Screaming....

[alex.parent]

My band's screamer quit last week. We are midway through recording a demo and last night my band's bassist and I attempted to do the screaming. To our surprise, it was actually half decent. I was just wondering if anyone had some suggestions on being consistent and preserving your voice. Any help/suggestions are more than welcome.

[nicwtor]

On being consistent, just practice a little bit each day and drink room temperature water while you do it. Also, before you start, warm up your voice. Normally before my band practices or I do any screaming, I put on Brand New or Bayside and just sing along for 20 minutes.

And how are you screaming when you scream. A lot of the time when people scream, they scream wrong and mess up their voice.

[OveriseFan]

On being consistent, just practice a little bit each day and drink room temperature water while you do it. Also, before you start, warm up your voice. Normally before my band practices or I do any screaming, I put on Brand New or Bayside and just sing along for 20 minutes.

And how are you screaming when you scream. A lot of the time when people scream, they scream wrong and mess up their voice.

And if he tells you he's doing it properly, how do you know he is? You don't.

There's no substitute for a good teacher, you can't learn how to sing/scream online. Sorry. You can get good tips, but you need someone there with you, physically, to guide you. Get a teacher, that's my recommendation.

[nicwtor]

And if he tells you he's doing it properly, how do you know he is? You don't.

There's no substitute for a good teacher, you can't learn how to sing/scream online. Sorry. You can get good tips, but you need someone there with you, physically, to guide you. Get a teacher, that's my recommendation.

Well I was just looking to see if he was screaming from his throat or not. Getting a teacher is the best way to learn but it is possible to teach yourself. Just make sure you scream from your diaphragm and not your throat.

[dumhed01]

You can fuck up your voice, one time i puked blood after a show.
It was kinda intense.
haha.

[Esrb99]

melissa cross.

[xmicxcorex]

I'm not gonna even attempt to give you any advice based off of what I, or my bands vocalist do. I discovered about 8 months ago that room temp water is the best over anything, as others have said.
I scream at a higher pitch entirely because that is what comes naturally from my diaphragm, and I haven't had time to actually work with it. My bands vocalist has taken time to train his diaphragm to be able to do lows, highs and sing fairly well.

The only advice you can listen to and take seriously though is a vocal teacher. The advice we give on here won't explain how to properly do any of it.

[silent_platypus]

melissa cross.
^Yes.

[eliselovesmusic]

Try singing if you wanna save your voice. Yes, I know I'm annoying.

[The Boathouse]

I wish there was a "like" button on here the way there is on facebook.

This is a lot like learning how to ride a bike. You probably wouldn't use youtube.

[Musformation.co]

Buy Melissa Cross's The Zen Of Screaming DVD. It's the manual also check out my site vocformation.com we have tips for singers everyday

[broken_lungs]

like 3 or 4 other people have already said in this thread - check out http://www.melissacross.com
there's 2 dvds out (zen of screaming 1 and 2). the first one deals with all the "basics" such as breathing, warm-ups, etc and the second one is about the different kinds of screams and how to do them without hurting your voice. you'd need to watch the first on to completely understand the second one though.

you're best bet would probably be to go and see her for a couple of lessons, but since your from michigan that might get a little expensive (she's in NYC fyi)

[OveriseFan]

like 3 or 4 other people have already said in this thread - check out http://www.melissacross.com
there's 2 dvds out (zen of screaming 1 and 2). the first one deals with all the "basics" such as breathing, warm-ups, etc and the second one is about the different kinds of screams and how to do them without hurting your voice. you'd need to watch the first on to completely understand the second one though.

you're best bet would probably be to go and see her for a couple of lessons, but since your from michigan that might get a little expensive (she's in NYC fyi)

But you can get a voice teacher in Michigan!

So get one!

[Misstamara]

i love screamo music! i dnt noe if girls can scream but lyk i can!

[broken_lungs]

But you can get a voice teacher in Michigan!

So get one!

true :-)

[broken_lungs]

But you can get a voice teacher in Michigan!

So get one!

true :-)

[splitsecond]

just make sure you do plenty of vocal warmups and scream from your diaphragm and not your throat. if not you can end up with serious damage to your vocal chords

[TheKenny]

My band's screamer quit last week. We are midway through recording a demo and last night my band's bassist and I attempted to do the screaming. To our surprise, it was actually half decent. I was just wondering if anyone had some suggestions on being consistent and preserving your voice. Any help/suggestions are more than welcome.

Gargle Salt water before you brush your teeth at night!

[OveriseFan]

Gargle Salt water before you brush your teeth at night!

Doing it at a time where your vocal cords will then not be used for 8-ish hours isn't really helpful.

The point of gargling is to get instant hydration to your vocal folds, because when you simply drink water it takes some time to actually hydrate you.

You should gargle about half an hour or so before singing/screaming, I'd say... Really though, it's all about hydration. Water, water, water. Drink it. Avoid caffeine (soda, coffee, etc.) and other dehydrating substances.

[anthonydarko]

I actually have trouble screaming from my diaphragm. For some reason, I can never do it right.

[J10elynne]

i love screamo music! i dnt noe if girls can scream but lyk i can!


www.myspace.com/victimorvictory (http://www.myspace.com/victimorvictory) the low screams are a girl. shes bad ass. and the band is legit as well.

[KyleFromMyspace]

I know it's been said a number of times. But definitely check out the Melissa Cross DVD's, find a vocal coach that will teach you singing and not totally turn you down from screaming. Screaming is the same concept as singing, when it comes to pushing from the diaphragm, do not push from the throat, and don't let the pressure get trapped there, if it ever hurts at all you're not doing it right. Nobody can stress enough the importance of finding a real vocal coach that actually knows what they're talking about.

[KenjiBeast]

Big hint:

If it hurts, you're doing it wrong, and if you keep doing it, you'll mess up your voice. A little bit of damage is inevitable, but if what you're doing hurts any way, you should stop doing it, or you won't be screaming for long.

[sorasbro22]

Like everyone's said, do it from your diaphragm. If you're doing it right, you'll feel it differently than if you're doing it wrong. Try breathing with your stomach area (diaphragm) then pushing that air out with the same muscle as you scream. Sorry if im not much help. it's hard to explain or help not in person.

[AndrewIcex]

Here is a little liquid tip that I have personally found helpful to make the screams more full and have more rasp on them.

In singing, drinking water and such is good, and drinking milk/chocolate milk is a big NONO, but in screaming... if you do it right, drinking milk can make the screams sound more full.

I personally prefer chocolate milk just cause I can enjoy a large amount of it and still be fine.

But for me, I focus in on my lows, it helps them more than it helps the highs, I like lows more anyway, so it helps me.

Oh and the reason this makes it more raspy, is because it puts a coat on your throat, so when it comes out, it comes out raspy, hence why this is a bad idea of you do both singing and screaming.

[ipunchcouches]

I'd watch those vids of melissa cross on youtube. Its like a documentary/lesson thing with interviews with Randy Blythe, phil labonte and a bunch of other guys saying how much she helped them.

Dont think of it as screaming, think of it more as yelling she says.

[ablueskytragedy]

I too have some questions about this. The way I scream is I aim for a very high note, which I generally have no problem hitting as I like to think of myself as a decent singer with good range, and as I hit that I note I just push really hard till the note breaks up and becomes extremely distorted and thus a scream. Am I doing this correctly? Sorry if I'm vague at times, just ask me to clarify.

[OveriseFan]

I too have some questions about this. The way I scream is I aim for a very high note, which I generally have no problem hitting as I like to think of myself as a decent singer with good range, and as I hit that I note I just push really hard till the note breaks up and becomes extremely distorted and thus a scream. Am I doing this correctly? Sorry if I'm vague at times, just ask me to clarify.

Doesn't sound like you're doing it correctly. Sounds like you're doing a lot of damage to your voice, straining it, and have ungodly amounts of air rushing through your vocal folds.

But, as said many times in this thread, no one here can help you. Get a teacher. Get a teacher. Get a teacher.

Learn to sing before you scream, as well. That's been mentioned, but i want to reiterate it. You need a strong foundation in singing before you even think about screaming.