Paul - Question about vocal technique

well. i guess the point doens't go any further than the case when someone says: "hey, smoking kills you!" and then gets the classic "my grandfather smoked 10 packs everyday until his 120th birthday!" reply... guess he is just a lucky guy who might well have ended up sounding like the same dani filth he's always mocking himself? :D
 
A good way to minimize the energy and air needed to create your growl is to close your mouth. Start with a hum and gradually work your way to a growl. Once you've got the growl (with a closed mouth), reduce air pressure as much as possible without losing the tone you want. Repeat the process a couple times (5 minutes I'd say) and then try growling out loud. You SHOULD have a really comfortable growl, or a good starting point.

I've got a couple of my friends growling nicely with that advice, hopefully it helps just as much typed up.
 
When you get to practice a lot with a band, that helps a lot. I don't have a band at my disposal and I don't really growl that often because I don't record metal all the time. The hardest trick for me was learning to push the growl out with your diaphragm. Once I got that down, I could take vacations from growling and then come back to it and still be fairly decent, just practice a couple days at it until it "grows" back. So yeah. It's sort of like riding a bike. A bike made of metal.