whenever i scream(lower falsetto) i can barely manage a 3 sec scream or so. it sounds fairly good when i record and play it back. how do i do longer screams? am i doing something wrong? and how does puting a book and breathing help? also, my friend(good singer, got awards from choir) said to "hiss" like go tsssssssssss for as long as i can. how would that help?

[QUOTE=brainproof]whenever i scream(lower falsetto) i can barely manage a 3 sec scream or so. it sounds fairly good when i record and play it back. how do i do longer screams? am i doing something wrong? and how does puting a book and breathing help? also, my friend(good singer, got awards from choir) said to "hiss" like go tsssssssssss for as long as i can. how would that help?[/QUOTE]
I gave this same advice yesterday in another post. Holding a zzz or ssss sound. I say try to hold it for thirty seconds or more. Because it teaches you breath control. You cant sing without the diaphragm. You have to tense it instead of just relaxing like youre exhaling from a normal breath. You have to push a bit but not that much. ...depending on the sound you want. But by holding a sound that long it will teach you to not just let all your air out. You will have to get your diaphragm involved. So practice it.
Putting a book on your stomach(I guess thats what you were gonna say) and breathing helps you inhale correctly. The book should rise as you inhale. Its no big deal..you could use your hand. Some people breathe incorrectly and suck in their stomach some. But you stomach should rise first...then at about 75% your chest should start to rise a bit. Not as much as your stomach...but a little.

Hey Merkaba, can you check out my new version of fallout boy? Thanks!

hey merkaba i can do this thing where i make clicks with my vocal cords but at the same time hiss air. its pretty wierd. i was just wondering if there was any relevance to it. i uploaded an mp3 [URL=http://www.soundclick.com/artist/0/lloydapalooza_music.htm]here[/URL]

its titled wierd

[QUOTE=lloydapalooza]hey merkaba i can do this thing where i make clicks with my vocal cords but at the same time hiss air. its pretty wierd. i was just wondering if there was any relevance to it. i uploaded an mp3 [URL=http://www.soundclick.com/artist/0/lloydapalooza_music.htm]here[/URL]

its titled wierd[/QUOTE]
Yea I've been doing this since I was a kid. Youre using the false cords for the click. And thats pretty much the area you use for rasp. If you listen to my samples you can hear me kinda do this louder as I was starting off some of those rasp screams.

If you have trouble rasping try doing it, and slowly adding more sound and "click" and seperating them in and out from clean to not raspy will help learn some isolation.

[QUOTE=Bass_Guy_Jay]Hey Merk, I was wondering if you could check out our song on My Space (sorry for posting in another thread) but I just need an opinion.

I didn't make lyrics for the song, I was just trying to test my scream, I find the second half is more efficent then the first half... you can check it out here at: [url]www.myspace.com/SeiryuRock[/url] (Its called "Evermore")

Also man, I just wanna thank you for making those sound clips, they helped me so much, yesturday, I couldn't scream, I used your clips.. practice for about 4 hours last night (untill like 1 am) and I have made a big step, I still need to practice beyond belief (same with vocals) but you have been a BIG help to me, and I just want to say thanks.[/QUOTE]
Ahhh..thought I had listened to that one before and thought it was instrumental since the vocals kinda took a while to start. I like it though. Sounds like Linkin park mixed with some deftones. Some of my influences in those....I like it. I was looking for a link to download it. I was coming up with some melodies and things myself...I'd love to do little mix in there with you just for "play play" hehe.

I think you could sound almost twice as better...not that it sounds that bad. You did go a little flat sometimes...but I still do that when just fartin off. How does your voice feel after the screams? Because it sounds really pushy...but if you cant handle it then fine. But too much push robs you of your tone. I think you would sound better with more tone. At least in certain parts. If i were you I would take an instrumental if you have one....give one to me...hehe...and then ride around and sing those parts that you were doing, or whatever parts you come up with.....sing them like you were gonna sing them in opera. Back off of the push. Even the screaming note...sing it, I think its "no", or sounded like it. But for instance just sing it normally without so much push, and dont rasp any part of it. It will help you i think, to close up some of those notes and get the muscle memory to stay right on key. I do like the falling melody of you singing "Ehhh verrr morrre". Keep that. I can really hear that with a little reverb or something melting off...sounding like a dream or something. REally sounds like something I would do so I love that part. hehe. Maybe draw it out a little more. Just a little....and like I say, just a little more controlled...which I think would come from less push...for now at least. Thats my two cents. But then again you were just testing the song a bit...so whatever, no big deal. Keep me posted on this one.

OH yea...the second half ...maybe around the 2:40 mark the screams sound better. I'm on dialup. So my deal stops and buffers every ten seconds or so. sux.

[QUOTE=MikeyEss]Hey Merkaba, can you check out my new version of fallout boy? Thanks![/QUOTE]
Mike, still sounds like youre scared. Or not wanting to be loud for fear of something. If thats the case then wait til you have the house or whatever to yourself. If thats not the case then....

Do you have to be in falsetto to sing this high? I dont think you do. I would like you to sing it about three notes lower. Do this... right now...without thinking of any specific note or pitch or anything..just sing and EEEEEE. Now sing this song in that same pitch even if its not the same key. It will give you practice anyways. It might sound like something from a lounge bar or a restaraunt but thats not important. So give it a try. And I dont think your pressurizing your lungs much with the diaphragm either. Dont fret...its just around the corner.

Maybe I'll post a sample if I can get around to it.

thanks for the explaination, but your forgot one question, is it normal to for beginning screamers to have realyl short screams or am i doing something wrong?

Well yea...Youre not using enough breath control...i.e. diaphragm. I dont think its a matter of normalcy. But if you want to hold any sound long you have to take in a deep proper breath...and then be able to control how much your diaphgragm pushes up against your lungs. Thats why holding the ZZZ kinda gets you working with that. Because it will be hard to hold any sound without a good breath, and the diaphragm. Now you will have to manipulate it over time but thats second nature once you know how it feels. I might post another sample kinda dealing with this soon.

Hey Merk, thanks buddy for the help, I am glad that you (from what I gathered) like the instrumental for the song "Evermore" This is my favourite song so far.

When you say it sounds like I am pushing to hard, I think your right, cause when I try to do the more aggressive screams, I do push harder (Probably around 50% push) which, from what I have gathered is not good, I could easily get the same effect with less push right?

What does my throat feel like after doing these, well we played the song a lot that one practice, and my throat felt fine, didn't hurt, but I did notice it was harder for me to sing higher, so the screams maybe effecting my vocal chords, probably from pushing to hard. Also, when we start practice, at the beginning I have some tea, then always have 2 waters on hand (i drink so much water... lol)

When your talking about tone of the scream, could you give an example (on the song Evermore... if you can) what’s good tone, and what’s bad tone. Or maybe all my tone was bad, so how would I control this? How do I know if the tone is correct?

The only instrumental version of Evermore me have (that is the whole song) our Rhythm guitarist was to loud, and he has trouble with timing, so its quite messy. If you want it, you can find it here: [B][URL=http://www.franticgames.com/seriyu/Music/Evermore_instrumental.mp3]"Evermore" Instrumental[/URL] [/B] (its about 8 mbs)

So feel free to record over it or whatever, put a little Merk touch on it, ha ha... basically what I want to do is just follow the rhythm of the tune.

I think that’s it for now Merk, you have been a big help to me buddy :)

Thanks Merkaba
Yeah a post of it from you would be very helpful if you have the time.
Much appreciated.

I'm just not exactly sure what the feeling would be if i were using correct diaphragm support... I breathe correctly, but you say it still sounds like i'm not getting correct support. Also what should the 'push' on a note feel like?

Oh, and how is singing really loud going to help me? Is it to find the true voiceor something? I attempted singing the song pushing hard and loud and it just sounded quite bad... lol

Hey everyone. I've always wanted a raspy voice. Kinda like Foo Fighters raspy. Any tips? Also, can your voice ever become permanently raspy?

Yes, by smoking 10 packs of cigarettes a day... lol

I never post due to a lack of time. But..

To anyone who wants to learn the falsetto scream...

..first, read most theory found in this topic. SERIOUSLY. That's important.

But, theory is not all. It's just as much mentality towards your singing itself, as it is actual technique. I'll make a little guide to actually learning how to use it. Most assumptions here are from experience. It's nothing big, but heh, I guess any help is useful.

You don't have to force a falsetto scream. You just do it. I gave a similar tip before, but these past few weeks, I've been practicing for hours every day while showering, cleaning my room, etc. Every free time I kind find.

So you got something that sounds like a falsetto scream. Thing is, you're probably tensing it too much at first. So you'll work on that, just relax, don't move a muscle on your face, and just do those "screams". Just to get a feel for it. Just to improve your technique and such.

Right well. Singing with your raspened falsetto can be a bitch at first. It sounds and feels very unnatural. Hell, you probably can't even pronounce words yet, I sure as hell can't. That's fine at first.

So after having warmed up, listen to a song with falsetto screams. Let's say, Laid To Rest by Lamb Of God or I'm Broken by Pantera. I picked those because I didn't have to scream several sylables with one breath.

In laid to rest there is a 12 second falsetto scream where Randy scramed the "ure" part of "failure". It's quite easy.

In I'm Broken, Phil Anselmo screamed "Too young for" with a falsetto scream. Again, I picked those because I could scream a sylable at a time.

..to be honest, the only reason I listen to those songs is just to practice to them.

If you figured those out - which is [i]very[/i] easy...

..I'd suggest just talking with added rasp. Just talk to yourself, or sing along songs with added rasp. Also to get used to it. Just get used to rasping your voice.

I couldn't do **** with my falsetto scream at first because it felt so alien. So I just tried to get used to it that way. And it worked.

I'd also suggest to stop using your chest voice to scream for the time you're learning to use your falsetto scream. Just fully focus on it. 'cause getting a feel for it as important as the technique.

Right. So you can sing with a raspened voice by now and talk with it, too. Now.. just practice some random screams as much as you can and see if you got more control over them, if not, keep trying.

ALSO. Force yourself to do stuff you thought you couldn't before. I got a better feel for my scream when I tried to scream along Aqua Dementia by Mastodon (what a brilliant song, by the way). And hey, I could do it immediately. Plus, it's very fun to scream along to.

The last, and probably most important tip is;
DON'T WORRY IF YOU DON'T SOUND LIKE WHATSHISNAME FROM WHATSTHEBAND. You have your own voice. Strop wanting to sound like let's say Jacob Bannon and accept your voice for what it is, unique. You might not be able to sound like..Greg Puciato from The Dillinger Escape Plan, but hey, he might not be able to sound like you either.

Hope that was even slightly useful.

Merkaba (or anyone else who knows)- I haven't exactly read all of this thread yet, so hopefully you haven't answered my question already. Dave Grohl, from Foo Fighters, sings aggressively, according to definitions of that kind of singing I've found. I'm wondering how he sings like that, because I have a very nice normal singing voice (kind of like Chester from Linkin Park, when he sings normal) but I can't get much rasp in it at all. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks Merkaba
Yeah a post of it from you would be very helpful if you have the time.
Much appreciated.

I'm just not exactly sure what the feeling would be if i were using correct diaphragm support... I breathe correctly, but you say it still sounds like i'm not getting correct support. Also what should the 'push' on a note feel like?

Oh, and how is singing really loud going to help me? Is it to find the true voiceor something? I attempted singing the song pushing hard and loud and it just sounded quite bad... lol

[QUOTE=The Dylanettes]Merkaba (or anyone else who knows)- I haven't exactly read all of this thread yet, so hopefully you haven't answered my question already. Dave Grohl, from Foo Fighters, sings aggressively, according to definitions of that kind of singing I've found. I'm wondering how he sings like that, because I have a very nice normal singing voice (kind of like Chester from Linkin Park, when he sings normal) but I can't get much rasp in it at all. Any help would be greatly appreciated![/QUOTE]
Well yea...we've all answered that before. Its all the same thing. Unfortunately at this time I dont wish to repeat it...nothing personal but I'm about to go eat. But if you read around.....you'll read what I would write anyways so...

Louis Armstrong, Wonderful World.

Good post Kosta...

Oh ok sorry for bugging you then. I'll look around.

[QUOTE=MikeyEss]Thanks Merkaba
Yeah a post of it from you would be very helpful if you have the time.
Much appreciated.

I'm just not exactly sure what the feeling would be if i were using correct diaphragm support... I breathe correctly, but you say it still sounds like i'm not getting correct support. Also what should the 'push' on a note feel like?

Oh, and how is singing really loud going to help me? Is it to find the true voiceor something? I attempted singing the song pushing hard and loud and it just sounded quite bad... lol[/QUOTE]

Talk to someone, at a normal volume. That's your true voice. Yell really loud at someone. That's your true voice. Scream like a girl, or like you're on a roller coaster. That's falsetto. Falsetto isn't bad of course, but it isn't proper singing if you're singing a whole song in falsetto, really softly.
So, try just talking loud, or yelling for that matter, and try to make notes out of it. Use a guitar or piano, it helps. It's not going to sound good at first, but you need to discover how to use your head voice in singing.

Cool, thanks CD

I'll record some new stuff soon and post it.

Hey Merkaba...

I'm determined to learn how to scream, if only just to be able to do it for fun if not in a band setting. Your posts have helped quite a bit. I just have one question though.

If I scream at a lower volume it sounds a million times better. If I try to get it louder I either lose the rasp or I lose the whole thing completely. If I sing the note first and then try to add the rasp the volume drops a lot, I'd say to about half of what it was when I was just singing the note. Am I closing my throat too much as you keep warning about, or am I doing it wrong altogether?

I'm gonna keep playing around. I realize I'm trying not to be too loud cause I don't want people freaking out cause I'm in my room screaming all the time, but it doesn't seem right that I can't scream at the same volume as I sing. It sounds like I'm whispering. I am making sure I feel my gut tighten like I'm grunting. Actually, the very first part the the scream (when the diaphragm first contracts) is at a decent volume, it just trails off after that.

[QUOTE=darklife]Hey Merkaba...

I'm determined to learn how to scream, if only just to be able to do it for fun if not in a band setting. Your posts have helped quite a bit. I just have one question though.

If I scream at a lower volume it sounds a million times better. If I try to get it louder I either lose the rasp or I lose the whole thing completely. If I sing the note first and then try to add the rasp the volume drops a lot, I'd say to about half of what it was when I was just singing the note. Am I closing my throat too much as you keep warning about, or am I doing it wrong altogether?

I'm gonna keep playing around. I realize I'm trying not to be too loud cause I don't want people freaking out cause I'm in my room screaming all the time, but it doesn't seem right that I can't scream at the same volume as I sing. It sounds like I'm whispering. I am making sure I feel my gut tighten like I'm grunting. Actually, the very first part the the scream (when the diaphragm first contracts) is at a decent volume, it just trails off after that.[/QUOTE]
Well your definition of low and decent volume might be different than mine. Without a sample I couldnt really know for sure. It will take some strength and coordination and you must know how to rise up into head without trying to stretch your chest voice up into it. Without a sample I couldnt really tell you, but if youre singing a decent volume you should be able to hold that volume and add rasp without it dropping in volume.

[QUOTE=MikeyEss]Thanks Merkaba
Yeah a post of it from you would be very helpful if you have the time.
Much appreciated.

I'm just not exactly sure what the feeling would be if i were using correct diaphragm support... I breathe correctly, but you say it still sounds like i'm not getting correct support. Also what should the 'push' on a note feel like?

Oh, and how is singing really loud going to help me? Is it to find the true voiceor something? I attempted singing the song pushing hard and loud and it just sounded quite bad... lol[/QUOTE]
I was gonna make some samples today but I opted to work so I dont have time...

by singing louder it will get you out of the falsetto position...hopefully. Because its hard to sing loud with tone in falsetto....unless you start using power falsetto/supported falsetto... thats another story.

The best way is to start at a normal note and rise up in pitch. You will have to feel like youre opening up the back of the throat a bit. Start with Ah...it naturally helps to accomplish this.

[QUOTE=Merkaba-1]Well your definition of low and decent volume might be different than mine. Without a sample I couldnt really know for sure. It will take some strength and coordination and you must know how to rise up into head without trying to stretch your chest voice up into it. Without a sample I couldnt really tell you, but if youre singing a decent volume you should be able to hold that volume and add rasp without it dropping in volume.
[/QUOTE]

I practiced a bit while recording and I did a couple that were on par with my singing volume-wise. It felt like I had to push a lot harder than when I sang the note. Is that normal?

Also, I noticed that when I sing the note and try to add the rasp, it feels like the note goes from about chest level to my stomach. That's not supposed to happen, right? If not I think I need to keep playing with it then, I may just not be adding the rasp correctly.

I dont really know what you mean by going from chest level to stomach. I would say play around with it and let your gauge be how comfortable it is and how much/long you can do it...and how your cords feel afterwards and the next day.

[QUOTE=Merkaba-1]I dont really know what you mean by going from chest level to stomach. I would say play around with it and let your gauge be how comfortable it is and how much/long you can do it...and how your cords feel afterwards and the next day.[/QUOTE]

Hey, I figured it out. I was adding the rasp all wrong lol. I was sorta making that weird sound from The Grudge cause I do stupid stuff like that when I'm bored (and by myself), and then it dawned on me that that is how I should try to add the rasp. It doesn't make my throat feel scratchy like the way I was doing it before, and the note remains at the same volume. I still have a lot of practice to do, though, cause sometimes I accidentally drop in pitch when I try to add it.

Hey Merkaba, just wondering if you'd mind checking out my scream and telling me whether or not I'm not doing it right, and where I stand. Here's the link:

[url]http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=388240[/url]

Thanks in advance, I have so much trouble exhale screaming, I get no volume whatsoever.

Well, I believe I have finally figured out INWARD SCREAMING!! yayus..!

This is my first day at it. So it may not be that good yet. Still working things out. I don't really know how I figured it out, I never really got around to trying to figure it out because I had no clue what tecnique to use, or how, because I've never done any kind of vocals breathing inward. Then a few days ago, while laughing really hard (you know like when it sounds like you're barely breathing that you're laughing so hard?) well I sucked a bunch of air in, and it sounded really freaky to say the least. Today I did the same thing, while I was in the middle of laughing really hard I immediately remembered that I should try inward screaming, and I did it. After about 15 minutes of messing around, I think I got it. I guess it requires a very open throat, it helped if I yawned first, just like when you're trying to falsetto scream, it helps...

Anyway... I can do 4 different kinds of screams now, or if you count the two different falsetto ones (which sound drastically different) and if you count the inward guttoral and inward high pitched separate, then I can do SIX screams. Wee! I assume there's no more known screams, aye?

Oh, and does anyone know if inward screams are damaging at all? I remember someone said it was affecting their singing range...

If you want to know more about the screams.. or want me to record more... just let me know. Here's the link.
[url]http://www.soundclick.com/pendingdemise[/url]

[QUOTE=tatsu]Hey Merkaba, just wondering if you'd mind checking out my scream and telling me whether or not I'm not doing it right, and where I stand. Here's the link:

[url]http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=388240[/url]

Thanks in advance, I have so much trouble exhale screaming, I get no volume whatsoever.[/QUOTE]

The inward screams were great. You definitely figured those out. Can you do higher ones or just the mid to lower range ones?

The one called "Tony's exhale scream" seemed pretty good. I can definitely hear the falsetto voice behind it. It seems like you're used to inward screaming though, and your exhale scream was simply making your false cords click, which isn't a scream really. Warm up, practice your falsetto alot, and work with it--don't try to hit an exceptionally high falsetto note, keep it a bit lower actually. Then add the rasp with the back of your throat, if you know how. If not, read some more pages of this thread. I like Merk's example, rasp is like the "aaank" sound of the buzzer on TV game shows when the answer is wrong. If you can make that sound, you're generating rasp with the back of your throat.
Anyway. So always base it on a falsetto voice, and always warm up. Let us know what you come up with! :thumb:

Well the other day a freind of mine asked me if i wanted to sing for his band in the fall. I agreed but now im kinda running into some problems. I listen to a lot of Thrice, and i want to be able to sing like Dustin. When i sing along with the songs, i can hit every note perfectly, but when i play it on my guitar my voice just blends in with the music. I guess my question is How do you sing fairly low tone wise and still project without blending into the music. Would simply turing up the mic solve this problem? When i listen to dustin of thrice sing, it seems to me that i am matching his pitch but im not projecting as much as he is.

[QUOTE=CDoasis]The inward screams were great. You definitely figured those out. Can you do higher ones or just the mid to lower range ones?

The one called "Tony's exhale scream" seemed pretty good. I can definitely hear the falsetto voice behind it. It seems like you're used to inward screaming though, and your exhale scream was simply making your false cords click, which isn't a scream really. Warm up, practice your falsetto alot, and work with it--don't try to hit an exceptionally high falsetto note, keep it a bit lower actually. Then add the rasp with the back of your throat, if you know how. If not, read some more pages of this thread. I like Merk's example, rasp is like the "aaank" sound of the buzzer on TV game shows when the answer is wrong. If you can make that sound, you're generating rasp with the back of your throat.
Anyway. So always base it on a falsetto voice, and always warm up. Let us know what you come up with! :thumb:[/QUOTE]

Well, I can do anywhere with my inhale, but I realize now, looking back, seeing as I don't have my own mic, it made it difficult... what was happening with all the exhale screams, was that I was moving the mic away from me when I was cutting the air for the consonants, causing the entire thing to seem like short, ugly yelps... Inward is my work, outward needs some work... like my life. Thanks for the crit and comment! I'll make sure to post more, when I'm at my buddies...

Why are ee's and oo's and their variations harder to do than other vowels?

[QUOTE=tatsu]Hey Merkaba, just wondering if you'd mind checking out my scream and telling me whether or not I'm not doing it right, and where I stand. Here's the link:

[url]http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=388240[/url]

Thanks in advance, I have so much trouble exhale screaming, I get no volume whatsoever.[/QUOTE]

lol
funny sh[b][i][/b][/i]it man keep it up

Dude, thanks for all the help on vocals.
[url]http://media.putfile.com/eh35[/url]

Please laugh at the song as it's a joke.
But that's where my scream is at now.
=D !!

So has anyone listened to my new screams yet, including the inward ones? :D

[url]http://www.soundclick.com/pendingdemise[/url]

what exactly is a gliss anyway?

A glissando is sliding smoothly between 2 notes.

Hmm, I just did a google on different kinds of screaming, and I found this site.

[url]http://www.invisibleworld.com.au/pages/singfaqs4.htm[/url]

I'm not sure how much of this is true, but I think alot of his "warnings" about screaming are really untrue. It makes me want to go there and kick his a[b][i][/b][/i]ss. If that's true, then how come a bunch of death metal bands from the 80's are still around? These stupid "screaming will ruin your voice!" myths piss me off.

Of course.. assuming we use proper technique. :)

bump

So, I've added one more exhale scream since. Feel free to check it out :D
[url]http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=388240[/url]
Crits and comments welcome!

Poo, no one reads this anymore. :(