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09-26-2003, 01:04 PM

Alright so I'm back with a few more pointers and a few things which I forgot to mention in my first post:

Everybody has a different vocal range. Not everybody has a high voice not everybody has a low voice--but everybody for the most part can be taught to scream. I reccomended earlier that if you are doing reletively psychotic high pitched screams that you use your falsetto voice. However everybodys falsetto starts at different areas, so... at certain notes your falsetto will be stronger. For the most part you are stuck with the range you have, you can strengthen what notes you can hit, by doing excercises... if you have a piano and you know a little bit of theory you can practise singing different notes in the C major scale (do re mi fa so la ti do). A good place to start your falsetto singing for most males is around C5 or the high C or the B4(middle C being C3). So basically my point is, if you think that practising and practising and screaming your guts out till you are blue in the face will eventually help you reach higher notes STOP... you cannot change the depth of your voice... unless you take hormone pills or remove your testicals... lol. Work with what you got, even if you got a really deep bass range you can probably get a decent high falsetto scream goin if you practise at getting it strong with proper exersises. I think after about 2 years of practising when I started I increased my range by 1 and a half steps or 3 semitones... which is a lot for a guy, but I am a still a baritone, I could never change into a tenor or anything.

I realise that many people want to just jump into screaming or singing but treat it like any instrument. If you want to play guitar, you can't just jump into it, you gotta practise the basics... and then move on to the harder stuff. Every idiot and there uncle thinks they can be a singer-- ie. american idol. ITS AN INSTRUMENT, treat it like one, practise everyday and you will see results. If you practise half an hour before a show, once a month its going to show.

OK, so lets assume you've gone ahead and you've mastered the technique I've posted up--and you're screamin like a champ.

Here are some things to keep in mind before doing a show:

1) avoid drinking orange juice or any other kinda acidic fruit or sugary or carbonated drinks: Its has citric acid in it, it irritates your throat... its not a BIG deal, but every little thing helps.

2) don't drink any alcahol: Alcahol will dehydrate you like a mother****er, if you drink heavily right before you sing you can seriously hurt your vocal chords and risk permanent damage. Don't believe me? Bono from U2, used to be an amazing live singer, he used to be able to hit a C5 head on full voice live, now he sings it falsetto. Why? Alcahol. Don't get me wrong, it still sounds ok, but you know... not as good as he used to be.

3) avoid drinking milk: I know the guy in the other forum said to drink milk before you do a scream... I can see why this would be important if you are doing an improper technique that hurts your vocal chords... however assuming you are following my instructions milk will just build up a HUGE amount of mucus in your mouth. After about 30 minutes of your set you might start coughing it up between songs like an idiot or worse during a song.

4) DO drink warm water or tea: hey, it can't do you any harm can it? Talking and singing makes the throat dry, you need to liquidate it a bit there. If you are into that herbal ****, then put some echanacea in your water or tea, IT WORKS GREAT!

5) DO try to eat about 2-3 hours before you go up. You will always sing better on an empty stomach, plus you feel lighter.

6) DO take a piss: i think this one explains itself... 90% of the time you will be so nervous you'll forget to do this... nothing is ****tier than when you're rockin it out on stage and you gotta piss...

7) Get confident: Do whatever you have to do to be relaxed, you are the frontman here, if you just stand there and don't jump around and aren't confident in yourself people aren't gonna get into it. Don't get too excited and forget the stuff you practised, get into it but keep a clear head and remember your theory. Obviously your not gonna be able to stand up straight with your shoulders back ALL the time, but... try your best to keep form as much as possible until you are really confident with your voice. Unless your maynard or something, then i guess you can just crawl up in a fetal ball and nobody will give a **** cause your f*ckin maynard!

8) Avoid smoking ciggarettes: I always hear stupid **** from singers who say that smoking helps them sing cooler or scream cooler. I can recognize that smoking will give you a sort of raspy sounding voice... however you can learn to emulate this style of singing/screaming with practise. Its not necessary to smoke to sound raspy--its taking the short road out. If you are sombody who smokes to sing better in a few years 2 things will happen. You will develop large amounts of flem in your vocal chords causing you to cough like a fiend on stage all the time during sets, and two you MAY loose some of your vocal range--I've seen it happen, to friends, so yah... ITS NOT A GOOD IDEA. But whatever, if you're sensible about it and don't smoke like a fiend... its not that bad, but if you want to be a serious performer and want your music to sound its BEST then i would consider loosing it, or for gods sake don't do right before a show.

Next post will be about some warm up vocal exercises you can use before a show, and before practising.

I also wouldn't mind if anyone is interested... I could put what I have learned from my classical, jazz, and rock training in singing up here as well in a different thread.

ps. I listened to the Tom Araya scream, you can emulate it to a reasonable degree with this style. However he does seem to scream on key (with a tone), which is a little bit harder to do... especially if you are more of a screamer than singer, thats why I would recomend learning to do both if you want to be a live performer.

09-26-2003, 01:04 PM	#17
silver Guest Posts: n/a	Alright so I'm back with a few more pointers and a few things which I forgot to mention in my first post: Everybody has a different vocal range. Not everybody has a high voice not everybody has a low voice--but everybody for the most part can be taught to scream. I reccomended earlier that if you are doing reletively psychotic high pitched screams that you use your falsetto voice. However everybodys falsetto starts at different areas, so... at certain notes your falsetto will be stronger. For the most part you are stuck with the range you have, you can strengthen what notes you can hit, by doing excercises... if you have a piano and you know a little bit of theory you can practise singing different notes in the C major scale (do re mi fa so la ti do). A good place to start your falsetto singing for most males is around C5 or the high C or the B4(middle C being C3). So basically my point is, if you think that practising and practising and screaming your guts out till you are blue in the face will eventually help you reach higher notes STOP... you cannot change the depth of your voice... unless you take hormone pills or remove your testicals... lol. Work with what you got, even if you got a really deep bass range you can probably get a decent high falsetto scream goin if you practise at getting it strong with proper exersises. I think after about 2 years of practising when I started I increased my range by 1 and a half steps or 3 semitones... which is a lot for a guy, but I am a still a baritone, I could never change into a tenor or anything. I realise that many people want to just jump into screaming or singing but treat it like any instrument. If you want to play guitar, you can't just jump into it, you gotta practise the basics... and then move on to the harder stuff. Every idiot and there uncle thinks they can be a singer-- ie. american idol. ITS AN INSTRUMENT, treat it like one, practise everyday and you will see results. If you practise half an hour before a show, once a month its going to show. OK, so lets assume you've gone ahead and you've mastered the technique I've posted up--and you're screamin like a champ. Here are some things to keep in mind before doing a show: 1) avoid drinking orange juice or any other kinda acidic fruit or sugary or carbonated drinks: Its has citric acid in it, it irritates your throat... its not a BIG deal, but every little thing helps. 2) don't drink any alcahol: Alcahol will dehydrate you like a mother**er, if you drink heavily right before you sing you can seriously hurt your vocal chords and risk permanent damage. Don't believe me? Bono from U2, used to be an amazing live singer, he used to be able to hit a C5 head on full voice live, now he sings it falsetto. Why? Alcahol. Don't get me wrong, it still sounds ok, but you know... not as good as he used to be. 3) avoid drinking milk: I know the guy in the other forum said to drink milk before you do a scream... I can see why this would be important if you are doing an improper technique that hurts your vocal chords... however assuming you are following my instructions milk will just build up a HUGE amount of mucus in your mouth. After about 30 minutes of your set you might start coughing it up between songs like an idiot or worse during a song. 4) DO drink warm water or tea: hey, it can't do you any harm can it? Talking and singing makes the throat dry, you need to liquidate it a bit there. If you are into that herbal , then put some echanacea in your water or tea, IT WORKS GREAT! 5) DO try to eat about 2-3 hours before you go up. You will always sing better on an empty stomach, plus you feel lighter. 6) DO take a piss: i think this one explains itself... 90% of the time you will be so nervous you'll forget to do this... nothing is tier than when you're rockin it out on stage and you gotta piss... 7) Get confident: Do whatever you have to do to be relaxed, you are the frontman here, if you just stand there and don't jump around and aren't confident in yourself people aren't gonna get into it. Don't get too excited and forget the stuff you practised, get into it but keep a clear head and remember your theory. Obviously your not gonna be able to stand up straight with your shoulders back ALL the time, but... try your best to keep form as much as possible until you are really confident with your voice. Unless your maynard or something, then i guess you can just crawl up in a fetal ball and nobody will give a ** cause your fckin maynard! 8) Avoid smoking ciggarettes: I always hear stupid *** from singers who say that smoking helps them sing cooler or scream cooler. I can recognize that smoking will give you a sort of raspy sounding voice... however you can learn to emulate this style of singing/screaming with practise. Its not necessary to smoke to sound raspy--its taking the short road out. If you are sombody who smokes to sing better in a few years 2 things will happen. You will develop large amounts of flem in your vocal chords causing you to cough like a fiend on stage all the time during sets, and two you MAY loose some of your vocal range--I've seen it happen, to friends, so yah... ITS NOT A GOOD IDEA. But whatever, if you're sensible about it and don't smoke like a fiend... its not that bad, but if you want to be a serious performer and want your music to sound its BEST then i would consider loosing it, or for gods sake don't do right before a show. Next post will be about some warm up vocal exercises you can use before a show, and before practising. I also wouldn't mind if anyone is interested... I could put what I have learned from my classical, jazz, and rock training in singing up here as well in a different thread. ps. I listened to the Tom Araya scream, you can emulate it to a reasonable degree with this style. However he does seem to scream on key (with a tone), which is a little bit harder to do... especially if you are more of a screamer than singer, thats why I would recomend learning to do both if you want to be a live performer.