Cookie Monster Vocals

LazerBeakShiek

LazerBeakShiek

Well-known member
There were bands in the 80's that had a fake voice sound. Commonly used in LA hair metal. It was the precursor to cookie monster type Rrahh! deth metal vocals. Anybody know how it is done? Like, can a TC Voicelive rack do cookie monster? Never seen that preset for it.

Sometimes I'm thinking the vocals go through a filter. Like a 4 Pole follower square wave on a LFO set fast like a slicer. Vocals fluttering into a bunch of reverbs so the output sound is smoothed again. There has to be something synthetic to it.

How do they do it?

Think Britny Fox or Cinderella or Marichello or Ratt or ...they sound similar. Too similar.
Perfect example 1:08 starts it..
 
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That is actually their voices, it's part technique and part natural. It's a phegmy version of what Ted Nugent does. They sound like that live too. The guy from Cinderella has famously had all sorts of surgery on his throat because of it.
 
Yes this is vocal technique. This is one is unique however since while it sounds strong in the recording it actually is not a loud vocal sound when you make it yourself so it needs a lot of gain on the mic. You can get there by starting experimenting with vocal fry, that croaky sound your voice makes when you sing very softly and slightly constrict in the back of your mouth and then take that croak sound along into your singing. Be mindful however that this is different from screaming and grunting and should not ever be done loudly. That is how my vocal teacher explained the technique to me. It is however much older then the 80s. A well-known example of a similar sound is the first wow in James Browns' I feel Good.

Big caveat, different singers have different techniques to make similar sounds. Some have a healthy technique and can use the vocal effect for nights in a row. Others end up damaging their voices. If it hurts: stop and get a good teacher!
 
Its like layers of reverb effected voice. When I listen to the vocal, the only quality I hear is, that it is loud. I can barely recognize pitch information to sing it. there is no character to the voice other than the crowd of voices effect.

It is synthetic. My guess is a tight filter. Not some natural technique.

Singing in normal amounts does not hurt your voice.

That is Dizzy singing ..
 
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So..you hear one voice with a man doing a technique into a microphone?
or
A muffled kinda muppet voice into a huge crowd of reverb effected voices?

Cinderella Ratt Julliet Britny Fox Marichello all sound similar on the chorus especially. I hear a crowd with reverb. Effects. What did they have in 1988?

Don't say cocaine..But it would explain all the screaming.
 
Well, here are some of the isolated vocal tracks...

It's just delay and reverb. Well sung harmonies and/or gang vocals on the choruses.

I ran sound for Steven Pearcy's band Vertex a long time ago. That is simply what that guy sounds like.
 
There was a reply in my youtube, suggesting to put the microphone input through spring reverb first, then into a mic preamp. It supposedly thickens the reverb like LA in the 80's. I remain skeptical.
 
That seems a bit fishy. A mic won't put out enough signal to drive a spring reverb without going through the preamp first. It also sounds nothing like a spring reverb. It is most likely a plate reverb with some delay. That's what it sounds like to me.

All those albums were made in different studios by different people. Britny Fox and Cinderella were East Coast bands and recorded in New York.
 
Farview said:
That seems a bit fishy. A mic won't put out enough signal to drive a spring reverb without going through the preamp first.
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Yes, I thought that too. My thought was a rack reverb effect like PCM 90? Not an actual tank. Even then. A spring? instead of hall or plate, no I don't get it.

It was a chain order I was not familiar with. Reverb then preamp?

Sup Gecko? I meant damage occurs when you sing many nights in a row to fulfill a contractual obligation. You get sick and then push it. Damage occurs that cannot be fixed. Screaming to 80's bands, on the way home from work in the car, won't break it.
 
Farview said:
All those albums were made in different studios by different people. Britny Fox and Cinderella were East Coast bands and recorded in New York.
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Yes from all different places, and yet I think there are similarities that cannot be denied. I want to believe they were doing it a certain way. The equipment is the sound. The artist is only an operator.
 
gecko zzed said:
I'm not sure what yo mean by 'normal amounts', but in general, singing will not hurt your voice . . . so long as you are not singing in a way that is harmful to your voice.
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Yes I do agree. I just wanted to put a quick reminder. Regular singing won't hurt a voice quickly. But when you start to experiment with new sounds a lot of singers go through different tries and not all of them are healthy, that is okay if you keep listening to your body. There are certainly techniques that hurt voices, try whispering as loud as you possible can for a few minutes straight: hurts.

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This vocal teacher explains how to train up towards such a fry scream, if anyone wanted to give it a try.
 
Another thing. When I sing like that, I make all these weird faces. Like I am takin a shit. So I was getting to, how to stop that.

My solution could be something like cocaine. I hear cocaine makes your face numb and lifeless. That could have value to performers and models.

Drugs that make you feel good aren't for everybody. I don't mind though. I like to feel good.
 
This is where I'm at with my vocals. It sounds like Im taking a shit. How can I make it sound bigger?

Microphone is M88 Beyer. Apollo interface as preamp. No unison models or EQ. Compression is on guitar, bass, and voice channels. And a limiter on the master. Voice has some reverb too. I could not find a single reverb sound similar to a crowd. So I dimed all the reverb VST knobs at 11, and cut it to 15-20% wet/dry mix at the channel.

ADA amps and Fender guitars.

https://soundcloud.com/mark-c-746521042%2Fnew1-001
 
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