Startup help with black/death metal vocals? Vocals Discuss Startup help with black/death metal vocals? in the Metal Instruments forums; I'm 25 years old, had a couple of attempts at fronting bands at the age of 18 and then ...

[Malephar]

I'm 25 years old, had a couple of attempts at fronting bands at the age of 18 and then again at 22. Was trying a death metal growl, but for some reason it didn't work. Every time I tried, I either went croaky or my voice caught, so that no sound would come out whatsoever.

Also, when I growl, I do so from my throat, and have been told that this is the worst thing I could possibly do. I know it's meant to come from the gut, but I'm not actually sure of how to make that happen. Does it have anything to do with some particular kind of breathing technique?

Yeah... And how the fuck do you do the growling/screaming at the same time thing? I can just about do each of those on their own, but not together. And I want to know how to do really long screams/growls without getting out of breath, or without my voice starting to shake as starts to happen about 5 or 6 seconds into a long note.

Any help you could give me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Sanguine Mind]

It sounds kinda humorous, but the guy who sings for Dethklok says he starts off doing a fat albert impression and modifies it.

[Malephar]

Fat Albert?

[Sanguine Mind]

lol, It sorta makes sense, Fat Albert has a deep, raspy voice.

[TheYellowSign]

lol george "corpsegrinder" fisher sings for dethklok, and hes pretty good. I think the Fat Albert impression thing (not that i know who Fat Albert is) might have been slightly tongue in cheek though.

The growling vocals thing should be intuitive really. I reckon people who attempt to intellectualise it with references to the diaphragm or whatever are talking from their backsides. No one really thinks in those terms anyway. Most of the technique is about attitude and self confidence, but then again, its probable that some people won't ever be able to pick it up.

Isn't the screaming and growling simultaneously thing a studio trick?

[Phantasm]

Do you mean at the exact same time? Or sliding from one to the other?

[Malephar]

I mean at the same time.

It's weird though, if I'm at a gig and growling away, it seems to come naturally, and afterwards I always have pains in my throat, chest and stomach, so maybe I am doing it right, or not, I don't know. However, in that situation I'm in the middle of a crowd, and by no means the only person there growling, so no one's paying attention to me or can even hear me, so feel much more confident in doing it, and to me it sounds more natural. And I don't drink alcohol at gigs either, but if I was doing it solo, and all the focus was on me, I wouldn't be able to do it properly, because I am really shy and have no confidence with performing in front of others.

Any hints on how to overcome that? That don't involve envisioning a naked audience, or an audience consisting of only 3 people, or me getting absolutely shitfaced?

[Phantasm]

Easy. Get stoned.

Or get the audience stoned.

But it would be cheaper just to get yourself stoned.

[Malephar]

I don't use weed though, because it's never had any effect on me, no matter which type I try

[Phantasm]

Lol. Fair enough.

The growling/screaming thing generally IS just a studio effect. Get really hyped up before you perform, get your rage on, so to speak. Try and focus solely on the music, and let it just carry you.