Growls and Screams

[MasterofDesaster]

In a Hattrick - Metalforum I was just discussing if Mikael Akerfeldt uses voice effects to produce his growls or not. I think (know) that he at least uses some delay/reverb effects while the other user thought Akerfeldt would use more effects to produce his deep growls.

Now, Dan used to growl in a simillar way on the EoS and especially on his Moontower release. What do you say?

Does anybody know more?

 

[fat bastard]

its for sure coming from the man and not the machine. the reverb for sure but the initial sound you re getting is coming from a much practised voice. if you compare early opeth to now you can see the development and this tends to be true for a lot of the greats like stanne or tagtgren. it all seems to be about experimentation and good technique. i am curious though if dan could enlighten me as to how loud most of the much talented singers hes worked with( including himself) tend to growl as i ve heard that can make a difference in the quality of growl that can be produced. i ve heard that some keep the growls kinda low allowed the mic to produce the volume to a more balanced level while others just let er rip.

 

[kokonik]

I think that the really bestial sounding stuff is at least recorded twice, if not more often. I doubt that there are more effects than reverb or very little delay on it usually, though.

@fat bastard
When I growl (which I usually tend to avoid, because I don´t want to mess up my vocal chords), I do not scream, it´s not much louder than my normal speaking voice. Of course my "technique" is not something to take serious, but anyway

 

[MasterofDesaster]

yeah, I also answered to the guy in the other forum, that he should compare the early Akerfeldt voice with the recent one. Once again I believe that everything besides reverb/delay comes from the man itself, too.

To the dynamics you've wrote about: Akerfeldt said in an interview, that his growl is actual not a loud one, but with mics it works very well on stage and in a studio either.

Unfortunately there are quite a few death metal singers who actually use more effects on their voice like Angela Gossow! That's why you never can be so sure 'bout what really comes from the singer itself. Though I think you can almost always hear that more effects than reverb/delay were used.

Again I'm looking forward to what Dan will say...

 

[MasterofDesaster]

I think that the really bestial sounding stuff is at least recorded twice, if not more often. I doubt that there are more effects than reverb or very little delay on it usually, though.

damn, you were 2 minutes faster than I!

Yeah, Akerfeldt too said he would record the voice parts twice. It's the same thing as with guitar lines! They too are recorded at least twice or more, it gives more volume to the sound

 

[Dan Swanö]

My growls (R.I.P.) kill my voice after a few lines. I end up whispering for days (which is really bad for your throat aswell...) I always used tons of compression and eq to make my voice sound fat and in yer face....I used a lot of Multibandcompression on Mike for the RTC album...it sounds fucking great...and a bit like the singer is singing straight to your face....

 

[Danny]

what about the vocals of tägtgren and backing vocals on nmf ?

 

[MasterofDesaster]

My growls (R.I.P.) kill my voice after a few lines. I end up whispering for days (which is really bad for your throat aswell...) I always used tons of compression and eq to make my voice sound fat and in yer face....I used a lot of Multibandcompression on Mike for the RTC album...it sounds fucking great...and a bit like the singer is singing straight to your face....

How did you manage it on stage? I suppose you can't use that much little helpers there, right?
Too bad your growls are dead, though they were quite on the top on the Crimson II album.

By the way: RTC album? Sorry, but I don't quite get it right now. Can somebody enlighten me?

 

[madu]

RTC=Resurrection Through Carnage, Bloodbath's debut.

It indeed sounds heavy on vocal effects.. later Opeth uses those a ton too, Crimson II as well.

But uh, were there effects in the early stuff, like Unorthodox? It doesn't sound like the voice has been altered at all, but the more primitive production might have something to do with it, as well.

 

[MasterofDesaster]

RTC=Resurrection Through Carnage, Bloodbath's debut.

It indeed sounds heavy on vocal effects.. later Opeth uses those a ton too, Crimson II as well.

But uh, were there effects in the early stuff, like Unorthodox? It doesn't sound like the voice has been altered at all, but the more primitive production might have something to do with it, as well.

ahhh yes, got it! Resurrection through carnage *slowlyrepeatingformyself*

 

[Jingjang]

I just can't resist the temptation to be the #574853459738549 random Swano fan to express the desire to hear Dan growl again

I guess that almost every solid growler uses little helpers now and then, but I read that some singers can growl for like 10 hours every day during the recording without any harm to their vocal chords.

 

[fat bastard]

I just can't resist the temptation to be the #574853459738549 random Swano fan to express the desire to hear Dan growl again

I guess that almost every solid growler uses little helpers now and then, but I read that some singers can growl for like 10 hours every day during the recording without any harm to their vocal chords.

amen to that but it really is his choice you know? i like him to stick with the clean stuff and keep on singing rather than have him damage his voice on the death stuff. i guess that peter must be inhuman then because on the wacken video he pulls it all off without having much of a noticable tiring in voice. how that guy can hit some those screams is unreal. even dani filth seems to shy away from that range in his voice so you gotta know that in the end they re just not good. you ever discuss technique with anyone dan in regards to any kind of singing or playing? knowing such great performers just has to lead to some fantastic musical conversations.

 

[Dhalaren]

I don't growl, but when I try I notice I lose my voice very quickly. I always thought that some growlers could go for longer periods of time because of their technique. I know Mikael Akerfeldt said that when he had a cold and his throat was sore and he had to play a show it was easier for him to do growls than his clean singing.

 

[MasterofDesaster]

I don't growl, but when I try I notice I lose my voice very quickly. I always thought that some growlers could go for longer periods of time because of their technique. I know Mikael Akerfeldt said that when he had a cold and his throat was sore and he had to play a show it was easier for him to do growls than his clean singing.

yeah, try to drink some bottle of beer and you're gonna growl like a king :hotjump:

it's much the same with a cold! (okay, it's not really good for your voice)

 

[Jinn]

You just gotta be careful when you growl. I can growl all day during a recording session and still laugh and joke around with my friends while playing billiards afterwards. It's all about how often you do it and how often you practice.

 

[fat bastard]

You just gotta be careful when you growl. I can growl all day during a recording session and still laugh and joke around with my friends while playing billiards afterwards. It's all about how often you do it and how often you practice.

didn t realize you were a growler jinn. how did you practice and for how long have you been doing? did you used to feel a little rough after and what kind of growl do you go for?

 

[Jinn]

I practiced for two years by buying a shitty mic, a cd player, and taking a two mile walk every night while growling along to my favorite growlers. I've been doing it seriously for a year. Im trying to get my 'doomdeath' voice back, more of a strained yell but right now I'm concentrating on getting my growl as low as possible, because my scream is high enough... given that I'm 5'4.

 

[mylovedenied]

I've been growling on and off for about 2 years...parts of my voice changed a LOT over that time.

My deep growls are basically the same, nothing special, I need to be loud to do this. My high growls have changed unbelievably. I started out sounding like Amon Amarth, now all I can get (without going really loud) is sounding like Immortal. Literally, it's like all the things my throat used to be able to do were condensed into an immortal-ish growl. I hate it, trying to get rid of that.

When I push it, and get really loud, I can sound somewhat like Naglfar, but it still has the immortal-sound in the background. Even my deep growl has the same vibration (or whatever) in the background. I'd be so much better if I could get rid of it.

 

[Cortexon]

Check this.

http://home.arcor.de/aureliuslie/Final_MyGrowls_11.07.05.mp3
http://home.arcor.de/aureliuslie/MyGrowls_26.06.05_Movement1.mp3
http://home.arcor.de/aureliuslie/Final_MyGrowls_15.07.mp3

This is my growling without any effects and EQ. But there is one exception: I need something to make my growls sound louder. Because my growling isn't much louder than whispering.

Is this normal?

Important question to Dan: Do the growlers you work with sing loudly? Are the growls as loud as screams or are they closer to whispering like mine?

 

[Jinn]

there should be a little knob/slide bar on any EQ or comp program that says 'volume'