Writing vocal lines...

[Pardi666]

Wow... I SUCK AT THIS!!

I just finished mixing all 13 of my songs and i need to add vocals to 4 of the songs. I have usually had people do this for me because my lyrics read like a book and my vocal melodies are robotic.

Question for you guys;

How do you go about creating vocal lines for metal? Is there some easy way that i am missing out on?

Any tips would be appreciated!

 

[G1]

I either work with;

Word placement, and then see how the melody should flow depending on where each syllable falls.

or

I use a small piano synth and see what notes / chords sound nice over certain sections and then work to that

 

[ATLA]

sit down and listen to the song with lyrics in front of you. make them create some rhythmic and or melodic structure that complements song.

are you really from esco dude?

 

[veronicafalls]

sit down and listen to the song with lyrics in front of you. make them create some rhythmic and or melodic structure that complements song.

are you really from esco dude?

+1

 

[Pardi666]

sit down and listen to the song with lyrics in front of you. make them create some rhythmic and or melodic structure that complements song.

are you really from esco dude?

Yeah, unfortunately i live in Escondido...

 

[ATLA]

Yeah, unfortunately i live in Escondido...

i feel your pain man! good to see someone from here on the forum though!

 

[Erlend_]

The Hetfield method?

Just sing na-na-na-na and improvise it, then choose the best parts and compile it, then
write lyrics to match the vocal lines.

 

[Uladyne]

..write lyrics to match the vocal lines.

+1

I have yet to write lyrics before having the sound in my head. I'm not good at writing poems.

 

[Morgan C]

Paraphrasing from what I remember from an interview with Akerfeldt from Opeth. "I find the melodies first, then just sing about carpets and fun stuff while we're getting the song together, then I make the lyrics to fit."

Personally, I usually make my entire song in Sibelius or something (or used to, haven't composed in a long time), so the vocal line, lyrics, chords, everything gets created one bar at a time.

Another method, record the lyrics and a rough melody, then open it up in Melodyne and play around with the timing and pitch. Sure it won't sound great but there's really no faster way unless you've got a superb singer.

 

[Moonlight_Seeker]

I never write lyrics before composing the vocal lines. I kinda see that as shooting in the dark, but there are no bad methods and lalala. And in midi files its quite fun to create imho. But for people who scream insanely, I guess the melodies are quite limited so it is more percussive. Both are percussive... well, this is vague. Dunno.

But vocals and lyrics are quite an important part of a song.

 

[Pardi666]

Thanks for all the advice guys!

I like the idea of coming up with vocal lines first then writing lyrics around that, makes the most sense. Ive been trying to cram lyrics into riffs and it does not sound natural!

 

[AudioPhile777]

The Hetfield method?

Just sing na-na-na-na and improvise it, then choose the best parts and compile it, then
write lyrics to match the vocal lines.

This tends to work for more people than not... as long as you can do it alone at first until you dont feel like an idiot...

 

[aclarson]

How do you go about creating vocal lines for metal? Is there some easy way that i am missing out on?

The first thing you should focus on is writing a song, not a METAL song exclusively. When I try too hard to write something to sound a certain way, it comes out sounding forced. Write what feels natural for the part, even if it doesn't sound "metal" enough. When it's all blended with drums and such, it'll prbably still sound metal, it'll just add a unique element to it.

If you have a recording rig, record two panned guitars + click and burn it to a disc and put it on repeat in your car, and scat with it when you're alone till you've worked it into a fairly defined vocal line. Then when you have a good idea of the melody/rhythm of it, sit down and pen some beautiful lyrics.

Interweaving the scatted part with words can be a little challenging, I find when I get a scat part defined enough, I start remember certain hard consonant sounds, and wanting to gravitate towards them. Sometimes this can be good, because you end up with phrases that sounds musicially interesting, you know how it is when the right words combine with the right part to really rock, so it's good for that. Sometimes it makes me have a hard time coming up with lyrics that fit my scatting phonetically, but when they do, it turns out well.

As far as lyrical subject matter, that's about inspiration my friend. Go fall in and out of love, or experiment with drugs, that'll help with lyrics.

 

[Demonstealer]

play the song
sing along
sing gibberish.
record it
hear it back
edit it
write lyrics after you are happy with the phrasing.

Works for me

 

[crazykarl]

write lots of lyrics, find the ones that fit the song or write lyrics purposely for the song

record a demo

scrutinize the demo as if it was someone else's band, fix to taste, rinse, repeat.

 

[Ronixis]

Among all the techniques said here, I also find it helpful to jam along the song with guitar. If I find good melodies or rhytms, I test how they sound when sung out loud. For some people this can be easier than scatting. You just have to know your range and stay around the notes you can really sing.