Yet another vocals question

[ShadowOfDeath]

What are some things one can learn about improving their singing? I could definately improve myself...i mean vocals in genral...improving vocals for anything...what are some things you can do to get a really strong singing voice and not totally ruin your vocal chords...i tried singing some crap of Iced earth, sounded horrible and a lot of the time i through i was going to rip my vocal chords in half...especially the verse after the chorus on their song Declaration day


What's a good way to learn vocals like that of Hammerfall(key album: Glory to the brave, both the backing vocs and lead vocs), Armored Saint(Key Album: Symbol of Salvation), Iced Earth(Key Album: The Glorious Burden), Iron Maiden(Key Albums: The number of the beast, Fear of the dark, Powerslave)


Some songs i want to learn but never can get right:

Hammerfall - Glory to the brave
Iced Earth - Declaration Day
Iced Earth - The Devil To pay, Hold at all costs, Highwater mark(gettysburg trilogy)
Armored Saint - Reign of Fire
Armored Saint - Last train home
Iron Maiden - Fear of the dark
Iron Maiden - Run to the hills
Iron Maiden - The Trooper
Iron Maiden - Hallowed be thy name
Cattle Decapitation - To Serve Man
Cannibal Corpse - Stripped, Raped, and Strangled(i can do it with an amp but the recording of it is always shit.)
Nile - Unas Slayer of the Gods

Genres: Power Metal, Traditional Heavy Metal, Death Metal...i have a black metal thread so i won't get into that here.

What are some good ways to get a really strong voice, especially for power metal or bruce dickenson stuff. I've tried for months to accomplish that and still can't...thrash also is a good plus, like what exactly do thrash vocalists do...some have really high yet really raspy voices at the same time, i can do once or the other...or both if i'm trying to hit a high note

Also another question i'll ask while i'm at it, how do i learn to project my voice...i'm singing for a rock ensamble run by a music school, doing a metallica song and it would sound way better if i could project my voice.


Try not to suggest vocal lessons i already take plenty of guitar and drum lessons...each which are pretty pricy already and i don't know if i can afford to add any more instruments

 

[Funeral_Eclipse]

take vocal training classes

 

[chazz]

I'm going to try vocalrelease myself (vocalrelease.com) for about 30 bucks or so, it's cash everyone got.
Ofcourse it could be some propaganda shiz but you never know.. and either way I look at it like this;
It's money that comes and goes and either way before I go and pay for expensive classes I want to be able to at least sing a little bit, so..

Just a tip!

 

[ShadowOfDeath]

thanks but i was hoping for another way =/

 

[TekChef]

I hate to say it, but if you REALLLY want to learn to sing, you are going to have get lessons. Proper breathing, throat relaxation, etc really have to be taught so you do them right.
BTW-I would be carefull about pushing your vocal chords so hard. You can develop nodes on your vocal chords which can require a doctor's attention.

 

[MFJ]

MetalChef is right, on everything. I've fucked up my chords doing death growls- sure it sounds awesome, but the pain is not worth it. Sometimes I notice that right after I growl, I can't get my clean voice nearly as high as like 10 minutes prior. Do it the right way.

 

[TheMonkeysAteMySoul]

If I were you Id make a choice, either doing death growls or doing singing, because youll never reach you potential in singing if your doing growling

 

[ShadowOfDeath]

I already have a pretty wide vocal range both singing and doing black metal screams or death metal growls.

 

[Krigloch the Furious]

Download some Lost Horizon or Heavenly and sing along to those.

 

[ShadowOfDeath]

Okay, say i want to sing Hammerfall but my voice sounds really different, i mean it's on key but it sounds like crap compared to the vocalist in hammerfall...same happens with some maiden.

Is there anyway to make my voice more similar sounding? I try to sing a long to a lot of more clean vocal stuff then anything, and i have pretty good BM vocals http://purevolume.com/apocalypse http://soundclick.com/bands/9/apocalypseus.htm so i don't worry much about it but what are some good tips to learn when merely trying to match the singers voice? Does it have to do with accent? Or perhaps it's the fact i have a pretty deep voice(which is why i'm surprised i can hit hammerfall keys with no prior vocal training.

My problem is when i'm on key my voice is more...errr...unique. I have no accent and never can speak in any accents...the only voice impression i can mimic is Yoda from star wars...anyways what are suggestions for getting a similar voice for maiden or hammerfall? And some notes a can't hit, hell i felt like my vocal chords were going to rip when trying to sing Iced earth(though it sounded shitty). So i also want to know if anyone knows good exercises for reaching a higher vocal range.

And finally projection, i can do the vocals easily but when i try to make it loud unless it's bm vocals i flat out suck....what are some ways to improve upon that?

 

[Krigloch the Furious]

practice. I listen to powermetal in the car and sing along to it all. I can actually sing now. Im actually damn good.

 

[ExhumedKarcass]

In order to project your vocals better you need to push with the diaphram more, especially during the death growls and black metal screams. I can't really give you advice on how to sound like someone else though. I never try. Nowadays you need your own sound or the music gets lame and sounds the same.

 

[ShadowOfDeath]

I'm not trying to sound like them to sound like them as my own stuff...but i sound really out of place when singing along to hammerfall and recording it.

I try the diaphram a lot...but i can't get it right with death growls usually...if i try projecting them it comes out like shit.

 

[ShadowOfDeath]

practice. I listen to powermetal in the car and sing along to it all. I can actually sing now. Im actually damn good.

Is lost horizon a good one for that type of thing? I've tried hammerfall for power metal and it's getting better each time. What other ones are good to practice with that aren't too hard since hammerfall is the highest i can go with vocal range and half the time i fuck up with them, especially with some songs i'm still working on like "At the end of the rainbow" and "riders of the storm". I've gotten good at the Dragon lies bleeding and almost perfectly done glory to the brave...Hammerfall is okay, but the chorus (Hammerfall...We will prevail....Hammerfall...let us hail) i always rung out of breath by the end of each line.

I'd like a few recommendations...Lost horizon is probably one...but what are some others to practice on? Don't recommend Elvenking or Nightwish, those are far too high for me

 

[Krigloch the Furious]

Is lost horizon a good one for that type of thing? I've tried hammerfall for power metal and it's getting better each time. What other ones are good to practice with that aren't too hard since hammerfall is the highest i can go with vocal range and half the time i fuck up with them, especially with some songs i'm still working on like "At the end of the rainbow" and "riders of the storm". I've gotten good at the Dragon lies bleeding and almost perfectly done glory to the brave...Hammerfall is okay, but the chorus (Hammerfall...We will prevail....Hammerfall...let us hail) i always rung out of breath by the end of each line.

I'd like a few recommendations...Lost horizon is probably one...but what are some others to practice on? Don't recommend Elvenking or Nightwish, those are far too high for me

yes. the guy in lost horizon is by far my favorite singer. Also check out Heavenly. Those are the two bands that made me a good singer. Now if I could just get my band up and running. heh

 

[Mazah]

You should record some of those power metal vocals, and post it here so we'd know better what you are talking about.

 

[SevenString]

to really stretch out, try singing along with some Symphony-X and/or ARK. And to work on a great "clean" sound, try Kamelot.

for a real vocal workout, i'll sing along with "The Odyssey" CD on the way to work in the morning, and the "Burn the Sun" CD on the way back home in the evening.

the cool thing about singing while you're driving is that you end up relaxing more while you sing because you're concentrating on the road, and the vocals are just sort of the "extra" thing going on. at least for me: I live in Los Angeles, and i really DO have to concentrate on traffic to avoid premature death.

BTW, Hi Matti!

 

[Bryant]

Many great vocalists out there never have taken lessons, but you can bet that lessons have never hurt anyone. Even singing "goofy choir" stuff properly requires many of the techniques metal vocalists use. I don'tthink you need to take lessons for years, but getting the fundamentals if nothing else could save you from ruining your voice and it will teach you how to obtain more power and will make you less winded.
I do have two suggestions though: First thing is get rid of the mic and effects and electric instruments for some of your practices. If you or a friend has an acoustic guitar, singing with a simple acoustic guitar will make you learn how to use different elements of your voice to make songs sound interesting.
Another thing to do is to learn how to sing harmony as opposed to lead. First try to sing along with the backing vocals (you will find plenty of that in power metal) in the different keys until you can sing all parts of the harmony. Once you learn that, add harmony parts to a song with no harmony. This will teach you note and key recognition (if simply by ear) but will give you a larger vocabulary of notes to choose from for your lead work.


Bryant

 

[TheImmortal]

If I were you Id make a choice, either doing death growls or doing singing, because youll never reach you potential in singing if your doing growling

Amen to that, Ive fucked my voice up by doing grind gore/death metal growls in my little no named banned, but i really dont have any regrets I enjoy doing it, the sound is fucking gruesome and if we make it, it will be all worth it, if not, well we have all had fun in the process

 

[ShadowOfDeath]

You should record some of those power metal vocals, and post it here so we'd know better what you are talking about.

My own vocals? I can try but there is a slight problem.


So i can project and add reverb to the vocals i require my amp, it help make it sound way better. I don't have any way i can record the vocals on my 4 track or anything and the album weighs 50lbs so i can't carry it down to the other computer in my house that has a microphone to get it online. And i have no money to go out and buy more equipment. If i could find a way to get it recorded i'd play a song and sing along using my amp so people can tell me what i need to work on(while ignoring the fact they'll really suck, but i don't think anyone in this thread expects them to be a bruce dickenson type vocals when i've only spent a couple weeks working on power metal vocals.)

If you want my BM vocals go to http://firec0re.net/apocalypse/prophecy.mp3