how to make my screaming and yelling sound more hardcore

[davesec]

i'm having fun and recording a hardcore record. i don't really like the sound of my voice when i yell. are there any techniques i can employ to make my vocals sound ridiculously awesome? i was thinking about pitchbending them and maybe throw on some distortion (like what's used by pleasure forever) but is there anything else i can do?

for example, i really like the screaming done by the following bands:

http://www.myspace.com/MajRule

check out the first song 'sin in grey' - when i saw this band live the dude doing the higher vocals was barely yelling into the mic and was doing more of this whispery thing, and he didn't sound all that terrific. so i assume they must have had some fun in studio to make the vocals crazier.

same with these dudes:

http://www.myspace.com/pmfs

check out the vocals on the last song (belly full of hell). when i saw these dudes play in a basement the vocalist had to get the sound dude to crank up the PA all the way and basically did this wimpy little kitten-purr into the microphone. he later apologized to the sound guy saying he had the lungs of a 4 year old girl, but he sounds pretty fun on this song.

anyway, help me cheat on this one! to make things more fun, i have limited equipment: i've got a motu ultralite, an at 3035 (large diaphram) and cubase, so vsts would be preferred over whatever the hell protools use. i'm recording the rest of the record at a real studio, but i tried some vocal sessions and just wasn't happy with the sound. i'm thinking if i really put in the time at home i might come up with something that i'm happier with, and then have the dude at the studio mix it all down and hopefully not kill me for doing vocal tracks at home.

thanks very much for your time!

[basementproject]

Hey- I record hardcore bands a lot given the scene around here, so I may be able to help you out. The thing nobody really knows about screamers in alot of hardcore bands is that they don't literally scream. They do this weird stuff with their throat that sounds like screaming when amplified one hundred times.

What I do is run my mic pre super-hot, about as hot as I can get it, into protools (will work the same with cubase though, obviously). After this, squeeze the shit out of that puppy with a compressor. I'm talking like 8:1, 10:1, 15db of cut kinda compress. Add makeup gain till the track floats at peak, and adjust the levels from there.

The trick really lies in the vocalist. You have to be able to do the throaty thing. It's kinda hard to describe over a forum, but play around with your throat and you might get somewhere

[themagicmanmdt]

heh.

find what band accents the part of the scream you want, and bring it up / cut what you don't like.

[musicjunky]

You also might have better luck with a dynamic mic, it's worth a shot. Try a beta58 or SM57. I record a lot of live stuff, and the vocals always sound good for the hardcore bands just using a beta58.

[Mane1234]

Like any other cool sound in music the majority of it lies in the execution of it. Screaming is a skill that has to be developed. Some people are natural at it and seem to be able to do it effortlessly, Kurt Cobain as an example, Henry Rollins, HR from Bad Brains. Those guys make it look and sound easy but it's really a technique that has to be refined. Of course there are some studio techniques that can add to this like compression or EQ. My favorite was using an EV 664 and cranking the mic pre on my Soundcraft board. The mic was kinda mid rangy and with the added distortion from the pre it just worked really well for screamers.

Just keep working at it and find your own voice. Once you find it then you've turned the corner. Be careful not to blow your vocal cords out. Take the time to learn some proper vocal techniques.

[Recycled_Brains]

The thing nobody really knows about screamers in alot of hardcore bands is that they don't literally scream. They do this weird stuff with their throat that sounds like screaming when amplified one hundred times.

you can always tell when dudes are doing the fake scream thing, and it definately sounds a lot weaker than a vocalist who can do it for real.

You have to be able to do the throaty thing. It's kinda hard to describe over a forum, but play around with your throat and you might get somewhere

you certainly don't have to be able to do the throaty thing. most of the guys i work and play with don't. obviously there is a method of using your throat muscles to your advantage, just like any singer, but i don't think that's what this is refering to. if you think it sounds cool in context with the music, then that's ultimately what is best for you, but if you can figure out a way to get your vocals to sound heavy without faking it, then i'd say you'd be happier with the end result. it takes a hell of a lot more technique and talent than most people give credit for (i can't do it). a lot of what you're hearing on the more modern "hardcore" stuff is distortion and shitloads of compression.

best of luck....

-ryan

[Recycled_Brains]

couple more tips...

get pissed off. seriously, it helps. what do you do when you're really pissed? you scream. makes sense. you'll get much more useful, abrasive screaming out if you're pissed off about something. think about an ex-girlfriend or some chump that ripped you off or something. get pissed. that's what hardcore is. it's angst and anger personified through sound (i know, i know, it's more than that, but you get what i'm after...).

also, if you're recording into a mic that's on a stand (not hand-held), hold something in the hand that you'd normally use to hold the mic. like a screw-driver, or a maglight, or a roll of quarters, or a sm57 that's not plugged in, or a machete, etc. etc. you probably never notice how much you squeeze the shit out of your mic when you're performing live. your whole body tenses up. if you can grip something while you track, it helps.

-ryan

[davesec]

thanks for the tips, guys!

i'll try cranking the mic pre and compressing things a bit. fun times!

[Tragabigzanda]

Also really helpful is your diet; not sure what would work for you, but if I want an especially gravelly sound to my voice, I'll smoke a couple cigarettes, drink some beer or whiskey, and finish it all off with a tablespoon of olive-oil. Voila--some nice phlegm, and a scream that doesn't seem so dry & forced...

[trodden]

couple more tips...

get pissed off. seriously, it helps. what do you do when you're really pissed? you scream. makes sense. you'll get much more useful, abrasive screaming out if you're pissed off about something. think about an ex-girlfriend or some chump that ripped you off or something. get pissed. that's what hardcore is. it's angst and anger personified through sound (i know, i know, it's more than that, but you get what i'm after...).
-ryan

yep.

also, it just takes practice like any other types of "singing" I've been playing/screaming in bands for over ten years... it wasn't until about 3 years ago when i finally started getting a style/tone that i could work with and liked.

you really just have to throw it out there, not be afraid to show it all, become intense with the performance and get your point across.

[kakumei47]

You also might have better luck with a dynamic mic, it's worth a shot. Try a beta58 or SM57. I record a lot of live stuff, and the vocals always sound good for the hardcore bands just using a beta58.

definitely. an sm7 or 57 (or I'm sure beta58) would be my 1st choice. A 421 works well too. LDCs have always sounded worse for me on hardcore or screamy vocals.
Don't be afraid to reamp the vocals through a guitar amp or a pa that sounds ok hot. for me a little speaker sound helps make it sit and feel comfortable. I have a fender champ that gets used on vocals quite a bit. I rarely would use just that, but a little bit can make it have more the feel you think you get at a show...

[nacho459]

I was the singer for a hardcore band, and still record a good amount of hardcore. I found the key to a good HxC vocal was A) a good voice, and B) a "good" front end. Good meaning proper, not necessarily high end.

I almost always use a LDC unless the singer feels uncomfortable with one, then I go with a 58 but then I always have to EQ it a lot so it doesn't sound like crap when they cup it.

The key for me is this old Altec tube pre I use that breaks up but doesn't get all fuzzy like distortion, once you add in the rest of the band you really don't notice the pre breaking up, then compress the hell out of it but not so much that the breaths are super loud, although some breathiness can add a sense of urgency to the recording.

http://www.459audio.com/music/Everything.mp3

The above was recorded with...
DIY MXL "Royer mod" LDC > ALtec 1567a > DIY LA2A > Tape

[steveund]

The best one I think that can really put people to shame with his style is the lead singer for System of A Down. That band is crazy for one. But that guy can switch between parts like it's nothing.

I had a small band, didn't last to long, but the guy we had singing lead was learning to screem, and within a week or two the dude was screeming with the best of them. We only recorded some of our practice sessions and turned them into demos to let everyone hear what we were doing, by using a Camera.

But from the mic on the Camera, this guy's voice really carried on its own. No tricks no nothing, just really belted out. So it's just a matter of practicing, he went home horse for a few times, but after that It didn't faze him a bit.

[Brett Siler]

Yeah like everyone else said there is a technique to it.

One thing you might try is just go for a really grungy lofi kinda sound. Try recording with a hand held dynamic and then reamp the vocal track through a distorted guitar amp and mic that up. Blend the two together or just use the distorted track.

[8th_note]

I've recorded several hardcore bands and here's a few things I've found:

I pretty much agree with basementproject. It's mostly in the singing itself. Hardcore singers (if you wanto to call it that) don't scream. It's a special technique. I listened to the Majority Rule cut and the vocal sounds like it was recorded in a very straightforward manner. I don't hear any effects on the vocal track - I think the guy just sounds like that.

One thing I've done on the front end is to use a Presonus BlueTube and crank the drive to add a layer of dark distortion to the vocal if the guy is really raspy. I know that everybody hates this little preamp but it does have its uses.

I haven't used any reverb to speak of on hardcore vocals in the mixing stage. I've left them dry and used very little EQ. I've never used any kind of reamping or distortion plug. The bands seem to want to vocals buried but discernable. To get this you want to smash the hell out of them like basement suggests. In fact, experiment with smashing everything - even distorted guitars. A couple of the bands I did wanted their sound to be absolutely 2 dimensional - flat across the speakers. Have fun with the compressor.

I would say that if you're really screaming you're not going to get the proper effect. One guy I recorded actually got dizzy and had to take a break a couple times because he was pushing so hard on his diaphram. He would get into this crouching position like he was going to take a dump on my floor and emit the most evil sounding growl you've ever heard. He didn't sing very loud, though.