What is good starter Metal Vocal Equipment

[Growls Gurgles N Screams]

What is good starter Metal Vocal Equipment??
So far i have a Shure SM58 Microphone.
And i've been plugging into a Crate Guitar Amp.
How do i go about buying things to enhance a live performance?
And my overall metal vocal badassness?

[Motleyguy]

Learning how to properly sing/scream etc.

When you go play live, the venue will provide you with a mic and a PA, which is all you need. Practice with your SM58, that's what most venues provide anyways, it's pretty much an industry standard live vocal mic.

[kitsch]

fart into the mic during breakdowns

[Aaron]

Practice.
Improve your diet.
Don't smoke.

[fuzzyhair]

Yes practice. Work especially on enunciation. So many bands scream and you can't comprehend when a word starts or ends. It's pretty annoying.

go breeeeeeee!

But seriously, always work on your lows. Lows always sound scary and come across as brutal. Make sure your highs are nice and smooth. Try to learn to match notes in the song.

[witchxrapist]

What is good starter Metal Vocal Equipment??
So far i have a Shure SM58 Microphone.
And i've been plugging into a Crate Guitar Amp.
How do i go about buying things to enhance a live performance?
And my overall metal vocal badassness?

okay, vocal tehcnique fisrt, then microphone technique second. usually, venue's will have all of the vocal equipment taken care of for you!!

okay, when you scream, make sure you're always warming up your voice (clean) for like 15 minutes before hand, do a lot of scales and drink a lot of warm water.

when doing the actual scream, push mostly from your gut, brace like youre going to the bathroom, project the scream across the roof of your mouth and out above your bottom row of teeth (if you were barring your teeth clenched, think).

for highs, you want to be coming from your upper throat/nasal passage with the tone, for lows, you want to be coming from the very bottom of your voice box, for mids you want to use the range you'd use for your speaking voice.

as for microphone technique, you can get your scream to sound marginally different with how you hold the microphone, i generally hold my mic regularly when doing high screams, slightly cup with one hand when doing mids, and cup with both hands when doing lows, mostly because each type of scream is progressively quieter than the last, and thus you need to cup the microphone to even out the levels... some people will say the cupping is cheating, because it gives you a tone that isnt your "real" voice, but ill say that otherwise youll need to turn up your volume really really high and just hold the microphone progressively further from your mouth for the louder vocals you do, to even out the levels anyhow, which is just as artificial.

also, if you cup a mic in both hands and do a high scream into it you can get a sweet high-mid distorted sound like old a life once lost. :lol:

also, metal badassness: who gives a **** about wardrobe, dress comfortably. make sure you remember the claw !! pace/run back and forth across stage while screaming, like your manic. scream in kids faces, start pits during non vocal parts, etc.

[Motleyguy]

you could also puke into the crowd while screaming, I think that would have the effect you're going for.

[CatfishJew]

kinda related to the thread.

do you guys think "the zen of screaming" is a good buy?

[Motleyguy]

I'm not a vocalist in any way shape or form, so I don't know a whole lot about vocal technique, but I have seen it, and it seemed informative.

[witchxrapist]

kinda related to the thread.

do you guys think "the zen of screaming" is a good buy?

id suggest torrenting it, its helpful, but not worth buying imo, also, looking up screaming tips just in general online + bootlegging the zen of screaming = most worthwhile practice. lol.

[CatfishJew]

i'm actually buying it as a christmas present. i'll probably buy the dvd.

[El Calle Gato]

and cup with both hands when doing lows

wow. can you say feedback.

the sm58 is fine. if you are playing venues without a PA, just buy a PA. itll run you about $600, but youll always have it, and u can take a cut of other bands profits at shows by letting them use your PA.

if you are talking about home practice kinda stuff with the band, you can pick up a POWERED speaker and use that.

[Ksama]

Have you guys ever heard of a Realistic Highball? I have one but how does it stack up with a Shure SM58?

[Whitechapel447]

also, metal badassness: who gives a **** about wardrobe, dress comfortably. make sure you remember the claw !! pace/run back and forth across stage while screaming, like your manic. scream in kids faces, start pits during non vocal parts, etc.


this. when i go to shows i love to see the vocalists (and every member for that matter) jumping and stomping all over the stage. the number one rule of metal badassness is MOVE. you can have a really shitty night musically but you can still put on a great show. when my band starts playing shows i'm gonna be all over the stage, up in people's faces, etc.

[hismajestythepope]

wow. can you say feedback.
no i cant because ive been doing this for five years and have yet to experience this

[Motleyguy]

I've seen a lot of dudes do that, it's a pretty "legit" technique. I know it's one of the techniques Trevor Phipps of Unearth uses.

[El Calle Gato]

idk man, anytime ive cupped the mic i get wicked feedback. who knows.

[fuzzyhair]

Cupping the mic depends on vocal style. If you are loud and already sound the way you want cupping will make you sound like poop.:chug:

[Whitechapel447]

i cup with both hands too for lows and so does every death metal band i've seen. i have to do it, otherwise it sounds way too quiet. for highs i hold it just above or below my mouth. looks wicked cool too

[hismajestythepope]

Cupping the mic depends on vocal style. If you are loud and already sound the way you want cupping will make you sound like poop.:chug:

not true by any means. my death growls are pretty loud on their own, but in comparison to my hardcore vocals and shrieks, not so much... regardless, i definitely prefer the tone i get when cupping, it's swishier, more of an in between to my inhales and exhales (without cupping), which is definitely a sound i've been going for ever since i started growling.

[Whitechapel447]

you do alot of inhales? i'm all exhales, i hear too many inhales will fvck up your voice

[El Calle Gato]

you do alot of inhales? i'm all exhales, i hear too many inhales will fvck up your voice

negative, just like anything else you have to do it correctly.

inhaling is actually a GREAT warm up excersize for normal singing. idk about screaming. i just do normal singing exersizes before i scream. if at all.

mostly i just drink whiskey and smoke some cigarettes. i doubt the cigarettes help, but the whiskey does.

[fuzzyhair]

not true by any means. my death growls are pretty loud on their own, but in comparison to my hardcore vocals and shrieks, not so much... regardless, i definitely prefer the tone i get when cupping, it's swishier, more of an in between to my inhales and exhales (without cupping), which is definitely a sound i've been going for ever since i started growling.

I suppose sound/preference is different for each person. Sorry about generalizing.