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Rock Singing Success

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#1 place for rock and metal singers. Free resources, community, and courses for your singing and career. 🎤

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324 contributions to Rock Singing Success
A new song
This net label recently put out a compilation with this song of mine on it. I thought I'd share it here even though it doesn't have any particularly aggressive vocals in it. I'll be releasing this song later on my own album, more officially. https://dittanyofcrete.bandcamp.com/track/there-stalks-a-daeva-this-azimuth
1 like • 12h
@Don Davis I know how much you've put into learning mixing this last year. It was cool to read how much you've learned ⬆️. It was really cool to have heard the before results too. I recently was reminded of an old trick for creating a quick "fake" double that sounds very real. A modulated delay can quickly make a copied and pasted track sound like a double. Granted, you could also do two copies, move each over +/-20ms respectively, and then do a subtle pitch shift for each too. But a modulated delay gives the copied track the inconsistencies that you want from a real double. For vocal alignment, I've been using synchro Arts' Vocalign, but I know Waves and Melda both have VERY similar things for vocal alignment too (and cheaper). I can be difficult about artifacts sometimes though, so I've found time stretching certain parts that it can't seem to handle is the way to go. DynAssist and VoiceAssist have been game changers for me too, the former can handle multiple instruments, and the latter much more audio cleanup for voice specifically. Both handle automatic volume riding for dynamics, breaths, and sibilance; and are adjustable after it does it's thing. Powerful tools. i also have gotten into spectral, AI-assisted plugins (which can get you 60 to 70% of the way). Sonible's Smart:EQ 4, Smart:Comp 3, and Smart:Reverb 2 are my favorites right now. It saves me hours when grouping/bussing the instruments, then side-chaining those plugins within each instruments group and then again across the busses. E.g. With the EQ alone: I can put Smart:EQ on each vocal track that suggests an EQ curve based upon the spectrographic information, and can be adjusted after (my own EQ changes, mid/side, split, mix strength, or dynamic EQ). Then I create an EQ group for 1 lead vocal, 1 or 2 doubles, and then 3 background vocals. In that EQ group, I can arrange front, middle, and back priority in the mix, and it automatically adjusts/ducks them in real time. Next, I do the same for the busses (drums, bass, guitars, keys, etc), ensuring things like the drums and bass don't step on each other. Next, I bus the vocals against the instruments in an EQ group, to ensure the vocals can always stand out on top. I can do the same with their compressor and reverb too, along with AI assistance for MUCH faster adjustments.
1 like • 9h
@Don Davis DynAssist works well in transfer mode and works with multiple instruments. However, VoiceAssist in standalone is great. This process seems like a lot until you actually do it. I suppose you could always export from Logic, edit in VA standalone, and then bring that edited file back into Logic, but I don't like dealing with mono files that way. 1. In your Logic Project Option-drag the track header down in order to duplicate all regions along with the track. All regions on the new track are now selected. 2. Control-click one of the selected regions on the new track, and choose Convert > Convert to New Audio Files. 3. Note the new audio file name 4. Close Logic 5. Open VoiceAssist Standalone 6. Goto [logicx project file]>Show Package Contents>Media>Audio Files>[file you want to edit] 7. Drag and drop to Voice Assist to open 8. Edit in VoiceAssist 9. Export edited file 10. Rename to same as old audio file 11. Replace old audio file in logic project with the new processed file 12. Open Logic Project Optional: - Update File Information: Open the Project Audio Browser, select the file, and choose "Update file information" from the gear menu to refresh its metadata. - Refresh Audio Waveforms (Force Redraw): Select regions in the arrange window, go to the Audio File menu in the local menu bar, and choose Refresh Overview.
What causes lightheadedness while singing with grit?
I was recently made aware of epiglottal vibrations crossing over into my grit, so I've been consciously avoiding that. But the strange thing is, as soon as I have, trying to keep a more pure resonance higher up in my head, I started to experience lightheadedness, which has never happened before. What causes lightheadedness exactly? Am I tensing my neck too much?
1 like • 7d
Neck tension, pushing rather than bracing, too heavy in support/throttle, or squeezing/constricting too hard rather than shaping the tract for it—which helps you learn to balance and control distortion at various levels rather than on or off, full blast or none. That last part is the fine motor skills that take the longest to build into and what all the work is built around.
Memory
Hi guys, is it possible to forget how to distort and scream after a while not practicing, Knowing that it s a perfected skill, and would it be easier to get it back in that unfortunate case
1 like • 7d
Yes. Definitely. It's a fine motor skill that we can fall out of the habit and muscle memory of. And yes, you will gain it back faster since you had it before.
How Do We Avoid Pressing When Using Glottal Compression For Grit?
When I was first learning to sing, I acquired bad habit of pressing most of the time when I sing. This came about because my introduction to singing came via tutorials made by a coach who heavily implied that compression always makes a vocalist sound more interesting and that there is no such thing as over compressing. So, I started compressing and compressing hard! To be clear, when I say "compression", I'm talking about glottal compression and hypercompression, which are both about how much force you use to attain vocal cord closure. I took some lessons from a coach and found out that there absolutely is such a thing as compressing too much and I was doing it. My coach said I was "pressing" too much when I sang, even in clean singing. Pressing is really destructive because it involves literally pressing the vocal folds together hard while forcing them open by squeezing air through them. Pressing makes the vocal folds red, irritated and swollen, since you're literally squeezing air through your vocal folds while they're being tightly closed. Problem is, I don't understand the difference between using increased amounts of compression for grit and using pressing while singing. Don't compression (especially hypercompression) and pressing both involve using a lot of force to close the vocal cords while trying to force air through them? I find this the single most confusing thing about creating grit . I'm not asking about the decompresssed style of creating grit. I'm also not asking about the type of compression twang creates by narrowing the vocal tract, I'm ONLY asking about using glottal compression with enough force to create grit - the compression based style of creating grit that singers like Phil Anselmo, Rob Halford, Rob Zombie and Sully Erna use. Since creating grit requires more glottal compression than singing cleanly, how can you compress that hard (especially if using hypercompression) and somehow avoid pressing while you're doing it? It seems to me that "pressing" and "using a lot of glottal compression" are two different terms for the same thing. They both describe using a lot of force to achieve vocal fold closure, so isn't end result of either pressing while singing clean or using glottal compression with a lot of force to create grit, especially if it's hypercompressed (Phil Anselmo, Sully Erna, M. Shadows) is still going to be red, irritated, swollen vocal folds from trying to force air through tightly closed vocal cords and maybe even choking off the airflow and with it, the note you're trying to sing.
3 likes • 8d
I'm sorry this took me a while to get to. It's been a crazy week. Great question that I think amplifies the disparity and confusion that can come from learning from multiple vocal teachers in different pedagogies or methodologies. This confusion about twang compression and distortion is why I separate the use of compression (or lack thereof) in distortion from constriction. Some call this constriction a "compression of the supraglottic structures." But then saying "compression" suddenly takes on multple meanings and can get very confusing. More /ae/-ishness doesn't mean more distortion, it just means more bright sounds. Distortion requires more air, whether forcing it through compression or thinning out enough to not be able to hold it back. That's where adding the extra control of constriction for narrowing the vocal tract and "covering the true folds with the false cords" comes in handy. Acoustic placement, cry or sob, compression, and constriction (hyoid pull, whimper, whine, arytenoid "compression") are all related, but can be controlled individually for different shapes or balances that cause different sounds.
A study of Crawl Away by Tool
Over the past month or more I've been working on a study of sorts trying to get down the vocals for Crawl Away by Tool. It seemed like a good piece because there are long, drawn-out notes with heavier grit. I think I've gotten it to a place I'm satisfied with, although I probably am actually using more distortion than he does in the song. But I figured, hey, it is the skill I'm trying to learn so I may as well step it up a notch. This recording is after countless takes to get the very best ones, granted I was learning the more aggressive stuff more or less from scratch over that time. This is the vocals only, so I uploaded it to SoundCloud so you can see the waveform and skip over the silent parts. It was recorded through a compressor but otherwise it's completely dry. https://soundcloud.com/to_the_sun/crawl-away-a-cappella
1 like • 15d
This was a good attempt, as long as you're not shouting. I'm a little concerned with it sounding like your voice is moving a lot, and almost shouting for distortion. This often results in lack of control causing more unnecessary compression, pushing/shouting, grinding, and a cross between an overlay distortion (compressed to uncompressed bleeding air through the glottis) and a epiglottic distortion like a blues growl. I would be happy to go over this with you. There are a lot of foundational things that you're not balancing, making you overcompensate and cause other issues. In the end, those high pitched grit moments should feel more like over-crying or opening to a yawn, using the shape rather than forcing it.
1 like • 8d
@To the Sun Sorry for the wait. This last week has been nuts. Her's a quick walk through of what it takes to build vocal distortion—including the differences between Epiglotic, Compressed, and Uncompressed; harsh vs smooth in different ranges; and how breath support is different in vocal distortion.
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Draven Grey
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@draven-grey-6980
Over 30 years as a professional recording and performing musician, music career coach, rock singing coach, recording engineer, and storyteller.

Active 5h ago
Joined Jan 6, 2024
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Denver, CO USA
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