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BlackHussar
Metal newbie

Joined: Mon Mar 12, 2012 1:39 pm
Posts: 79
Location: Poland
PostPosted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 12:44 pm 
 

Do you have any "secret goodies" that help you sound constantly agressive and brutal while recording death metal vocals? I heard that Nergal from Behemoth was drinking some sweet, warm liquids and eating corn flakes when he was recording some albums. And also, how do you think; what's the best way to warm up before growling?
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ShaolinLambKiller
King Asshole

Joined: Fri Dec 07, 2007 6:10 pm
Posts: 13320
Location: United States
PostPosted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 6:59 pm 
 

I think it all depends on the individual. I personally like just drinking like3-4 cups of ice cold black coffee. No sugar no cream. and i don't have to warm up, I can just blow and go.
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Insolent_Heretic
Torus Map Coloring Theorem

Joined: Tue Jan 15, 2008 4:53 am
Posts: 117
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Thu Apr 04, 2013 1:08 am 
 

Breathing exercises to warm up are always good for me, sometimes I'll even sing a clean song or two to warm up (I usually go for Alice in Chains or Dax Riggs or something like that). I usually drink beer when I'm recording, it probably just depends on what you prefer.
If you're getting sore tea and honey is always good.
I prefer to start with easier songs, to sort of ease into it. I wouldn't choose the fastest song to do first. Make sure you're using your diaphragm and not your throat, focus on breathing properly and don't push yourself =)

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awheio
Metalhead

Joined: Tue Jul 05, 2011 2:00 am
Posts: 539
Location: United States
PostPosted: Thu Apr 04, 2013 2:50 am 
 

I have two points.

(1) Practice a lot, experimenting with different sounds, including clean singing. You'll learn how the different sounds are created in an intuitive way, and you'll naturally understand what kind of warm-ups are appropriate for you.

(2) Once you have solid technique, fuck "tricks". You want intensity, so just work yourself into a ferocious frame of mind. That is, have "balls". Get mad, get hateful, whatever -- and then channel that. Exert force. But, of course, keep it controlled.

Edit: I say (2) from personal experience. I read a lot about honey in warm water, blah blah blah, but over time, I realized that these things were mostly irrelevant. I drink water usually, but mostly just because I drink a lot of water regardless of what I'm doing. But doing good vocals isn't about any of these tricks: it's about getting an intuitive feel for the technique (through experimentation), and then just genuinely _being intense_. You won't fake intensity by eating secret foods or by doing secret warm-ups.

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BlackHussar
Metal newbie

Joined: Mon Mar 12, 2012 1:39 pm
Posts: 79
Location: Poland
PostPosted: Thu Apr 04, 2013 8:45 am 
 

Wow, thanks for great answers guys! Well, I'm going to record some vocals... Probably on this friday. I've been doing them for a while now, but I still have some problems with breath control and I'm still not sure if I breath with diaphragm, but... We'll see. I'll post it somewhere when I finish it.
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pressingtoplead13 wrote:
Songs like "Meathook Sodomy" and "Addicted To Vaginal Skin" are some of my favorite songs all time to karoake [...]

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xThe__Wizard
Metalhead

Joined: Sun Nov 18, 2012 2:59 pm
Posts: 845
PostPosted: Thu Apr 04, 2013 11:54 am 
 

Spoiler: show


Usually for me, drinking anything helps. I like tea and slightly chilled water the best.

Off topic question: Sometimes when I do harsh vocals especially highs, I tend to get a tickle in my throat and end up coughing. Is this normal? It's been like this for a few months. Anything I can do?
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AmonAmath
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Sun Mar 24, 2013 12:55 pm
Posts: 9
Location: Ireland
PostPosted: Thu Apr 04, 2013 12:15 pm 
 

Piggybacking on the OP, are there any particular ways to know if you're doing it WRONG or not? You hear guys say "if it hurts, you're doing it wrong" and then other guys say "if it hurts, you just need more practice, your vocal cords will get used to it". With those mixed signals, it's kinda hard to know if I'm doing it incorrectly or not.

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xThe__Wizard
Metalhead

Joined: Sun Nov 18, 2012 2:59 pm
Posts: 845
PostPosted: Thu Apr 04, 2013 12:45 pm 
 

If doing harsh vocals hurts you need to practice finding something that is comfortable for you unless you enjoy hurting yourself.
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ghostxyz3
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Tue Mar 05, 2013 4:08 pm
Posts: 13
Location: United States
PostPosted: Thu Apr 04, 2013 1:09 pm 
 

I just drink room temp water while screaming. Anything else seems to affect my tone and throat. For warming up I just do some breathing exercises and sing a clean song or 2, something easy in your range. As far as tickling goes, a lot of people experience this especially for highs. I had issues too, you just have to play around with throat positions and where the distortion is placed, if that makes sense. Like when I do highs I feel it where my hard and soft palate meet and back by my tonsils. How do you know if you're doing it wrong? I'd say if it hurts like hell and ruins your speaking voice it's wrong. A little pain/discomfort usually means you have tension in your throat. Remember that these vocals take a LOT of breath support. I usually start with a shout and slowly add the distortion for a few minutes until I get into it.

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BlackHussar
Metal newbie

Joined: Mon Mar 12, 2012 1:39 pm
Posts: 79
Location: Poland
PostPosted: Thu Apr 04, 2013 1:59 pm 
 

I think it's a normal thing that it hurts at the begining... It's like shaving. If you don't have accustomed skin it will be more susceptible to irritation, but if you start doing it constantly and frequent it will be more and more resistant. Same thing goes with harsh vocals. You just need to be patient and mustn't overdo it and then you will be more resistant for this "pain" too.
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pressingtoplead13 wrote:
Songs like "Meathook Sodomy" and "Addicted To Vaginal Skin" are some of my favorite songs all time to karoake [...]

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ShaolinLambKiller
King Asshole

Joined: Fri Dec 07, 2007 6:10 pm
Posts: 13320
Location: United States
PostPosted: Thu Apr 04, 2013 7:21 pm 
 

I'm in the group of vocalists that say if you are hurting afterwards you over did it. I can't do highs like I used to 6 years ago, and I think that range that I used to hit is blown out, I just worked and learned how to do my highs differently. Same with my shouting/ yelling that I use for more hardcore/grind material.
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Nightwisher1990
Metalhead

Joined: Wed Nov 18, 2009 6:26 pm
Posts: 489
Location: Germany
PostPosted: Fri Apr 05, 2013 6:20 am 
 

Actually, I'd avoid cold when recording, just room temperature water, but If it was a rehearsal or something I'd drink beer or even vodka mix.
As for warming up, I'd just growl with less power then give more power, the point of that is having a relaxed growl.

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hakarl
Metel fraek

Joined: Sat Sep 29, 2007 1:41 pm
Posts: 8816
Location: Finland
PostPosted: Fri Apr 05, 2013 10:39 am 
 

AmonAmath wrote:
Piggybacking on the OP, are there any particular ways to know if you're doing it WRONG or not? You hear guys say "if it hurts, you're doing it wrong" and then other guys say "if it hurts, you just need more practice, your vocal cords will get used to it". With those mixed signals, it's kinda hard to know if I'm doing it incorrectly or not.

I'm an amateur, so don't treat my word as law by any means.

It's useful to revise your technique if it begins to hurt. If the pain is only a slight tingling sensation, call it a day as far as harsh vocals go, and continue practicing breathing techniques and voice projection. Mastering the latter will give you the ability to emit monstrous harsh vocals with minimal strain. It's about finding the right resonance, which is why it's important not to mimic other vocalists and simply do what's most comfortable and right for you.

Tips for band practices: I advise against practicing harsh vocals during loud band practices unless you have a PA system. You'll strain yourself overmuch if your vocals are drowned by other instruments. Always make sure you can hear yourself in proper volume; otherwise you'll unwittingly strain yourself more to hear yourself. It's a learned mechanism that when there's background noise you automatically speak/shout louder. Harsh vocals aren't shouting, ideally; you should use a minimal amount of air.
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Insolent_Heretic
Torus Map Coloring Theorem

Joined: Tue Jan 15, 2008 4:53 am
Posts: 117
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Wed Apr 10, 2013 7:32 am 
 

Ilwhyan wrote:
Tips for band practices: I advise against practicing harsh vocals during loud band practices unless you have a PA system. You'll strain yourself overmuch if your vocals are drowned by other instruments. Always make sure you can hear yourself in proper volume; otherwise you'll unwittingly strain yourself more to hear yourself. It's a learned mechanism that when there's background noise you automatically speak/shout louder. Harsh vocals aren't shouting, ideally; you should use a minimal amount of air.


That's a really good point, ALWAYS make sure you can hear yourself or you will automatically push yourself too far and end up hurting yourself.

As for the pain aspect, I was never able to growl before learning how to breathe for theatrical singing, one day after the training I decided to imitate Nathan Explosion for no particular reason and it just happened, if I ever feel pain at band practice (which is extremely rare, maybe 2-3 times in the last year) I stop, do some breathing exercises and warm ups (humming and projection, focusing on using my diaphragm rather than my throat) and then go back to it.

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JStock
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2013 3:58 am
Posts: 8
PostPosted: Thu Apr 11, 2013 4:04 am 
 

only one rule, experiment and if it hurts and you feel pain, you do something wrong and you have to find another way

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ChaosGoatKills
Metal newbie

Joined: Mon Feb 28, 2011 11:38 pm
Posts: 93
PostPosted: Wed Apr 17, 2013 3:09 pm 
 

I used to think that smoking cigarettes made my vocals better, but now that I've switched over to e-smoking I have a better range.

Spicy food helps get me in the mindset, but I find that eating any food can get in the way of switching from harsh to clean which I do a lot. So I guess its what you're going for. For me, eating certain foods before singing only has psychological benefits.

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Xanzotire
Metal newbie

Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2012 10:49 am
Posts: 117
Location: United Kingdom
PostPosted: Thu Apr 18, 2013 1:43 pm 
 

ChaosGoatKills wrote:
Spicy food helps get me in the mindset, but I find that eating any food can get in the way of switching from harsh to clean which I do a lot. So I guess its what you're going for. For me, eating certain foods before singing only has psychological benefits.


Aside: Whilst I can't say anything with regards to harsh vocals, the general advice with regards to eating before singing, at least in the Operatic world, is not to do it. Eating a snack or something won't kill you but I'd be weary about making a habit out of eating a full meal right before vocalising.
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ShaolinLambKiller
King Asshole

Joined: Fri Dec 07, 2007 6:10 pm
Posts: 13320
Location: United States
PostPosted: Thu Apr 18, 2013 1:49 pm 
 

totally agree with that. I never bother eating directly before a show or anything where I plan on doing a lot of vocal recording. Same thing with drinking any liquids that are the consistency of milk, smoothie, anything kinda like that. Just asking to throw up all over yourself.
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Jacobus
Metal newbie

Joined: Tue Jul 29, 2008 11:49 pm
Posts: 30
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Sat Apr 20, 2013 5:18 am 
 

JStock wrote:
only one rule, experiment and if it hurts and you feel pain, you do something wrong and you have to find another way


Definitely not true, you will MOSTLY experience pain when you are first starting, just try not to over do it if it starts to hurt

Personally the only practice I get is from rehearsing or recording, I usually smoke beforehand (not the best for your throat but it can help) and drink a small glass of milk.
Humming different pitches before you belt it out also helps.

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