomurah!]

[SIZE="1"][COLOR="HotPink"]Haha... you have to work on it. I believe I started at least five years ago. I've been in numerous bands, and I'm pretty proud of my vocal abilities. From high-pitched wails to raspy or low growls... I can do it. I can't sing though... So... maybe that was a sacrifice I had to make. It doesn't help your regular singing voice.

Tell your friend to drink alot of water or green tea.

That always helps. Tell him that he needs to practice absolutely all the time. If I miss two days of not screaming, when I try to do it again, my voice will sound weak. So, you have to build up your voice alot.

...Not much help... I never got coaching... I kind of just started because I thought it sounded cool.. [/COLOR][/SIZE]

[Aberinkula]

[SIZE="1"][COLOR="DarkSlateGray"]Well I don't know much, cause I just started training my voice. So I don't have a hella lot of tips. But I feel that cough drops help a lot. Also, it sort of helps to try soft growling first, like a dog growl. Than go from there into the harsher stuff, so you can grow into it.

Also what I do, is I listen to screams, growls and yells of artists. Than I compare myself to them to see if I could change to sound more like them, then I try out again and so on. Right now my voice is weak, but I'm improving bit by bit.[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[Boo]

[size=1]It already helps a lot to do screams and hard yelling with your nose and not your throat. If you practice it a bit, this is the way to keep up for at least 2 songs, whereas with your throat you will be dead after a few seconds. [/size]

[Nomurah!]

[size=1][COLOR="HotPink"]How do you scream from your nose? Aha... I usually just do it from my throat and stomach... Maybe I'm screaming with my nose and don't know it...

...That interests me very much. You must teach me how to scream from my nose.

Also, it is a proven fact that people with more body-fat can scream better than skinny kids. Maybe your friend should grow a big stomach...[/COLOR][/size]

[Aberinkula]

[COLOR="DarkSlateGray"][size=1]Yeah it's true, the lead singer of A Plea for Purging is bigger than Kirsti Alen was, and his voice is awesome, low, growly and deep. And last year we had this fatass music teacher who yelled a lot, and he had a yelly voice so yeah.

Which means I'm lucky, cause I got's da chubz. HAHA![/size][/COLOR]

[boothten]

[quote name='Boo'][size=1]It already helps a lot to do screams and hard yelling with your nose and not your throat. If you practice it a bit, this is the way to keep up for at least 2 songs, whereas with your throat you will be dead after a few seconds. [/size][/QUOTE]
[size=1]You're a tad bit confused to be honest, haha. Sorry, but high screams and yells are meant to come from the back of your throat. If your using a lot of your nose, I'm sure it sounds a bit bad and hurts even worse. And if you're doing growls through your nose then it's gonna sound even more terrible.

Growls are supposed to come from your chest, and it takes a long time to get a sound that sounds remotely close to sounding good. If you do growls through your nose or throat, you're likely to tear your vocal chords within a month, I guarantee it.[/size]

[Nomurah!]

[quote name='boothten'][size=1]You're a tad bit confused to be honest, haha. Sorry, but high screams and yells are meant to come from the back of your throat. If your using a lot of your nose, I'm sure it sounds a bit bad and hurts even worse. And if you're doing growls through your nose then it's gonna sound even more terrible.

Growls are supposed to come from your chest, and it takes a long time to get a sound that sounds remotely close to sounding good. If you do growls through your nose or throat, you're likely to tear your vocal chords within a month, I guarantee it.[/size][/QUOTE]

[SIZE="1"][COLOR="HotPink"]Haha, I know what you mean... It took me forever to make a good growl. I used to scream kind of scratchy, kind of like a punk/post-hardcore style... Similiar to the sound that the screamer from Drop Dead, Gorgeous can make. But, my voice started developing a raspy-er tone, which I turned into a growl. :]

...I have a feeling you're in a band. Tell me more of this.[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[Zen]

[color=royalblue][size=1]

I'm trying to develop deathcore/death metal vocals myself. I'm having a difficult time with midrange and highs because I have a generally deep voice. My deeps and gutturals are good (I can even sound like Dr. Claw from Inspector Gadget, funny enough) and I'm trying to work out the pig squeal also. But I'd really like to get high, I'm just having a hard time.

Anyone got any suggestions?[/color][/size]

[Nomurah!]

[quote name='Zen'][color=royalblue][size=1]

I'm trying to develop deathcore/death metal vocals myself. I'm having a difficult time with midrange and highs because I have a generally deep voice. My deeps and gutturals are good (I can even sound like Dr. Claw from Inspector Gadget, funny enough) and I'm trying to work out the pig squeal also. But I'd really like to get high, I'm just having a hard time.

Anyone got any suggestions?[/color][/size][/QUOTE]

[SIZE="1"][COLOR="hotPink"]Well, everyone gets high in Jamaica.

...sorry. Had to make that joke. Now... the high-pitched has to be developed. After listening to The Number 12 Looks Like You for the first time, I gave it a try. Later, it became my most used scream, though lately, I've been focusing on other types much more often. Tips for screaming high. Have water nearby. This will hurt.

Scream like a girl normally would but try and add distortion. Try and exert your voice as much as possible, but don't overdo it. It's very easy to put out your voice when first starting out with high-pitched screaming. Work on it... it takes a while before it starts sounding good.. or you'll sound like the guy from Alesana. He high-screams too, and high-sings.. but... both sound.. kind of bad. Eek. [/COLOR][/SIZE]

[Aberinkula]

[SIZE="1"][COLOR="DarkSlateGray"]My voice is naturly high-pitched, I've noticed that my voice is similiar to Anders Friden of In Flames, which is one fo my favorite bands at the moment. But I sing along with my new In Flames CD. But water helps, and cough drops.[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[boothten]

[size=1]Water and green tea work wonders. Have them nearby whenever you're doing vocals, even if you're just practicing by yourself. With "extreme vocals," as they call them haha, your throat dries out much faster then normal. Keeping it moist is really important otherwise you're going to be over-exerting your vocal chords which leads to tearing your vocals chords, whcih happened to whats-his-name from AFI and Sonny Moore. Tearing your vocals chords requires surgery, and thats a big no-no.
;D!

Like I said, when doing high-screams you really want to make sure that you feel it at the very top of your throat, or at least somewhere near that area if that makes ANY sense haha.

With growls, it's all gotta come out from your chest. Doing growls from your throat is going to completely screw your throat over and you'll likely lose your voice within a day if not within a few hours.

Pig squeels are a different story, I honestly don't have a good way to describe them. You're gonna have to realize that you're not gonna start pig queels the first time doing vocals. PIG SQUEELS TAKE TIME TO LEARN AND DO. Don't even try these unless you have a good-sounding growl down, cause if you don't it's gonna sound like complete *****, I guarantee it. I guess the best way to explain how to do them, is that you have to go from a growl, but go up an octave? I dunno, they way I described them to my girlfriend is that "I have to go to a certain low note that it starts to sound almost like a high note [b]in my head[/b]." It's wierd to be honest, and it's takes time and patience to get it to sound even kind of good.

Listen to Job For A Cowboys album titled "DOOM." Really take a hard listen at his pig squeels and you'll notice that you can hear both a high and low note.[/size]

[Zen]

[quote name='boothten'][size=1]

Pig squeels are a different story, I honestly don't have a good way to describe them. You're gonna have to realize that you're not gonna start pig queels the first time doing vocals. PIG SQUEELS TAKE TIME TO LEARN AND DO. Don't even try these unless you have a good-sounding growl down, cause if you don't it's gonna sound like complete *****, I guarantee it. I guess the best way to explain how to do them, is that you have to go from a growl, but go up an octave? I dunno, they way I described them to my girlfriend is that "I have to go to a certain low note that it starts to sound almost like a high note [b]in my head[/b]." It's wierd to be honest, and it's takes time and patience to get it to sound even kind of good.

Listen to Job For A Cowboys album titled "DOOM." Really take a hard listen at his pig squeels and you'll notice that you can hear both a high and low note.[/size][/QUOTE]

[color=royalblue][size=1]

I've actually been listening to alot of them lately. I've learned to do my pig squeals off of an inhale scream, atleast, that's how I first learned them from the various videos I've watched on YouTube. I understand that exhales are also possible, but I think my inhales are not only easier, but also put less strain on my voice.

However, every other piece of advoce is helping and I'm taking into account. I'm still a newbie at this, but I was (and still am) a bit worried that maybe my voice wasn't meant to do highs (my tonsels and adnoids are gone, and I'm afraid that might effect such things). My voice is naturally deep, so I feel like I'm forcing myself to do highs, and when I do, they probably sound really, really, really awful. But alot of people have told me that I'm going to sound really bad for a while, and that I just have to practice and get used to it over time, it never comes immediately.

Is this true?[/color][/size]

[boothten]

[quote name='Zen'][color=royalblue][size=1]I've actually been listening to alot of them lately. I've learned to do my pig squeals off of an inhale scream, atleast, that's how I first learned them from the various videos I've watched on YouTube. I understand that exhales are also possible, but I think my inhales are not only easier, but also put less strain on my voice.

However, every other piece of advoce is helping and I'm taking into account. I'm still a newbie at this, but I was (and still am) a bit worried that maybe my voice wasn't meant to do highs (my tonsels and adnoids are gone, and I'm afraid that might effect such things). My voice is naturally deep, so I feel like I'm forcing myself to do highs, and when I do, they probably sound really, really, really awful. But alot of people have told me that I'm going to sound really bad for a while, and that I just have to practice and get used to it over time, it never comes immediately.

Is this true?[/color][/size][/QUOTE]

[size=1]Haha, of course it is. As if everyone who starts off is immediately going to sound like Job For A Cowboy or Whitechapel. It takes time, and a lot of it. Your vocal chords have to progress to that point where it's almost like another voice you make.

All my vocals are exhales, in my personal opinion any type of inhale vocals don't sound good at all. After a while of listening to inhales, they start to sound TOO alike. And when you're doing inhale growls, they tend to sound like you're trying to do a pig squeel. Winter Solstice and Ghost Of A Fallen Age are both perfect examples. All their vocals just sound too repetitive, so I prefer exhales. If you learn to do pig squeels [b]correctly[/b], they actually don't put that bad a strain on your voice in my opinion. They put the same amount of strain on your voice that a growl usually would.

Then again, if you were worried about putting too much a strain on your vocal chords since you first started doing them, then these probably aren't the vocals for you hahaha.[/size]

[Aberinkula]

[SIZE="1"][COLOR="DarkSlateGray"]One of my favorite vocalists was M. Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold, during they're metalcore era, I loved his voice, even though some didn't. But I recall that he had to go through surgery because of the strain growling and such put on his vocal coards. And the singer of Five Finger Death Punch had to deal wtih scar tissue. So it's true, for talent there is sacrifice.

That's why you should practice A LOT, and I don't mean ocnstantly, I made that mistake when I practiced last night, too much strain. So I'm going to halt for now.[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[Nomurah!]

[quote name='boothten'][size=1]Haha, of course it is. As if everyone who starts off is immediately going to sound like Job For A Cowboy or Whitechapel. It takes time, and a lot of it. Your vocal chords have to progress to that point where it's almost like another voice you make.

All my vocals are exhales, in my personal opinion any type of inhale vocals don't sound good at all. After a while of listening to inhales, they start to sound TOO alike. And when you're doing inhale growls, they tend to sound like you're trying to do a pig squeel. Winter Solstice and Ghost Of A Fallen Age are both perfect examples. All their vocals just sound too repetitive, so I prefer exhales. If you learn to do pig squeels [b]correctly[/b], they actually don't put that bad a strain on your voice in my opinion. They put the same amount of strain on your voice that a growl usually would.

Then again, if you were worried about putting too much a strain on your vocal chords since you first started doing them, then these probably aren't the vocals for you hahaha.[/size][/QUOTE]

[SIZE="1"][COLOR="HotPink"]It's absolutely impossible for me to do inhale vocals... sounds strange. Also, I'm not good at the cookie monster screams like old-school hardcore... But whatever. Lately, I've been practicing doing a raunchy... The Who type scream. Like, with more distortion. It's on the verge of being high-pitched, because my voice is naturally kind of high pitched... But, its very raunchy. :]

Right now, I'm pretty interesting in the squeals coming out of Matt from I Set My Friends on Fire. His... are... Great, I think. He has a good voice and can even go into a deep squeal. [/COLOR][/SIZE]

[Zen]

[color=royalblue][size=1]

Well pig squeals are the ONLY time I do inhale screams, the rest are exhales. I agree about the inhale growls, they usually sound bad, or like pig squeals, and when I do squeals, thats the only time I do inhales.

I guess I'll just keep practicing, and see where I go. If I end up doing the band thing, then I'm probably going to stick with lows and aggressive 'rapping' of sorts until I can attain a proper mid and high.[/color][/size]

[Nomurah!]

[quote name='Zen'][color=royalblue][size=1]

Well pig squeals are the ONLY time I do inhale screams, the rest are exhales. I agree about the inhale growls, they usually sound bad, or like pig squeals, and when I do squeals, thats the only time I do inhales.

I guess I'll just keep practicing, and see where I go. If I end up doing the band thing, then I'm probably going to stick with lows and aggressive 'rapping' of sorts until I can attain a proper mid and high.[/color][/size][/QUOTE]

[SIZE="1"][COLOR="HotPink"]You could try out rapcore or digicore.... Digicore (digital hardcore, little term some people use...) is pretty much just rap music being played with guys screaming throughout the whole song... Slipknot is like rapcore... and you guys know what that sounds like. Personally, I prefer digicore, or whatever you may call it.

Brokensyde and I Set My Friends on Fire are good examples of digicore, even though ISMFOF have only done one rap song, and the others are regular types of post-hardcore.. Brokensyde have dedicated themselves to their chaotic rap stylings.

Just try screaming fast, until you can rap like it's nothing when screaming.[/COLOR][/SIZE]