Rough growls are a special touch in black metal, death metal, and other extreme types of music. If you want to know how to growl like your favorite singer, learn their tips and tricks, as well as how to sing properly without ruining your voice.
Step
Method 1 of 3: Outer growl
Step 1. Breathe from the diaphragm
Sit up straight and mumble in a normal voice with your mouth closed. Place your hands on your stomach, just below the ribs, and mumble a few short times. When a person mumbles, a person uses their diaphragm and stomach muscles automatically, so your stomach will be pulled in, while your shoulders and chest will not move. Breathe from this position when you want to growl.
Place your hand on your stomach and mumble with your mouth closed. Increase the volume of your voice gradually. Do you feel your stomach shrink inward? This means that your diaphragm is relaxing and expelling air. This is where the sound will come from
Step 2. Pinch the throat
Open your jaw and make an "O" shape with your lips. Pull your lips to the back of your throat. The harder you pinch the back of your throat, the higher your growl will sound. Move your tongue slightly forward and loosen the pinch and the growl will be lower.
Try getting some air out. The back of the throat will vibrate slightly without making any sound. This vibration is a sign that you've done it right
Step 3. Exhale firmly but evenly
Practice deep breathing techniques with your diaphragm and position your throat properly, then try to exhale several times. Do it evenly but firmly enough so that there is enough sound from the throat. You'll hear a good low growl that's perfect for imitating animal sounds and metal songs.
- Snarl for a few seconds and let it fade. Practice raising and lowering the volume, and changing the volume a little bit. You will need some time to master this trick.
- Keep your hands on your stomach to make sure you breathe in as deeply as possible and squeeze air out of your diaphragm.
Step 4. Practice growling in nonsensical syllables
To help channel your throat sounds into something like music, you'll need to practice shaping and changing the pitch of your voice. The following syllables are a good fit to practice in your routine, while making them as even and smooth as possible:
- Yo
- Wi
- Ah
- Ra
Step 5. Don't cut off both ends
When growling, if you stop suddenly, you run the risk of losing your voice. The force required to stop the voice can be very harmful to the vocal cords, and your throat will hurt if you stop the sound suddenly instead of letting it stop gradually.
Step 6. Practice changing the pitch
For black metal vocals, you have to growl higher. Keep the tongue down and the head slightly tilted. Practice pinching your throat just enough to find the right type of voice and change the pitch.
Method 2 of 3: Deep growl
Step 1. Use deep growls for higher tunes
Generally, deep growls sound more "pig-like" and slightly high-pitched, but the sound can also be harsh like a bad guy's growl. You can also do a lot of things with this technique. They sound very similar, but it's a trick you can add to your singing repertoire to further complete your skills. The difference is only slight from the outward growl.
Step 2. Breathe from the diaphragm
Similar to the outer growl, focus on your diaphragm. Good respiratory support is essential for producing good notes in all singing techniques. Place your hands on your stomach and feel your diaphragm expand and contract as you breathe in.
To inhale, expand your stomach and lower your back ribs while keeping your chest and shoulders still. Practice breathing from the inside of your stomach, not your throat, so that your growl is as deep as possible
Step 3. Pinch your throat and inhale
Make an "O" shape with your lips, open your jaw, and point your tongue back in the same way as the outer growl. Begin to inhale in the same way as you exhale. Inhale lots of air deeply into your diaphragm.
Increase the volume and power gradually so you know how much you have to inhale to get the sound and pitch you want. Experiment for a while until you get used to it
Step 4. Start with the "we" syllable
The most common growl seems to center on the "we" syllable, because it feels most comfortable. This growl is often used to start songs in the black or death metal genre, so you can loosen up your voice at high volumes. Start practicing with the "we" syllable until you get used to it, then try more other syllables:
- Go
- Ra
- Dai
Step 5. Practice alternating inner and outer growl techniques
A good metal vocalist can switch between the two to be able to sing as much at once as the song needs. The more smoothly you alternate between inner and outer growls, the more powerful you will become as a grower.
Write down some lyrics and practice singing half in an outer growl and the other half in an inner growl. Try Opeth to practice: (outside growl) "We enter winter once again" / (inner growl) "Naked freezing from my breath"
Method 3 of 3: Snarling Vowels
Step 1. Always warm up your voice
Growling presses the throat much harder than other types of singing. Growling involves less vocal cords, but your throat can hurt quickly. You don't always have to warm up your vocal cords with tough exercises, but make sure you warm up your throat. Never start unprepared.
- Drink warm tea containing honey to help warm the throat. Avoid things like soda and milk, which can make your throat runny and make it difficult to sing.
- Do not smoke. Many inexperienced singers see smoking as a shortcut to a rough voice. They were almost right, only that smoking was a shortcut to addiction and disease, not good singing skills. The normal way will work much more effectively.
Step 2. Try growling the words
Even though it's hard to hear, it's better to growl the lyrics instead of just any syllable, right? To practice it, pick some of your favorite metal lyrics and practice pronouncing and shaping them while working out the growl technique.
- Don't try to imitate the original singer's voice. Everyone's growl is different. If your growl is lower or higher, it's not bad. Appreciate your unique voice.
- If you don't want to sing other people's songs, opt for readings from old English books or poems that rhyme and sound cool when sung in a death metal style. The most important thing is practice.
- Write your own metal song lyrics if you want to practice with a new piece. Good themes always include death, demons, dragons, serpents, winter, bitterness, and darkness. Get to work.
Step 3. Keep your body relaxed
Make sounds with thoughts and express with organs. Don't try to force the vocal cords to do things that should be avoided. Keep your throat relaxed.
- Intense growling shouldn't hurt the throat. If the opposite happens, revise your technique and make sure you breathe from your diaphragm.
- When you start growling, you're using muscles you've never used before, at a very strong rate. When the muscles around your neck or throat get tired, stop growling until you're done and start again later.
Step 4. Practice consistently
It's like lifting weights in the gym. You should use your muscles much more intensely than usual and then wait for them to recover before being used again at a higher rate each time you sing. If you stop growling for a long time, your ability to do so will decrease.
If you growl after a long rest, relax, as your stamina will decrease. However, you will progress much faster than the first time you practice
Step 5. Record yourself
This is a very useful way to find out if you've put out the right volume, pitch, and style. It is recommended that you record sound, then listen to it again and again after a few hours, so your mind will be able to spot even the smallest mistakes.
You don't need to record sophisticatedly or use music tracks. Just use a cell phone and listen to the results, or open a GarageBand or Audacity file and sing along to a song you like to help with practice
Step 6. Practice in short sessions
Black metal vocals can be painful if you try too hard after very long and intense practice sessions. Practice no more than 10-15 minutes a day at first. It will take time for your vocal cords to adjust to the pressure. In the end, your voice will sound better.
If you are in a lot of pain at first, stop and revise your technique. This may mean that you are pushing yourself too much
Tips
- Deep growls can damage the vocal cords in a number of ways, but are usually not painful. In general, it is recommended that you avoid deep vowels.
- Make sure you always warm up for about 10 minutes or so before training.
- Remember to drink warm water while practicing and performing.
- A growl never has to be loud. If you can't growl at a very low volume, it means you're not doing it right or need practice to get better at controlling it.
- Don't drink alcohol or smoke. Some people say these two things help, but they really don't; You will only damage your vocals and general health.
- This vocalization style is difficult to describe in words, much more difficult than 'clean' singing techniques, because growling is something personal and somewhat taboo to talk about. However, what we've described above are some of the most basic ways that might get you started if your sound fits the metal genre (or doesn't).
Warning
- Never push yourself. If your vocals are too low when performing, leave it alone. Don't damage your throat by trying to harden it.
- Watch your breath. Improper breathing can result in poor technique and organ damage.
