Hi all and welcome to my screaming vocals guide / tips. This should give you a great idea on how to start off.
First of all, a little about myself. My name is Stephen, I have been screaming for merely 1 month now but i have gotten so much better of the last week. My mate and me are currently working on a song and making a band.
Anyway, enjoy the whole guide
Your voice
The first thing you need to do is find your vocal range. To do this, keep singing a certain word at different pitches and see which one feels the most comfortable and natural to you.
Always drink room temperature water before, during breaks, and after screaming, always.
Do not ever scream while you are sick, it will damage your voice.
Never force your voice.
This may be the most important thing that I say on this entire website. Why? Because if you don't know how to scream... If you don't scream with proper technique... You will damage your voice. Period.
I know when you hear people screaming in heavy metal bands, it sounds downright aggressive. This doesn't mean you have to be aggressive with your vocal chords!
These singers use a special technique to produce these sounds. More on this in a moment...
If you shout / yell / or force the voice in any other way, you will end up with a sore throat more often and not. And it can be worse than just a sore throat. You could wind up in hospital getting vocal nodules removed. So please....
...... No yelling!
The correct way to scream is using a technique called vocal fry. Vocal fry is the noise that happens when the vocal chords vibrate very slowly. If you imitate Elma Fudd saying "Be wery wery quite. I'm hunting wabbit", you will be using vocal fry.
The great thing about vocal fry, is you can use it as much or as little as you like. You can..
- Use a "pure" vocal fry sound to give the impression of a full scream.
- You can sing a note while adding a little vocal fry. This will give your sound an aggressive "buzz".
- You can sing a note and finish it with a vocal fry "scream".
Mastering this technique gives you a lot of artistic freedom. It's especially handy if you sing heavy metal, punk, hard rock, or anything similar.
Gain in volume and aggression through practice. This is how you build it up into a big sound. When you first start practicing vocal fry, it will likely sound quite small. With practice though, you will sound like a raging monster!
Experiment with the sound and record yourself frequently. This will give you an idea of what it sounds like outside your head.
Remember... Never force your voice. Your larynx (voice box) is extremely delicate, and too much air can cause a lot of damage.
Vocal fry doesn't require much air at all, so don't use more than you need.
