How loud are your screams?

B

bodom578

Member
Jul 31, 2005
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What's up guys just a quick question.

I've been doing harsh vocals for quite some time, my normal method of screamingand growling was literally screaming my ass off, while I never experienced any discomfort my range was a little limited and I could only hold screams for a few seconds. The other thing I liked was how much power my harsh vocals would have behind them but again range and breath is limited.

After really watching a few bands live and in the studio it almost sounds as if theyre screaming and growling at almost the same volume that you would be speaking at. I gave this a try and while it does give mass range and length to my vocals it just seems to lack Power.

So I'm just curious, you guys that do harsh vocals are you screaming at the top of your lungs or doing it much quieter? Thanks in advance.
 
My high screams are really loud and smooth in my throat (vocal fry). My growls are loud and smooth too when I do them well, but you've gotta lock down some position in the throat : if you move a bit from it, your vocals chord freak out and it hurts (death growl). I can do high growls too, but the ones I've been working on a while are just smoother and better sounding.

Go for the most powerful scream you can do, as long as it doesn't hurt much if you do it for a while.
 
P-E said:
My high screams are really loud and smooth in my throat (vocal fry). My growls are loud and smooth too when I do them well, but you've gotta lock down some position in the throat : if you move a bit from it, your vocals chord freak out and it hurts (death growl). I can do high growls too, but the ones I've been working on a while are just smoother and better sounding.

Go for the most powerful scream you can do, as long as it doesn't hurt much if you do it for a while.
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This. Generally you want to be as loud and forceful as possible to convey that ferocity we as listeners so dearly crave. It's definitely harder to be louder the lower you go pitch-wise because there's more air you have to push.
 
I do vocal fry and false chord, and a bunch of different techniques of those two types of screams.

With vocal fry, it's generally quiet in terms of screams. Lows and highs are generally a bit louder than normal speech level. There are variations of fry that I do, which includes gutturals [brees and other wierd sounds] which are pretty quiet, and the technique of fry that Austin Carlile does, which is about as loud as a forceful yell.

With false chord, it's generally loud. A low is as loud as a yell. A high is VERY loud. I would compare it to a girl's scream, and by scream, I don't mean any type of vocals. ;3

For vocal fry, I can easily hold a scream for 20-30 seconds. However, with false chord, I can get to around 8 seconds before I am completely out of breath.
 
For vocal fry, I can easily hold a scream for 20-30 seconds. However, with false chord, I can get to around 8 seconds before I am completely out of breath.
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.

Pretty much same for me i don't even know if I can get 8 seconds out of it...but that's cuz I'm a dumb ass and smoke.

I just don't get how guys like anders from in flames can scream extremely fast without running out of breath but still sounding powerful. If I sing at the same volume that I scream I can hold notes out for a good bit but I guess screaming just pushes way too much air out, cuz it'll get to the point where the tailed of my scream sounds like shit because I'm totally out of breath
 
bodom578 said:
.

Pretty much same for me i don't even know if I can get 8 seconds out of it...but that's cuz I'm a dumb ass and smoke.

I just don't get how guys like anders from in flames can scream extremely fast without running out of breath but still sounding powerful. If I sing at the same volume that I scream I can hold notes out for a good bit but I guess screaming just pushes way too much air out, cuz it'll get to the point where the tailed of my scream sounds like shit because I'm totally out of breath
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In Flames definitely sounds like fry from a brief listen.
So, it might be that you're doing false chord, if your screams use a lot of breath.

Fry is a little weird because there are a lot of different "techniques" you can use to get different sounds. I'm no wizard of the voice or anything so I can't really explain it, but if you develop and experiment enough with fry, you'll be able to get stuff that you can control and hold for a while, but which still sounds pretty in-your-face and powerful.


Like, how I metioned that the "austin carlile" technique I do is loud. It's a bit louder than my false chord lows.
But I can only hold a false chord low for around 8 seconds while I can hold the louder "austin carlile" technique for like half a minute.


If you want control, length, and power to your vocals, I suggest taking your time to develop vocal fry screaming.
I don't know your experience with it yet, but when I first started learning, it was really quiet. As time went on, it got louder. I still haven't gotten to the point where it's very powerful, for my "regular" fry screams, but I've only been doing it for about a year so I have some ways to go.
 
Sorry, but there's some bad advice going on here. Loud is just that. Loud. Weak can be loud. Shitty can be loud. Power is not about force, it's about the quality of the tone.

All force achieves is stress, limited technique and eventual damage. If your sound is powerfull, it doesn't need a ton of force behind it. The irony is the over use of air and force causes throat constriction = smaller tone = worse sound. You should be more concerned with the quality of the sound. A Lion can yawn using zero effort and if you're anywhere near him you'll piss yourself. Why? Quality growl. And remember, you're not the one with the volume knob. The soundman is. You could scream until you puke and if he wants you to be lower, you will be lower.

Check this thread out. It may help-
http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/andy-sneap/690911-metal-vocals-primer-q.html
 
Extreme Vocals said:
A Lion can yawn using zero effort and if you're anywhere near him you'll piss yourself. Why? Quality growl.
Click to expand...

Am I the only one who found this hilarious? I think I'm going to start a band called Thundercats and make all the vocals Lion roar samples. Quality growl!
 
I can hold a mid/high scream in pitch for 26 or 20 something seconds, I have to sit down before I go faint though.

Not sure that's healthy though.

A fuck lot louder than my singing voice.
 
A scream is supposed to be loud. Your actual scream is loud and you want to then fake a scream for your music? Fake screaming, soft screaming, whisper screaming, quiet screaming is all wrong.... unless you were intending to sound like a fool.
 
I've recorded the best and the worst of the vocalists from my area here in Michigan. Basically, the better vocalists have more control of their screams, not always the loudest. They're also never whisper/quiet screams either.
A good scream should be loud, but not obnoxiously loud, with lots of strength behind it. Anything else is what I call studio-screaming, which sounds good after studio processing, but sounds like shit without a mic, and without any processing.
 
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