Is it possible to just have a bad singing/screaming day? I mean, sometimes when I scream I just plain out suck. [Today is a good example.. it's worrying me.] And other days I just ****ing kickass. Shouldn't I be able to just scream at the best of my ability if I'm doing things correctly? I did a 5 minute warmup, [what I usually do] and have been drinking a lot of water and my screams are just so ****ty today. It's pissing me off because I sort of have an interview type thing. A friend of mine wants me to scream for him to see if I'm good enough to join his band. It's pissing me off because I just don't want to have a "bad" screaming day, they day I go to scream for him.

What am I doing wrong? Uhg.

Also, one thing I've noticed is when I'm sick I can scream extremely well. It's weird. I think it's because of the mucus and stuff in my nose/throat, so it's easier to make a clean rasp. Maybe now that I'm not sick anymore I just sound like ****?

Uhg, HELP.

[QUOTE=wkd]Is it possible to just have a bad singing/screaming day? I mean, sometimes when I scream I just plain out suck. [Today is a good example.. it's worrying me.] And other days I just ****ing kickass. Shouldn't I be able to just scream at the best of my ability if I'm doing things correctly? I did a 5 minute warmup, [what I usually do] and have been drinking a lot of water and my screams are just so ****ty today. It's pissing me off because I sort of have an interview type thing. A friend of mine wants me to scream for him to see if I'm good enough to join his band. It's pissing me off because I just don't want to have a "bad" screaming day, they day I go to scream for him.

What am I doing wrong? Uhg.

Also, one thing I've noticed is when I'm sick I can scream extremely well. It's weird. I think it's because of the mucus and stuff in my nose/throat, so it's easier to make a clean rasp. Maybe now that I'm not sick anymore I just sound like ****?

Uhg, HELP.[/QUOTE]


Check this out [url]http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=228211[/url]
Its Merkaba's soundclick (I hope you don't mind Merkaba) He really explains well how to do a falsetto scream and add rasp and stuff. You could be doing it wrong. If you have to drink milk and use your mucous, then you are doing it wrong. <<<<I beleive I read that somewhere on this site, so wait for Merkaba's opinion first.

The best way to increase your singing talents, like any other dicipline is to be able to listen to yourself and try to determine what's going bad (tape yourself if necessary) and try to make adjustments.......................

I found out what my problem was. I wasn't having a bad singing day, I just didn't warm up correctly/long enough. Warming up can go a long way.

The only thing that concerns me, is sometimes my voice cracks on the higher pitch screams. Now, duh you would say this is normal and it takes practice, but I used to be able to hit these kind of notes like a mofo. It was my best kind of screams, now I can't hit them quite as well as I used to.

My band wants me to have more lower pitched screams, which I can do, just not as good, so when I practice things, and I don't hear exactly what I want to hear, then I go and try my high pitch and my voice is cracking, it's giving me the impression that I am turning into a bad screamer.

What should I do? Merk?

Hey I just wanted to ask question....

If anyone of you has heard Steelheart - She's Gone before....Is this guy doin a falsetto or does he just have an incredible range?

Matijevic uses a reinforced falsetto which is basically a strong mix of head voice and falsetto, and sometimes (like in a lot of sheila) it's just plain falsetto (think the end where he's matching the guitar).

[QUOTE=wkd]I found out what my problem was. I wasn't having a bad singing day, I just didn't warm up correctly/long enough. Warming up can go a long way.

The only thing that concerns me, is sometimes my voice cracks on the higher pitch screams. Now, duh you would say this is normal and it takes practice, but I used to be able to hit these kind of notes like a mofo. It was my best kind of screams, now I can't hit them quite as well as I used to.

My band wants me to have more lower pitched screams, which I can do, just not as good, so when I practice things, and I don't hear exactly what I want to hear, then I go and try my high pitch and my voice is cracking, it's giving me the impression that I am turning into a bad screamer.

What should I do? Merk?[/QUOTE]You probably havent done enough high pitch work to handle it. When youre doing alot of forceful singing/screaming then all of that will make the cords swell to some degree. If you've ever had any muscle swell up, you'll remember that you naturally lose flexibility. At higher pitch your cords are thinner. So youre trying to take a swollen tissue and stretch it further which is hard enough, but then youre adding resistance to it by the air pushed against it. This is why I always stress that people should do more true singing as a means to workout because screaming doesn't allow enough time to work the tissue out. It leads to heat and dryness and swelling and bowing too quickly. Some people can work through it naturally. Some can't.

If youre cracking then youre either using a high tense larynx and thus partially blocking proper airflow and creating an imbalance, or your cords are fatigued to some degree for some reason.

So, to fix this you think I should do more vocal practice that involves more singing instead of screaming? Okay, I'll try that, even though I already do a **** loud of singing excercises.

How I warm up is.. doing ay, ee, ii, oo, uu stuff. Then I start singing real songs like, acoustic. [Usually I sing a long to Yellowcard or Fall Out Boy... heh... it works.] Then move up to more faster rock stuff, then finally into screaming. But of course, spending more time doing regular singing couldn't hurt, I want to build up my natural singing voice as well.

As for the chords being fatigue.. could this be because I practice too much? So far I have been practicing every single day.. from 30 mins to atleast an hour and a half. My chords are never soar, they're never in pain or anything like that. So naturally, I just feel like I can keep doing it. Should I just rest them more? I think I'm not going to do any vocal excercises this weekend, but then start again on monday. Do you think 30 mins a day is healthy? Or should I do it every other day?

Thanks merk.

can anyone (preferably merkaba) tell me how to get the voice like the guy from lifehouse?

Yeah he sounds good... I know how to do it, but can't explain it since I have no experience whatsoever in teaching people vocals. But yeah, you should provide a song for an example....or a particular verse from a song and I'll try my best to help you out..

[url]http://xscenesterx.org/Tony_Bullard_-_Metal_Vocal_Tutorial.mp3[/url]
Okay do you think if i practice this, and dont push to hard, and Dont join a band for a couple of months with vocals like this untill i really get it down that i can do this without going avenged sevenfold on my voice?

[QUOTE=fuzzyhair][url]http://xscenesterx.org/Tony_Bullard_-_Metal_Vocal_Tutorial.mp3[/url]
Okay do you think if i practice this, and dont push to hard, and Dont join a band for a couple of months with vocals like this untill i really get it down that i can do this without going avenged sevenfold on my voice?[/QUOTE]

From the looks of it, it seems like a tutorial. So I would assume it is teaching proper vocal technique, so I don't think you have anything to worry about.

Why would not joining a band help you? From my experience, it would. As long as you are screaming correctly, you really have nothing to be worried about.

I'm not a professional, just wanted to give my two cents. Thanks for the comment on one of my posts, I figured I would return the favor.

Good luck. Btw, I'm downloading it now.. it seems interesting. I'll take a look at it.

[QUOTE=wkd]From the looks of it, it seems like a tutorial. So I would assume it is teaching proper vocal technique, so I don't think you have anything to worry about.

Why would not joining a band help you? From my experience, it would. As long as you are screaming correctly, you really have nothing to be worried about.

I'm not a professional, just wanted to give my two cents. Thanks for the comment on one of my posts, I figured I would return the favor.

Good luck. Btw, I'm downloading it now.. it seems interesting. I'll take a look at it.[/QUOTE]
well i was wanting merkaba to answer this (thanks for your answer though:thumb: ). I just didnt want to be following a tutorial some person using improper technique made. It is really cool. It focuses on growls. Everyone in my town wants to scream. I wanna growl!

EDIT: and about joining the band. I didnt want to be pressured into growling when i didnt want to, like if it starts to hurt. Thats why i wanted to wait a few months so i can develop it so i can have more stamina.

Oh, it's about growling.. ahg, I hate growling. But if that's your thing, that's cool. I haven't listened to it yet, because I don't like to do anything vocal related whenever my mom is home. But I probably will, anyways.

Hmm. Do you know of any tutorials that focus more on a Norma Jean type scream? That's kind of what I'm going for.

[url]http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=228211[/url]
well just follow merkabas rules. And always scream through something with reverb. it sounds sooo much better. Without it it just sounds dry. The amp gives you the scream. But I thought that growling would be kinda original. That way i could maybe get my voice on some of my friends awesome guitar records. I play guitar also but i would like to learn this.

Yeah im to shy to do vocals around my parents. Maybe since im setting up in the basement they wont be able to hear me. Thats another think i like about growling, it doesnt require extreme loudness, you can do it without an amp and still sound fine.

Whenever I scream I don't use an amp. One, because I don't need it, and two, because my mic is broken.

Because of this I have built myself a very powerful and loud screaming voice. I really should start though, so I can have better mic/amp judgdement. I don't want to be at a gig and totally blow everybodys ears out from the first scream. I need to get myself a new mic first though.

Does your voice hurt after your scream? Oh and after doing anything vocal through a mic you can hear yourself and fix your mistakes.

Nope, never hurts.

What do you mean? I don't have any recording equipment. =[ I wish I did..

[QUOTE=wkd]Nope, never hurts.

What do you mean? I don't have any recording equipment. =[ I wish I did..[/QUOTE]
have you ever called your house and left a message, then came home and heard it. You sound different. Thats because when you talk you are hearing sounds in your head and through your ears. But people dont hear the inside voices, just whats on the outside. so if you amplify your voice you can hear yourself better. give it a try sometime. recording would be best though. (im not a professional at this its just what i have read on this forum.)

Makes sense. I want to get some recording equipment for my band. We have a myspace and want to get some songs up. But we all don't have very much $$$. =\

well to just help yourself just use a computer microphone. It will definately help you, and if you sound good you will sound good at shows, thus letting you sell more merch, thus letting you buy equipment!

Do you guys know any books or websites or anything with singing exercises?

[QUOTE=randomthought9]Do you guys know any books or websites or anything with singing exercises?[/QUOTE]
[URL="http://www.musicianforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=219911"]This[/URL] should have everything you need.

Hey. I was doin Merkaba's falsetto scream today (the ones at soundclick), anyway I was able to do most of them but I still dont get how to use that in a song, i still need practice I think. Anyway that's not the point. When I was done, I couldn't feel part of throat. It's like it's numb or anything, it's like I that area doesn't exist or something...hard to explain, it's only like in one small spot. I didn't feel pain or anything during the exercise or after it and I can still sing normally, it's just annoying when you can't feel that area.

Is this natural?

The Rock n Roll Singers Survival Manual by Mark Baxter
Raise you Voice by Jaime Vendera
Singing for the Stars by Seth Riggs
The Contemporary Singer by Anne Peckham
The Complete Vocal Workout A Step-by-Step Guide to Tough Vocals by Roger Kain

get those books if you can

[QUOTE=Surgicalgod]Hey. I was doin Merkaba's falsetto scream today (the ones at soundclick), anyway I was able to do most of them but I still dont get how to use that in a song, i still need practice I think. Anyway that's not the point. When I was done, I couldn't feel part of throat. It's like it's numb or anything, it's like I that area doesn't exist or something...hard to explain, it's only like in one small spot. I didn't feel pain or anything during the exercise or after it and I can still sing normally, it's just annoying when you can't feel that area.

Is this natural?[/QUOTE]

As long as you aren't feeling any pain I think you have nothing to worry about. I know when I do my screams afterwards my throat will feel numb and weird, it doesn't HURT, but you can deffinately FEEL the workout that you did. I usually end up talking funny for a little bit afterwards, but after a few hours it goes away.

I think it's safe to say that it's normal. Glad to hear that you are doing things correctly. =] Keep at it.

[QUOTE=Screamin_Demon_Auz]The Rock n Roll Singers Survival Manual by Mark Baxter
Raise you Voice by Jaime Vendera
Singing for the Stars by Seth Riggs
The Contemporary Singer by Anne Peckham
The Complete Vocal Workout A Step-by-Step Guide to Tough Vocals by Roger Kain

get those books if you can[/QUOTE]

Thanks. :thumb:

[QUOTE]As long as you aren't feeling any pain I think you have nothing to worry about. I know when I do my screams afterwards my throat will feel numb and weird, it doesn't HURT, but you can deffinately FEEL the workout that you did. I usually end up talking funny for a little bit afterwards, but after a few hours it goes away.

I think it's safe to say that it's normal. Glad to hear that you are doing things correctly. =] Keep at it.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I was just worried, it went away in 2 hours or so....so does that mean I'm heading in the wrong direction?

Another thing, I'm only 16 so I don't have my own place and was kinda wondering how you guys do your screaming practices. I mean my parents would think I'm psycho. Locking the door doesn't help as well; they can still hear it. Does practicing have the same effect if it's low in volume?

Thanks..

[QUOTE=fuzzyhair]well i was wanting merkaba to answer this (thanks for your answer though:thumb: ). I just didnt want to be following a tutorial some person using improper technique made. It is really cool. It focuses on growls. Everyone in my town wants to scream. I wanna growl!

EDIT: and about joining the band. I didnt want to be pressured into growling when i didnt want to, like if it starts to hurt. Thats why i wanted to wait a few months so i can develop it so i can have more stamina.[/QUOTE]
yea...and its the same area that I talk about in the voicehelp hotline when I say make the ANNKK sound like a wrong answer buzzer, or a typical growl or bark like a dog. Then you "take control" of it as Tony says...but you keep that feel and activate your cords to get the vowel you need. The shape of the mouth, as he mentioned, goes hand in hand with the vowel. Most death stuff has a lot of Ooh sounds,....kinda like a baboon/monkey lip thing. Most people can make a low baboon ormid to high monkey sound. Its all the same thing. But if youre gonna be doing this low stuff youre gonna have to be able to relax and opent the throat. Thats how you get it to sound full. Just warm up and experiment....and like he said, he's learned alot from being in the car and practicing.

[QUOTE=Merkaba-1]yea...and its the same area that I talk about in the voicehelp hotline when I say make the ANNKK sound like a wrong answer buzzer, or a typical growl or bark like a dog. Then you "take control" of it as Tony says...but you keep that feel and activate your cords to get the vowel you need. The shape of the mouth, as he mentioned, goes hand in hand with the vowel. Most death stuff has a lot of Ooh sounds,....kinda like a baboon/monkey lip thing. Most people can make a low baboon ormid to high monkey sound. Its all the same thing. But if youre gonna be doing this low stuff youre gonna have to be able to relax and opent the throat. Thats how you get it to sound full. Just warm up and experiment....and like he said, he's learned alot from being in the car and practicing.[/QUOTE]
Yeah it sorda helped me get some lamb of god stuff. low screams/ growls. Its all good though. my throat doesnt hurt that bad after i do it, so i must be doing it right. I will warm up though. Thanks!

[QUOTE=Surgicalgod]Yeah, I was just worried, it went away in 2 hours or so....so does that mean I'm heading in the wrong direction?

Another thing, I'm only 16 so I don't have my own place and was kinda wondering how you guys do your screaming practices. I mean my parents would think I'm psycho. Locking the door doesn't help as well; they can still hear it. Does practicing have the same effect if it's low in volume?

Thanks..[/QUOTE]
I usually pick a time when they arent home. But recently i moved my stuff in the basement, and they still may be able to hear me, but it's a lot less embarassing for me at least. Oh the pain may just be from the extra air. But if it goes away in a short pd. of time, 2 hours, you should be okay. If it persists then maybe not, but right now you are just breaking your voice in. If you were to compare it to guitar it would be the same as getting caluses.

Yeah, my mom is never home, so it makes finding a time to practice very easy.

[QUOTE]Oh the pain may just be from the extra air[/QUOTE]

No I never had pain, the 'lightness' of my throat went away this morning and now it seems that my throat has gotten heavier. Weird...it's like theres a ping pong ball shoved down my throat (this has happened to me before randomly - not related to singing). I can still sing everything right and I just did a range check (which made my throat feel even heavier) but it's still bugging me.
Other than that, I've been short of breath (I can't really understand why).

Has this ever happened to any of you guys when you tried screaming for the first time? I don't mind it happening this one time, but I sure hope this doesn't happen everytime I try this thing.

I'm hoping a good night sleep will fix this.

P.S: I only practiced for like 15 minutes.

[QUOTE=Surgicalgod]No I never had pain, the 'lightness' of my throat went away this morning and now it seems that my throat has gotten heavier. Weird...it's like theres a ping pong ball shoved down my throat (this has happened to me before randomly - not related to singing). I can still sing everything right and I just did a range check (which made my throat feel even heavier) but it's still bugging me.
Other than that, I've been short of breath (I can't really understand why).

Has this ever happened to any of you guys when you tried screaming for the first time? I don't mind it happening this one time, but I sure hope this doesn't happen everytime I try this thing.

I'm hoping a good night sleep will fix this.

P.S: I only practiced for like 15 minutes.[/QUOTE]
Did you do warmups. You should always do Vowels (AEIO) Do each one for about a minute and a half. And maybe do some other workouts. Sorry if you allready do. You may be pushing too much. Are you trying to be loud? If so just try to keep it at a speaking level. And sing into a PA or amp with some treble.

Okay Merkaba i think i actually did something right! I did warm-ups earlier today. Then tonight I just picked up the mic and started screaming along with different styles of scream music. I did some lamb of god, norma jean, and i screamed along with my friends band. I tried really hard not to push so hard so that i wouldnt hurt myself. I remembered to just imagine sending air into your head. After I did that i was screaming just fine. I still get squeaks hear and there and its not the best scream, but its something. So I did this for about an hour (a new record for me) and guess what? My throat barely hurts! The only pain I feel is a little bit on the top of my throat where i was pushing air and a little bit of muscle stress on the sides of my neck. But I think thats more from the face I make when I scream. So thank you very much Merkaba. You have taught me well!

oh and one other thing lol. to the right of my adams apple, i think its my vocal chord, feels kinda stressed. Is this normal? Is it normal to have on side hurt worst than the other? Thanks!

Sorry for going off topic, but Fuzz, did you see the replies to [url]http://www.musicianforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=424313[/url] (the thread on modes)?

Just lettin' ya know :).

[QUOTE=Trigger_003]Sorry for going off topic, but Fuzz, did you see the replies to [url]http://www.musicianforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=424313[/url] (the thread on modes)?

Just lettin' ya know :).[/QUOTE]
Thanks I totally forgot about that. I really appreciate it though!

[QUOTE=fuzzyhair]Okay Merkaba i think i actually did something right! I did warm-ups earlier today. Then tonight I just picked up the mic and started screaming along with different styles of scream music. I did some lamb of god, norma jean, and i screamed along with my friends band. I tried really hard not to push so hard so that i wouldnt hurt myself. I remembered to just imagine sending air into your head. After I did that i was screaming just fine. I still get squeaks hear and there and its not the best scream, but its something. So I did this for about an hour (a new record for me) and guess what? My throat barely hurts! The only pain I feel is a little bit on the top of my throat where i was pushing air and a little bit of muscle stress on the sides of my neck. But I think thats more from the face I make when I scream. So thank you very much Merkaba. You have taught me well!

oh and one other thing lol. to the right of my adams apple, i think its my vocal chord, feels kinda stressed. Is this normal? Is it normal to have on side hurt worst than the other? Thanks![/QUOTE]
could be your cord or your throat muscles. See how it feels after about 24 hours. Now when you do mid to high voicings see how it feels. If it hurts to do your highest true voice in a singing manner, you might want to lay off for a while. I couldnt really tell ya because its hard to tell what exactly youre talking about over the internet. So be careful.

Okay my throat is back to normal today.

I did warmups when I tried screaming, but I don't do the vowels seperately, I have a CD that has some great vocal warmups from a teacher that I know.

I'm still worried about this though. I mean I read everything Merkaba wrote on screaming and he keeps saying you're not supposed to feel any pain and then one of you guys pops in and says he felt pain after practice or something.

[QUOTE]My throat barely hurts![/QUOTE]

Does that mean it used to hurt more before? If so, doesn't that mean you're doin it the wrong way? I'm confused.

Another thing, I'm a natural singer and I've been singing for 6 years now, and I just want to acquire a new skill that I can use. I don't want to scream hard, I just want some rasp or light screams in some songs that I sing with my band...nothing heavy (something like a Seether 'rough' voice).

What I mean is I don't want to do any permanent damage, so can someone please explain this point to me? Are you supposed to feel a slight pain after screaming practices? And does screaming lessen the quality of your clean voice singing?

Thanks again.

Once you learn how to scream properly using your false cords you can make it as heavy as you want because youre not really using your cords to get the sound effect. But you can use more and more to increase the tone or intensity underneath it.

Yes, you shouldn't be getting any pain and I think he was having more pain before If I remember correctly.

I think if you warm up and warm down and know your limits you can increase your clean singing, just as bench press increases your chest related activity. However you will find various plateaus in either that require patience and technique to overcome, and there is always a ceiling for any given body, physically. Warm up, warm down, stay relaxed and take your time.