getting gruff vocals

Try recording first thing after you wake up before you do ANY talking or eating.

Uhhhh, I'm not sure that's good advice there Frank. I think he's talking about a loud tonal pushing vocal. Doing that type of singing without warming up a properly conditioned voice can cause permanent vocal chord damage. Doing Metallica (Hetfield type) singing is something that you either have or you don't. You can get closer to that sound by working on warming up gradually, and practicing breathing techniques such as diaphram (sic?) control. That technique he uses is very deceptive. He has a very powerful voice, that makes you think you can emulate it by forcing yourself to sing "gruffly". Trust me, you cant. I'm not trying to be a killjoy here. Just trying to keep you from hurting yourself.

Randy

p.s. When I said you "either got it or you don't", try to imagine any singer you want, that has a strong "clear" voice, trying to sing like Hetfield. Say, Steve Perry from Journey, or someone along those lines. Tough to do.

I have the opposite problem. I have to really think about it to NOT growl on vocals lol. I'm in a Dio tribute band, I can't help it. It's not something you can pick up right away. Keep practicing at it. Make sure you keep drinking lots of water during multiple takes or at a gig. All that friction you're creating on the throat needs lubrication. I would think the "quiet growling" mentioned above would sound un-ballsy and as weak as a weak falsetto sounds on heavy songs.

I wish I could explain things as eloquently as Yep. I do take some comfort that I was close to what he said. Just barely.

Randy

Yep, what about Don Henley, Joe Walsh, Tom Petty, Neil Young, and all those guys with kind of low voices who sing kind of hign? In addition, how about The Boss, how does he do his concert thing and still have a voice after all these years? No nodes!

I cant relate to these "techniques". Interesting. Im a natural tenor, 1st tenor and counter alto, but my voice isnt really too high when I talk, but not low either.

Maybe a natural tenor voice works different then these peoples voices yep? You got me thinking, and when it comes to singing, I have all the confidence in the world. It is what I do. Interesting notion.

I'm not sure this adds anything.....but in case it does....

I DO recall that on the liner notes of a Whitesnake album Coverdale's "equipment list" was simply, "Jack Daniels, Marlboro Reds, and a Wing and a Prayer." I couldn't help notice that he left Tawny off that list. And though I suppose he was somewhat kidding, those elements in conjunction with age and a hard lived road life all play into the final character of his voice - as well as a natural tendancy toward that style of vocal coupled with great control of all of the physical aspects of singing (breathing, diaphram, etc.)

I listened to YEP's MP3 of the different pallets. Those are legit. I'll buy it to a certain degree - though as he pointed out it could maybe be more instructional coming from someone who can actually sing really well. (No offense, Yep!)

Good technique is still required. Good diaphram support is still the key. You can "fake it" by singing from your throat, but that could lead to injury either immediately or over time. These guys who use that "fire pallet" and are good at it - while not straining - are still singing quite powerfully and not just from the throat. And the funny thing is that they sound like they're trashng their throats.

To clarify....for my own sake.....by powerfully, I don't necessarily mean LOUD. I mean that the power of the diaphram is actually "compressed" below/behind the vocal chords. It's sort of squeezed off more so than usual and projected to a different part of the pallet. Most of these guys who sing like that can do so loudly or fairly quietly. As Yep mentioned, it's a whole different way of singing. Almost a whole different way the air HITS the vocal cords, and a different path through the mouth.

Some guys can "whisper" it and pull it off....some guys can't. And many times, if you have to whisper it, layering will help as long as you can't hear the individual takes. Keep them tight.

Thanks for the feedback. I had wondered once about the whispering technique, but thought that the lack of air movement would yield results that sounded fake. Apparently it is possible, I'll play with it and build however I can off of it. That example s great yep, that's very helpful to me. I do think I should start off at low levels and see if it's something I could work up into a louder volume over time.

Thanks again for the responses, I'll give it shot and see how I can make it work for me.

ORIGINAL: Player
Yep, what about Don Henley, Joe Walsh, Tom Petty, Neil Young, and all those guys with kind of low voices who sing kind of hign? In addition, how about The Boss, how does he do his concert thing and still have a voice after all these years? No nodes!

if you get a chance check out tom petty's performance at the superbowl. he was barely singing. didn't work out for him as well live but it's probably a different story in the studio.

I recorded some tracks last night - after going at it for about 20 minutes I found my level to be higher. I think it went okay, I've got a lot of mixing to do before I know if I'm happy with it - but the rough sound is alright.

That's good to find out, eh Randy? You've got a nice voice that fits well to your music. I checked out some of the halftime show Jack, he sounded good - but it was clear it wasn't high energy singing going on there. I just quit smoking about a month ago, and I can tell a difference in lung capacity already.

Thanks Terry.

Check out the collab just posted in the songs forum I did with "marcos". This has the sort of gruff vocal I mentioned in my earlier post.

Randy