Recording a singer who wants to sound like he's screaming but he cant scream....

[John_McEnroe]

Hey guys I need some tips. Im recording a singer who has quite a good voice, but for one song he wants to sound like he is screaming at the top of his lungs.... but when he tries to actually do it, he pitches WAY up and it sounds disasterous. Ive tried getting him to sing it normally and then compressing the vocal to death and then using some overdrive plugins etc... but it just isnt sounding like what hes looking for.


Does anyone have any tips on how to make a non agressive sounding vocalist sound more agressive?

[largeunit]

Part of being a good singer is knowing the limitations of your own voice. He shouldn't be looking to you to make him sound like he's singing at the top of his lungs. He should be able to do it. If he can't do it, it's time to revise his strategy.

[John_McEnroe]

no I know, and he does as well actually. We arent really looking ot make him sound like something he isnt, just maybe for some tips on making him sound more "in your face" than he does.

[largeunit]

1176 with all the buttons in?

[84K]

If your have to give you client what he wants, try telling him to sing it 'straight' and you will distort it when he leaves. Then you can create a vocal sound for him with distortion (see many previous threads here for techniques). Then, you may have a secret sound for him that is your recipe.

[Reggie Love]

Sounds like you need to batter him with a hammer, I'm sure that would make him scream...

However, you could try the Muse / Pod trick, which already sounds quite dated I guess but is VERY inyerface

[slaves666]

I always find a Sansamp can help things.....I know you said you tried, but it can do wonders. If pitch is a problem, the band can try tuning a 1/2 step down, that gives him more range, and he should be able to push his voice more. Lastly, just tune the crap out of it.

[Schexnayder]

Use a green bullet mic. There is weird natural compression on that thing, which ends up giving some crazy distortion. I have used this as sort of "doubling" technique for some hardcore types in the past and it gave some awesome results. Maybe it would work here...just a thought.

[davenutz]

you could try reamping the vocal through a high gain guitar amp.and blending.

works well for the emo/screamo types.

[Prickstein]

Get him to overdub a track of him "screaming" in a whisper up close and personal with the mic. You know the kind of voice you use when describing how that new favourite metal song of yours goes without actually screaming your ring out to your mate. It's mostly just an "air" kind of sound. Blend that in with the original track and it should give it an added sense of power. And I agree with using a sansamp or plug in if you have one on the original track, just so it begins to break up as he starts to push it some.

[max cooper]

Originally Posted by Schexnayder

Use a green bullet mic. There is weird natural compression on that thing, which ends up giving some crazy distortion. I have used this as sort of "doubling" technique for some hardcore types in the past and it gave some awesome results. Maybe it would work here...just a thought.

Check the Red Devils 'King King' album for this technique.

Rick Rubin basically recorded these guys playing down at the King King (RIP). Lester (also RIP) sang thru a couple of Peavey PA speakers with a 58, and also the mic mentioned above thru an amp (when he wasn't playing harp.. damn good Sonny Boy vibe, too!)

Nice effect!

[Schexnayder]

Originally Posted by max cooper

Check the Red Devils 'King King' album for this technique.

YES! I knew I read it was used somewhere, prompting me to try it...just couldn't remember where...thanks!

[jmiller]

Didn't Al Jourgensen (of Ministry) used to chain a few compressors together at extreme settings or something? I heard about it but never saw any details...

[Schexnayder]

Originally Posted by jmiller

Didn't Al Jourgensen (of Ministry) used to chain a few compressors together at extreme settings or something? I heard about it but never saw any details...

I've heard these guys called the "loudest band ever" from quite a few sources...I can totally believe that.

[T_R_S]

Been there done that!

The singer comes in and says " I need to put in this AC/DC scream "
And I sitting there thinking yeah that would sound good in that spot.
He goes in and does it. It sounded like he just puked!

[everybody's x]

I third the green bullet, and run it into the front of a tube pre cranked to shit.
double it up until it sounds like he has balls. and make him hit the right note until hes screaming for real and naturally breaking up. the total loss of control scream may be exactly what the track needs
cornell does this on a song on bad motorfinger, its a scream gone totally awry and it is the most perfect thing for that song

[zimv20]

Originally Posted by Schexnayder

I've heard these guys called the "loudest band ever" from quite a few sources...I can totally believe that.

i saw them in comiskey park in, iirc, 1982. loud, but it was open air so it's hard to judge against the two other loudest bands i saw: Dinosaur Jr and My Bloody Valentine.

[AlexLakis]

Originally Posted by Prickstein

Get him to overdub a track of him "screaming" in a whisper up close and personal with the mic. You know the kind of voice you use when describing how that new favourite metal song of yours goes without actually screaming your ring out to your mate. It's mostly just an "air" kind of sound. Blend that in with the original track and it should give it an added sense of power.

Aye, it works, 'tis true.

[pixelhead]

i saw them in comiskey park in, iirc, 1982. loud, but it was open air so it's hard to judge against the two other loudest bands

Day in the park with the Police? I was there awesome ****ing show. And nothing like watching Joan Jett getting pelted by cups from the crowd.

[zimv20]

Originally Posted by pixelhead

Day in the park with the Police? I was there awesome ****ing show. And nothing like watching Joan Jett getting pelted by cups from the crowd.

yes! that was it! hilarious. also performing: Flock of Seagulls, the Fixx. anyone i'm forgetting?

[Frequency]

Originally Posted by John_McEnroe

Does anyone have any tips on how to make a non agressive sounding vocalist sound more agressive?

Just punch him real hard.

Make sure you have the mic ready.

[RoundBadge]

Send him to James Lugo for lessons

[84K]

Originally Posted by jmiller

Didn't Al Jourgensen (of Ministry) used to chain a few compressors together at extreme settings or something? I heard about it but never saw any details...

I know he mults his vocal and runs it through an Ibanez TS-808.

[Mike Caffrey]

I just made a singer more agressive on a recent track with a Transient Designer. It's not going to make him sound like he's screaming.

I think distortion will help a little, but if you really want to get the sound you're looking for, send him for a vocal lesson or two. There are vocal coaches who will teach the screaming vocal the right way.

[tsd]

yeah man, its all about tone, not volume... squeese the throat!!!

[84K]

Originally Posted by tsd

yeah man, its all about tone, not volume... squeese the throat!!!

Nah. I hate that. That's the hacker sh!t. Squeeze the balls and push from the gut. (Sorry, to the ladies for that one).

[Sqye]

Originally Posted by AlexLakis

Aye, it works, 'tis true.

Another vote for this technique. Try all or any of the below:

Record one normal take and one close up aggresive whispered take puched out from the gut - careful on this approach, though, because the singer can really injure their vocal chords with aggressive whispering. (you can compress the F*ck out of this one with a freq. dependant compressor - experiment with which freqs sound most "aggressive" against the other instruments, don't kill your tweeters, or give the listener a migraine 20 seconds into the song).

Distort/ eq the normal take and blend them together, possibly mixing the whispered track up. If this isn't effective enough, double up the vocals with other distorted voices or instruments. It could especially work if you can't really make out what the instruments are in the mix (like a modulated, eq'd, and distorted 2600 through a bull horn, etc). You don't even have to try to match the feel, pitch time and performance of the vocals EXACTLY - for example, a noisy large deisel tractor engine roughly approximating the vocal performance panning behind the whisper/ normal vocal combo (even subtly) though a lo freq comb filter, etc. can give a sense of aggression, motion and chaos that might be more suitable for the point of the song/ lyrics/ performance than a singer just "screaming" would. Listen to Trent Reznor or Lemmy (Motorhead) for this kind of inspiration.

Any kind of amp simulator w/ or w/o distortions, eq's, compressions, old style amp spring reverbs, any kind of notchy filters or modulators - there are a millions of these plug ins available now.
(There's nothing more frustrating than going through all this alternate set-up stuff - renting weird old PAs and micing them with some weird techniques and then failing. it'll take WAY less time to do this stuff with plugs. Then, when you discover an approach that works, you can record the "hi-fi" version if you guys are delivering mixes to Bob Ludwig or the like.

Also, don't make the vocal combo too loud against the other instruments, because this could give away the treatment versus performance. If this is a stripped down track instrumentally, you could be F*cked, but if the instruments are aggressive, then you'll be fine.

All this said, give me a singer who can scream their ass off, any day. I was once recording a 13 year old girl, and when I asked her to scream - she just did it without thinking at all. The problem with so many musicians is that our intellects, training and conditioning actually prevent us from being able to JUST DO SH*T on a recording. But some folks are naturally better at specific kinds of vocal expression than others ; ) If you're really going for a John Lennon, Chester Bennington or Sid Vicious hi velocity performance - often/ mostly performed full voice, then these techniques might not give you what you guys are looking for.

However, some of the greatest recordings happened because people were experimenting in the studio trying to get a particular sound, and instead ended up with something unexpectedly awesome and completely unintended (like many of the classic George Martin, Floyd, Bowie/ Eno studio adventure tales of yore).

Just keep the mind open, and you'll be cool - you may get something great that has nothing to do with what you were going for (if you guys can keep both of your egos out of the picture).

JM2CENTS

Then you can report in your BIG interview with Tape Op exactly how you guys went about getting the sound that's THE NEW RAGE

Anyway, good luck, and post when you're done if you have time.

[poncival]

Originally Posted by jmiller

Didn't Al Jourgensen (of Ministry) used to chain a few compressors together at extreme settings or something? I heard about it but never saw any details...

It's a combination of an extremely overdriven solid state EQ (for fear of being killed I can't say which one, but I can say, plug chan 1 into chan 2 and dial in your sound starting with everything at +15) and some very personalized H-3000's (I bet he has 20 of them right now)

You can see this very setup in this picture from Myspace... The EQ in question is at the bottom of the rack


And of course the mic satand helps dramatically too