Your thoughts on vocals

[Light]

Proper growling comes from the cock. Ask anyone with a proper cock.

 

[shadedlife]

mikael's probably got an extremely proper cock. no bends or anything. well-hung is well sung.

 

[ViCyniC]

I have a slight bend.

 

[Chinaski]

I am quite interested, and if you did that, I would be eternally grateful.

*sigh.. for your eternal gratefulness* heh...

1. Deep breath in through the nose, drawing the breath into your stomach NOT your lungs. Let the breath ALL the way out and hold it for 30 seconds or as long as you can.. and breath back in through your nose, always. Your shoulders should not move at all... a sign of NOT using your lungs to store air.

2. Same as step one except, once you blow the breath out and hold it, push and pull your stomach in/out 7 times. Again, your shoulders should stay still and you should do this step focusing on your stomach muscles/diaphragm alone.

3. In the pattern of 2/1 - 3/1 - 3/2 - 4/1 - 4/2 - 4/3 - 5/1 - 5/2 - 5/3 - 5/4
Pull and push breaths in/out of your nose. The first number is breaths IN and the second number is breaths OUT. Example: 4/2 would be four intakes of air through the nose and two breaths pushed OUT of the nose. AGAIN, all breaths should be focused at drawing into your stomach and pushed out of your stomach primarily working at not storing your air in your lungs. These patterns should be done fairly quickly and again, keep the shoulders still. By the time this step is done you will feel a bit light headed.. which is ok.. it's a cheap high. heheh

4. Take the deepest breath possible in through your nose and into your stomach, as stated above, and HOLD that breath for at least one minute.
You can go as long as you please.. just try not to pass out. Not good..

5. Take the deepest breath possible in through your nose and into your stomach, as stated above, and in that one deep breath count from 1-67 quickly if you'd like. The trick here is to do it loudly and PRECISELY.. OVER enunciate the words of the numbers. Really try to be vocal with it and not hold back.. but do it all in one breath.

6. Take the deepest breath possible in through your nose and into your stomach, as stated above, and in that one deep breath say the Alphabet loudly 3 times without stopping in between. The point here is to say them loudly BUT pace your air outlet.. short punchy vocal pronunciations of all letters is vital if you plan on making it through all three times. You should say each letter per second.. like a metronome. (I use one for this) AGAIN, over enunciate the words throughout this entire step.

7. Take a sheet of paper (8.5 x11) and fold it in half just enough to crease it so it can stand vertically on a table without being propped up. You want to have the paper free standing and nothing in behind or in front of it. Put the sheet of paper on a surface about a little higher than your waist and stand it up vertically. Take 5 normal (not big) paces away from the sheet. Take in a deep breath, as stated above, and blow the breath out in an attempt to knock over the sheet of paper. NOW, it's vital that you not only form your lips into an smaller "O" but also that you aim for the top of the sheet of paper. After you knock it over three times at 5 paces.. step back two more and then two more until you reach your MAX distance. Eventually you will be able to knock that fucker over from across the room!! The point here is to help in focusing your air's direction.

There are 4 more steps which would be impossible to explain without actually being able to have you HEAR them.. seeing that they actually require hitting keys and over enunciating particular letters such as Q and K.

These 7 steps alone should help you dramatically improve your power, control, and ability to PROPERLY use what you already have. Once you are using your air correctly, no amount of growling, screaming, yelling or singing will detriment the quality that you can achieve vocally.

Do these 7 days a week and I guaranfuckingtee you will blow your own limits to another planet.

ALSO... a very very important factor when it comes to screaming:
Take great care of your weapon.. its a fucking weapon which needs cleaning, preparation, and maintenance. If you are a fabulously sexy woman.. I have the perfect protein shake for you.. however, if you are not interested in that method of care.. check this shit out:

TEA..
Company: "traditional medicinals"
Make: "throat coat"
Mix with lemonjuice and a LITTLE bit of honey=Fucking golden.

APPLES:
Company: Good ol' Granny Smith
Make: Green
Eat one before the tea to clear out all that bad juju from the throat=Fucking Golden

DO NOT:
A) Pound the alcohol before hand.. if you NEED a drink to calm you, go light and MINOR sugar intake. No fruity sugary bullshit.. which I highly discourage anyway. No harsh ass liquor either.. like straight shots. beer is bad as well because it fills you up and leaves less room for air storage.

B) Stay away from joints or pipes too.. if you get that flame super close to your vocal chords you'll dry that shit up like hell and have no "fucking golden" to work with. Big bad bongtokes will be just fine.

C) For fucksakes please do not go back and forth with temperatures. I have learned the hard way on this. Example: Pound three ICE cold beers then drink tea right afterwards. Your throat is like "WTF M8??" and will shut you off.

D) And finally... try not to talk much before you attempt any vocals. Before a show I always go mute.. don't talk to anyone for an entire day and then my voice is all good and rested.

But in the end.. you could just eat a lot of pussy and sound just as fucking golden.

 

[Nico]

i was reading thru these and no1 really mentioned on mikaels voice, anyways ive read a ton of interviews asking him about effects on his voice and he says no its all my own vioce. qiute frankly i belive him, i mean that sounds real to me , just because its so good doesnt mean its fake, but i think its cuz alot of death metal bands now r using effects, sometimes its cool, but i think all vocalists shod use their real voice. As for me i sing , i just kinda started singing actually but im yuong and i have all the time to practice, but ive been playin guitar for a while. i think peter has the best growls ever but i dont kno if i like his growls or his clean singing better his the best at both.

Of course it's all his own, this topic is about growling techniques, not effects. Very few death metal vocalists use effects on their voices, and when they do it's usualy because they cant growl and it sounds like shit anyway.

Also... You mispelled your name.

 

[mysweetdeath]

mikael's probably got an extremely proper cock. no bends or anything. well-hung is well sung.

And Will Hung (american idol) is chinese, so he of course.... is not well hung.

The above comment is related to Opeth because they share the same label.

( I don't hate chinese)


When I growl, I use air from my stomach. Much like when I'm playing french horn, trumpet, etc.

 

[deliverance]

Of course it's all his own, this topic is about growling techniques, not effects. Very few death metal vocalists use effects on their voices, and when they do it's usualy because they cant growl and it sounds like shit anyway.

Also... You mispelled your name.

haha poor kid. damn lepers.

 

[daimonion]

2. Same as step one except, once you blow the breath out and hold it, push and pull your stomach in/out 7 times. Again, your shoulders should stay still and you should do this step focusing on your stomach muscles/diaphragm alone.



6. Take the deepest breath possible in through your nose and into your stomach, as stated above, and in that one deep breath say the Alphabet loudly 3 times without stopping in between. The point here is to say them loudly BUT pace your air outlet.. short punchy vocal pronunciations of all letters is vital if you plan on making it through all three times. You should say each letter per second.. like a metronome. (I use one for this) AGAIN, over enunciate the words throughout this entire step.

Thanks for the advice. But on number 2: Are you supposed to pull your stomach in and out WHILE you're berathing out or after, when you hold your breath?
And number 5 and six are just impossible for now anyway... I'll keep on practising.

 

[cityofthemoon666]

ive found i can do death vocals and not hurt my throat but cant project them very well, they sound good acoustic so i guess that it will sound good miced, i think mike uses a technique where he uses the roof of his mouth rather than his throat

 

[TheLeaperAffinity]

Actually i spelled my name like that on purpose, i think it sounds kinda neat, my nickname is leaper now. Im a huge fucking fan of opeth and i wouldnt mess up the spelling on a song , especially if it was a longterm screename

 

[Chinaski]

Thanks for the advice. But on number 2: Are you supposed to pull your stomach in and out WHILE you're berathing out or after, when you hold your breath?
And number 5 and six are just impossible for now anyway... I'll keep on practising.

Regarding the second step.. the pushing in and out of your stomach should be done AFTER you breathe in AND breathe all the way out.. and hold it with NO breath in your lungs or stomach.

All the steps were really frustrating when I started doing them especially because I had this very demanding teacher at the time who would verbally attack me when I was doing it incorrectly. Good guy... just not one to sit back and let you slack about.

Bottom line.. continue to do it every day if possible. I bet in two weeks, step 5 and 6 will be cake for you.

Glad to hear you were interested! Let me know how it works for you.

 

[daimonion]

Regarding the second step.. the pushing in and out of your stomach should be done AFTER you breathe in AND breathe all the way out.. and hold it with NO breath in your lungs or stomach.

Err... so i should: 1- breath in 2- breath out 3- hold my breath and at the same time push my stomach in and out? Actually your second explanation was a bit confusing to me as well, hehe.

 

[daimonion]

Come to think of it: is it even possible to breath in through your nose and talk (count/alphabet) at the same time without breathing in through your mouth as well?

 

[bleak_vibrations]

It's all just about trying different things with your lower mouth/throat. Impossible to actually teach someone to growl the same way you do... Just get really pissed off at something yell your head off to see what works best.

 

[Chinaski]

It's all just about trying different things with your lower mouth/throat. Impossible to actually teach someone to growl the same way you do... Just get really pissed off at something yell your head off to see what works best.

true.. that is one way and the most common way for most to find their niche. That's how I started it!

But.. if I would've known early on exactly how to utilize the actual fundamentals of mechanics within the muscles that are used.. It would've saved me months of frustration and ultimately saved some bad performances.

Err... so i should: 1- breath in 2- breath out 3- hold my breath and at the same time push my stomach in and out? Actually your second explanation was a bit confusing to me as well, hehe.


Come to think of it: is it even possible to breath in through your nose and talk (count/alphabet) at the same time without breathing in through your mouth as well?

Ok.. for the first part:
AFTER you breath in then breath out and hold it.. THEN start pushing your stomach in and out. The point is to strengthen the muscles of your abdomen internally and also your lungs. So Blow ALL your air out.. hold it.. and then excercise the stomach.

Ok.. for the second part:
You take in a deep breath and HOLD it.. then AFTER the breath is in.. you start saying the alphabet AS you are slowly using that one breath to do it.
Essentially, this will teach you to ration your breath.. if you can say the alphabet 3 times in one breath.. you're doing it correctly.

I hope that help!

 

[Master_Debater]

I'm learning this type of vocals also, and have learned a couple of VERY important things.

1. Practice makes notable progress. After just growling whatever foor about an hour a day, on the third day you'll be able to see that you can go lower or for a longer time.

2. If it starts hurting, STOP, you obviously don't want to damage you vocal chords, you'll end up sounding too high. Feeling "the burn" in your throat after a good growling session is alright.

3. For me, black metal is easier because of it's varying tones and such. I'd say I can pull of a lot of Old Man's Child style vocals.... Akerfelt is REALLY hard, though. Don't expect to sound like him for awhile.

 

[daimonion]

true.. that is one way and the most common way for most to find their niche. That's how I started it!

But.. if I would've known early on exactly how to utilize the actual fundamentals of mechanics within the muscles that are used.. It would've saved me months of frustration and ultimately saved some bad performances.



Ok.. for the first part:
AFTER you breath in then breath out and hold it.. THEN start pushing your stomach in and out. The point is to strengthen the muscles of your abdomen internally and also your lungs. So Blow ALL your air out.. hold it.. and then excercise the stomach.

Ok.. for the second part:
You take in a deep breath and HOLD it.. then AFTER the breath is in.. you start saying the alphabet AS you are slowly using that one breath to do it.
Essentially, this will teach you to ration your breath.. if you can say the alphabet 3 times in one breath.. you're doing it correctly.

I hope that help!

Thanks! Think I finally got it.

 

[Melodeath]

I only read some of the replies on the first page.

To the first post: I don't see why clean vocals have to be louder than growled ones? Your using a mic anyway and can adjust the level later.


For me, when I growl, it's easier to get the sound i want when i do it loud, but then i tire more quickly. You have to find the balance. Doing it too soft hurt more for me cause I'm straining more to get the sound I want. So again, you have to experiment and find the right balance for you.


The more frequently you growl (anytime you growl its basically practice), and provided you get sufficient rest in between sessions, the more you improve. I used to be a terrible growler. And now peopel think im good. The change in my growl has changed dramatically in only a few months of work. I don't even really sit and practice. I just growl lyrics I write to the songs I write and that is enough practice for me.

By growling, you build up your endurance and it starts hurting less and less. When i first started, basically everything hurt because I was just starting and I didn't have my technique yet. Now, I'll admit, I can't growl for very long, but I can growl for longer than when i first started.

When I do death vocals my voice goes all husky and deep, and it actually seems to help my clean vocals (but only singing low, my high range singing is virtually wiped out completely). Later, in normal conversation, I crack highs and I tend to cough up some flem. However, it doesn't really hurt at all, just makes my throat a bit raw (not in a sore way) and husky, and the more I growl, the lower and stronger my growl gets as my voice loosens up, but there is no doubt in my mind that there is some damage being done, because it isn't natural for my voice to drop so heavily. It makes confident, higher ranged clean singing impossible.

Are you saying your clean singing was destroyed by growling?

 

[Christie_fell]

Some of these tips I have just tried. Though I do not have a cock, it doesn't sound all too bad. Definitely not public-worthy, but it's a start. Thanks for posting these tips.

 

[Nico]

I'd love to hear some of your growling Christie