Dont make this an idiotic flaming thread.

When I first started listening to metal type stuff (deathcore/death metal/metalcore) I thought screaming was something that only few people could do properly.
My view on it now is that its just like singing, basically anyone can do it with a little practice but also like singing just because you say you can do it doesnt make people wanna listen to you.
I basically view screaming as just another instrument. I understand a lot of people completely hate the genre, but thats your opinion. Some bands like for example asking alexandria, danny worsnop has a very small range, and sounds completely awful life. Other screamers such as the singer of August Burns Red sounds great. I listen to lots of stuff, but i figured id just use some popular bands as an example.

Post up what you think about it, is it simple? is it hard? Is it for people who cant sing?

I personally like the singers who can do wonderful cleans and have a huge screaming range.

Opinions?

Screaming is for girls.

I hate it when people call themselves screamers.

Douche chills

Love how everybody hates on music in this section, so fucking elitist and cocky...

Anyway, screaming, in my opinion and experience, is something that anybody can do, but not right off the bat. It's essentially the same as singing in that regard. You have to train your vocal chords as well or you risk damaging them. I remember somebody told me how awesome it was that the vocalist for the Deftones would spit up blood after a show and nothing against the Deftones, don't know them too well, but that should never happen. That's bad news, you shouldn't ever be damaging your voice if you have proper technique.

It's not hard to learn, it's just that you can't just scream like you do when you're pissed either, it's a much more controlled thing. Once you learn the basics, it can get very deep into technique, just as singing does. Vocal range is part of what defines a well rounded "screamer" in my opinion. I would rather call it a vocalist though, "screamer" sounds... shitty. I haven't heard any ABR in quite a long time, though I happen to be wearing an old ABR shirt today haha, but their original vocalist, Josh was quite good at keeping a meaty, low mid growl sustained. He was a solid vocalist, my favorite of theirs in fact but that's because I adore Thrill Seeker. The last guy I heard, Jake, I don't know if they've changed their lineup, I fell off after Messengers, he had a solid range. The thing about ABR is they don't use clean vocals, at least they didn't back when I was big into them so judging him on full spectrum vocals isn't really fair.

I rarely, and I mean rarely, listen to metal now but I provided vocals for a couple bands some years ago and it was a lot of fun. It always bugs me when people assume that somebody is literally just flipping out and screaming. There's so much more dynamic and control that goes into it, not to mention breathing and vocal techniques. Consider the speed of the music you are playing and rhythm of the vocals, things can change DRASTICALLY here. In faster tempo metal your breath control will need to be solid otherwise you will be panting between vocals. Just shows another reason why technique pays off. Ideally, in my opinion, a really truly well rounded vocalist can sing very well and also scream with a wide range of pitch and character. There's so many different types of screams and growls that span just about every genre of metal, there's definitely not just some random dude doing it for the big bands. Vocalists come in varieties of experience and expertise just like guitarists, bassists and drummers. They know what they are doing and even if they don't practice much, they have learned a technique that they use, otherwise, they are probably ending up like the Deftones dude, spitting up blood every show and going hoarse after 10 years of it. Finally, there are also some things you can do to help treat your voice or to attain certain qualities like more "phlegm-ey" for "wetter" sounding vocals. These things include different types of drinks or things like that to help your voice. A teaspoon of honey can help a lot with certain things.

Also worth mentioning is if you scream enough and often enough you can change the character of your voice which may or may not be desirable. Some people are after a raspier voice and this definitely CAN contribute to that over time even with proper techniques but if you do a show and the next day you can't talk, you're doing it wrong.

Edit: I also meant to comment on the "is it for people who can't sing" part. No, I don't think so. It's simply another flavor. Some people hate it, some people love it. When I first heard screaming in metal I thought it was a joke but overtime I grew to enjoy it and connect with it. It brings a new emotional flavor to the table and it can be done in so many ways. Of course, bands have been doing it for long before the "core" metals came out as well... and by "core" I'm referring to "metalcore" etc. not like the "main metal" or something. I mean really all I can say is it's another flavor. Check out some old punk, they scream in that but it's an entirely different flavor from the metalcore scene, as is the death metal scene which features a lot more growls in my experience. For me, my favorite vocalist is probably the guy from Straight Reads The Line but I don't think he does any of the clean vocals, I think that's their guitarist and maybe the drummer? But his screaming range and his lung capacity, especially for somebody who smokes and drinks like he does, is pretty incredible. Also the guy from As I Lay Dying isn't bad, he does some nice cleans as well but his range and clarity just aren't up there with SRTL in my opinion and plus AILD kind of bores me as a band. Anyway, that's all I've got to say for now.

This post was edited by HERETICtheory on Jun 5 2012 08:51pm

lol, tl;dr... csb, ect ect ect.

Quality input right here.

We share very similar opinions

That's it

yeah i basically hear it as a sound effect, like how dubstep seems to be defined by that one lolsy sound, WOB WUBWUBWOB. only i'd give more credit to screams cuz they're produced naturally. same for growls, i don't listen to much unless there are clean vocals (singing) along with the screams or growls (sounds)

This post was edited by dothe on Jun 8 2012 03:58pm

The band that got me into anything screaming related was Parkway Drive, but im young so I didnt really know this shit existed 3-4 years ago.