extending screams

[Fragle]

hey folks,

i wonder how i can achive these seemingly endless screams, or vocals in general? think opeth, hex omega at the end of the very first vocal part, or some parts in the grand conjuration.

obviously having a good singer than can steadily hold a note for pretty long will help, but i wonder if there's a workaround for the not so skilled ones?

i'm experimenting with copying the vocal part and pasting it around the middle of the original scream, then fading in/out so the parts don't overlap and sorta sound as one.
works to some degree, but i wonder if there's a better way of doing this?

 

[if6was9]

I find makig several small edits along the length of the scream and overlapping small sections of it sounds more natural when extending it. You've to be careful to avoid strange sounds that show its been edited- pay alot of attention to the parts you're trying to overlap and your crossfades.
What I've seen some people do is record several takes of screams getting the singer to join in and match the previous takes as close as possible, then pasting these together as one long scream. Works too but you've to commit at the tracking stage for this.

 

[mick thompson]

delay?
reverb?

very long delay or a huge reverb with no early reflections, and a very loud post reflection and use automation to cut it as the reverb tone starts to kick in (so it doesn't sound like reverb)

or stretch the .wav longer and if your pitch drops re-raise it - although if you stretch it too much its going to start to shudder on you

 

[GarethSE]

get a better vocalist
a 30 second scream should be nothing for someone with good technique

 

[ParsonsMatt]

get a better vocalist
a 30 second scream should be nothing for someone with good technique

That depends entirely on their vocal tone -- my scream requires a HUGE amount of air/volume and even on a full breath I can't get more than 10 seconds. I can definitely hold on less demanding sounds for that long though.

And of course, you can inhale for eternity...if you're gay

 

[mick thompson]

get a better vocalist
a 30 second scream should be nothing for someone with good technique

actually that a very good point, get your vocalist to work on his diaphragm breath expels (help him conserve his breath and force it from his gut instead of his throat)

also he needs to learn to lift his upper pallet in his mouth to resonate more sound in his mouth to increase his scream volume thus reducing the amount of air he needs to expel to produce the scream at the required volume.

a good technique is to place his hand on his forehead, hold his head up straight and make him force his tongue down, he should feel the top cavity of his mouth widen and his voice will resonate louder in his mouth

 

[GarethSE]

That depends entirely on their vocal tone -- my scream requires a HUGE amount of air/volume and even on a full breath I can't get more than 10 seconds. I can definitely hold on less demanding sounds for that long though.

And of course, you can inhale for eternity...if you're gay

doesnt require shit
get better technique

 

[egan.]

30 seconds is NP? Lol. prove it.

 

[GarethSE]

as soon as my throats better ill hold you to that.

 

[Metaltastic]

Gareth, I gotta admit, I'm a doubter too (not in your abilities, but in the "ease" of it!)

 

[ParsonsMatt]

as soon as my throats better ill hold you to that.

Yeah, you better My vocal technique is pretty damn good... So if 30 seconds is no problem for you I'd like to hear your secrets

 

[Dexter_prog]

get a better vocalist
a 30 second scream should be nothing for someone with good technique

30 seconds? Man, Maynard James Keenan (Tool) is an amazing singer and I think the longer I've heard him scream is like 22 seconds.

 

[Metaltastic]

And of course, you can inhale for eternity...if you're gay

True that

 

[derfbonker]

I told someone i could go thirty seconds. turned out to be 17, but they were still impressed. I have a really high lung capacity though.

 

[HandsOfDespair]

as soon as my throats better ill hold you to that.

Dude 30 seconds is a lot haha, most singers can't do a scream that long. The singer in my myspace has a fucking great growl (IMO), but he could last max like 10 seconds. He has the same kind of growls of the singer of Amon Amarth, and I never heard a really long growl from him.

 

[JeffTD]

doesnt require shit
get better technique

Certain people require more air to be moved to get their sound - oh fucking well.

What I won't argue being required, especially out of you, is a good bit more tact.




Fragle, which DAW are you running? I usually just use cubases internal time stretching, or do the previously mentioned cut/slide/crossfade method. I find both of these incredibly handy when screams are double tracked or layered with growls, and I need the ending to match.

 

[egan.]

The classic technique and the one in hex omega is to fade in verb delay (and possibly overdubs) towards the end of the phrase.

 

[JeffTD]

PS wtf are you guys talking about in Hex Omega? That's all clean vocals??

 

[egan.]

Yeah that part is. I guess that fell under the "vocals in general" part. Even still there is only 10 seconds of singing before "help" arrives.

 

[Waterboy]

You could always throw the vocal sample into a sampler, and then find a "seamless spot" within the sample - then set your sampler to "loop" that section.
I've had to do that in the past with something similar - hope that helps.