Linkin Park Voice

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I am not a big fan of distortion/metal/punk, but when I heard Linkin Park's "Crawling", I couldn't stop thinking, "wow, what a powerful voice/scream!" He sounds as he is going to puke his lungs out anytime. I mean, he really expressed that rage well. Nothing held back at all.

Now, besides screaming in the shower everyday for the next 3 months, how can I achieve that voice sound? A bit of distortion? doublin' the vocal? how about EQ, is there anything that can be done on EQ to enhance the "raw" part??

ps. When you double a track, and pan them hard left/right, they are no longer dead center, correct??

thanks in advance, guys :)
 
I think its more of a "you either got it or you don't" situation.

Still, try the usual suspects - distortion, compression, EQ if needed.
 
If you double or more your vocal for "fatness" don't pan them hard L&R, pan just off center and have one track more "up front" than the others. This draws less attention to the multiple tracks yet still sounds fat. It's even more effective if the tracks are recorded with different mics. Same thing works for guitars.
 
I have been practicing vocals for years now and have gotten my voice like that.
I can get as high as him but he can go 1 semi-tone higher than i can.

basically, artificial distortion will only work for a manson/reznor sound. If you want chester benginton(sp?)'s vox you've got to work on it. It takes a looong time. You cant just pick it up.
 
thanks, guys.

I have started screaming when I drive recently, and it KILLS my throat!! WEBCYAN, did you feel that you were goin to lose your voice when you first start practicing? Is there something I should watch out for in terms of protecting my throat? Is there a particular way to practice besides just screaming around?

M.Brane, thanks for the tip on panning. should I treat the panned tracks as background vocals? like less mids&lows on EQ, and a bit delay/reverb?
 
A1A2 said:

M.Brane, thanks for the tip on panning. should I treat the panned tracks as background vocals? like less mids&lows on EQ, and a bit delay/reverb?
Click to expand...

This is a tricky one. The idea is to have enough difference between the tracks to add complexity, but not so much that any "stick out" too much (kinda like adding spice to food). I prefer to accomplish this with different mics, positioning etc. I try not to EQ & rev if I can avoid it.

BTW one of the best tips I ever got for singing is this: the next time you yawn, start singing as your yawning. Keep your throat relaxed and don't worry about pitch. This is how your throat should feel whenever your singing. If your throat hurts after singing (or screaming) that means your not relaxed, and you WILL fuck up your voice if you do that repeatedly.
 
M.Brane:

when you say different mics, do you mean sing several times with dif mics or record 1 take with a few mics in front of you?

I tried your yawn way to sing, it does relax my throat, but as soon as I start to try adding some distorted scream to it, my throat starts to hurt...I guess it's really gonna take awhile to learn.

Thanks for the help
 
"I have been practicing vocals for years now and have gotten my voice like that"

The thing is, that Lincoln Park guy will only be able to sing like that for a couple of years probably. Its just going to kill your voice really. I mean it sounds cool and all, but its not going to last. listen to Metallica, they sing pretty harsh, but I dont think they are ripping out their vocal chords.

If you're screatching its just ruining your vocal chords. Probably not every now and then, but if you plan on singing every song, or even an entire song like that, I think it might not work out too well in the long run. Im no expert though, Thats just what Ive been told be some hard core vocalists.

As far as the record, Im sure they used a lot of extra vocal tracks to fatten the sound up.

Still, I love the way Kurt Cobain sounded
 
A1A2 said:
M.Brane:

when you say different mics, do you mean sing several times with dif mics or record 1 take with a few mics in front of you?
Click to expand...

You could do it either way. The one take with different mics only works if you have the inputs/mics. I could only do 2 at a time into my puter. :(


I tried your yawn way to sing, it does relax my throat, but as soon as I start to try adding some distorted scream to it, my throat starts to hurt...I guess it's really gonna take awhile to learn.
Click to expand...

Like playing an instrument, the more you do it the better you get at it. As long as you don't burn yourself out.;)

Thanks for the help
Click to expand...

Your welcome!:)
 
Whadda ya mean "he'll only be able to sing like that for a couple of years?"

Haven't you ever heard of "Lip Sync'ing?" :D
 
Can anyone name any screachy singers that can still pull it off? When you hear The Who, Zepplin, Kiss do comeback tours they always sound like shit on the screaming parts.

Dont practice it, record it while you can still do it and have somebody else double the part live.
 
"Dont practice it, record it while you can still do it"

.....I can't even get close to a scream that Linkin Park dude does....
 
"thanks, guys.

I have started screaming when I drive recently, and it KILLS my throat!! WEBCYAN, did you feel that you were goin to lose your voice when you first start practicing? Is there something I should watch out for in terms of protecting my throat? Is there a particular way to practice besides just screaming around?"

hehe...thats when i practiced too. driving.

just whatever you do DONT scream. I did that at first and simply got an infection for weeks. Besides if you do scream you could develope nodes and your voice will be shot for life. And surgury could really screw things up. ever heard steven tyler in his early days?

When I do that singing technique I dont scream. neither does he.
Manson screams, chester whateverhisnameis does somthing different. its impossible to put into words, you just have to feel it.
But DONT drink, smoke, scream, swallow steel wool, etc.
I did none of that and i still got it. Keep in mind it took me 3 years to get to that point. And it shouldnt hurt. It never hurts me. Plus, look at metallica, it still doesnt hurt them after 20 years.

Also....chester has a VERY high vocal range. As I said I can hit all his notes short a semi tone. He gets high. But not as high as the offspring guy or axl rose. now they HAVE to hurt...

Since you seem intent on this Ill try not to leave you hanging.
The main goal is stamina and sustain. When you do it your voice cant quiver or struggle to keep the note. I can "scream"(although its not really) like that for 13 seconds straight. If you go to mp3.com youll find tons of "singers" trying to do that same thing and they suck. Its cause their trying to scream.

Also....one of the things that makes chester's voice so good is melody. Hes good at it. very good. good tone with bad melody will get you no where.

------------

""I have been practicing vocals for years now and have gotten my voice like that"

The thing is, that Lincoln Park guy will only be able to sing like that for a couple of years probably. Its just going to kill your voice really. I mean it sounds cool and all, but its not going to last. listen to Metallica, they sing pretty harsh, but I dont think they are ripping out their vocal chords. "



well I dont sing like that in my own band. I do SOME times but not all the time like linkin park does/do?
my voice is a cross betwix maynard james keenan and some other stuff, linkin park included.

have a listen to this... hehe. its me trying to sound like maynard. I took samples of the song judith and eq'd out his vocals. I actually eq'd them so much that they are totally gone...but so are the guitars. its just like throbbing bass and cymbals. anyway, the first one is me, followed by the REAL MJK.

A1A2, want more pointers? email me and ill help you out.
sean@voxpox.com

 
Rant...

Linkin park is just the flavor of the week. If you want to hear raw singing that still retains melody listen to pantera. Phil Anselmo is hands down the best screamer rock has produced and his singing voice is incredible. If you listen to "vulgar display of power" just about every song on that record has a complex verse melody that is sang in a nuanced way while still being very raw. It makes your throat hurt just listening. He is also dead on live. Aside from their ability to write songs well that dont sound like each other (primarily bec the singing is melodic and follows scales and chords changes that are not as predictable as everything in the linkin park domain..also the phrasing is challenging ---not everything changes on the downbeat) pantera are actually good at their instruments. Vulgar is 10 years old and not much out there comes close.
There are many others who blow chester out of the water live and on CD in that genre. Pepper Keenan of C.O.C., Kirk Windstein of crowbar, System of a down, Taproot, In Flames, (even johnathan davis of korn) and many more. What those singers do in a more dynamic and "mature" way than Linkin park is control their tone while screaming or singing raw at the same time. They are also guys who didnt just start writing songs last year.

BTW for some pre-linkin-park-linkin park, check out stabbing westward. In terms of overall sound, songwriting style (holding a long high note thats usually a fifth above the rif...a cliche rock vocal move thats supposed to say --"Im baring my soul, everyone...can you feel it??") the electronic/industrial textures, etc.
 
WEBCYAN:
Thanks for your support. I listened to your mp3, but my internet connection has been real slow this week for some reason, so it was "skipping" when I listened.
SO, with the skipping, I couldn't tell if I heard 2 different people singing or not. Did you completely get rid of the original vocal or can it still be heard? Is there any chance for you to record a track with just the vocal, or maybe with a guitar track for me?

Anyways, I really appreciate your help. I have been practicing and once I get my vocal recorded(probably sometime next week), I will email you and ask you for suggestion.

thanks

AL
 
it skips with me every now and then too....and i have a T1...:confused:

i do have a full run through that i did of the song...but just not online.

there are 2 voices. the first one is me and the 2nd is the real vocals by maynard. On my parts his voice is totally gone. I severely EQ'd it to where he's totally out of there.

Keep in mind though that I recorded it with a sure sm57(it was all i had at the time) and i did it all in one take. I think I hit it pretty close throughout except on the "took all you had and" part. I didn't get my tone right. I normally can, but it was one take.

The main bit of advice i give to you is to vary your tone. Korn's Jonathon Davis does this almost too much. Manson too. It sounds like they have 10 different voices all which display a certain feeling and tone. Chester Benington(sp?) has 2 tones. Clean and Distorted. Thats it. After a while it will run its course.

Its best to come up with a wide array of vocal tones. Listen to maynard. He has a number of tones.
One is the "crooning" chest voice he uses on songs like 3 libras.
Another is the "whispering" breathy sound like when he sings "took all you had and" on Judith.
Another is the "scream" you speak of when he sings the last line "Did it all for you." on the end of Judith.
Then there's the very loud and very well sustained full mellow rich yell/scream without distortion that he uses on things like the yell near the begining of Tool's Parabola.

The key here is to become an expert on tone. That doesnt mean just screaming. There's a difference between screaming and very controled vocal tone. Screaming is what crap bands like slipknot do. Controlled vocal tones is what Maynard JK, and to an extent Mr. Chester do.

But dont feel bad that you cant do it now.
I've been working on vocal tone, dynamic variance, meter, phrasing, and pitch range for years now(and im only 19 btw...).
I never thought I would get into singing. I was driving one day while listening to a Korn song(i used to be big on them) and I attempted to sing along. I found that I sucked. Then I (BIG MISTAKE) tried to "scream" in the fashion of Marilyn Manson.
It took about 3 years to get the tone down perfect and a year to increase my range quite a bit.

Work on those 2 things. Tone and Range. If you have a low range youll come off sounding like gavin rossdale or eddie vedder...or god forbid, that creed guy. Chester has VEEEERY high range.

Anyway, give me your email and Ill send you the full Judith recording I made as well as a cover of Nirvana's In Bloom that I made 2 years ago. There's a huuuge difference.

this is a long post isnt it?

like i said, email me and ill help you out.
If you provide me with some more info I can try and help you shorten learning time from 3 years to like a year or less.


one more thing. You might be frusterated with your abilities now. But this will make you feel ALOT better. Trust me. "Beautiful People". *shudders* I felt almost as sorry for him as I do when I see that Nickelback guy sing live. *shudders again*

http://www.schulte.org/mysongs/manson.html
 
Usually when you hear a singer "scream" they often aren't really screaming, but making theyre voice sound like a scream. It's like doing an impression of something. you just change your voice. Of course there are paople that really do seem to be screaming or yelling like Phil Anselmo of Pantera or Kud of Mudvayne. but one of the best examples of "fake screaming" is Dani Filth from Cradle of Filth. He does screams that are higher pitched than any of the previously mentioned singers. Download "Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids" and you'll see what I mean. He has a trademark high pitched descending scream that sounds like hes screaming his lungs out but when you see him do it live you can totally tell that its just a weird shreik that doesn't seem to be very loud.
 
I'd say, don't try to sing like anybody, go with what you got. You can learn tricks through from other people, such as the Linkin Park guy, but if you try to sing *just* like him you'll only be discouraged - You guys don't share the same vocal cords and may not even be in the same range. I'm not saying that you don't or can't sing good, just that you are two completely different people and are not built the same way.

Besides who wants to here another rip-off singer. I don't know how many Pearl Jam, Creed, Matchbox 20-like people I've heard.

-Sal
 
too true.
but thats a fine way to learn.
I learned all about tone variance, sustain, range, etc. from maynard. He is my "vocal mentor" and he doesnt even know it.
I once recorded myself singing The Hollow over EQ'd out vocals and let my brother listen to it without saying it was me. He said it sounded a little different from the original(which he's prob. heard 100 times). He thought it was probably a recording from a concert or a demo version of the song.
When I told him it was me he flipped out.
It was cool for a while being able to rip off the best damn singer to have ever lived, but when the time came to start my own band I needed my own identity.
I have since found that, and while i still have retained elements of maynard I have my own sound that is strong on its own.

Develop your own style. Being able to sing JUST like the linkin park guy will be a novelty for a while but if you try to start a band and get signed you wont last long.

Look at Oleander. First time I heard "Why Im Here" I thought "I didnt know Nirvana had a song like this??
Same with that hoobastank/incubus thing.
1 year from now hoobastank will be long gone just like oleander is now.

Do what I did. ;) Develope own style, and just use others as a reference or learning tool(npi).
 
Take a listen to either of the Filter albums for some excellent screaming (as well as amazing production on the second album). I saw them live, and Richard Patrick literally doubles himself over while screaming. It looks as if he's expelling every last ounce of air from his body to get those sounds out of his mouth.

And therein lies what I've found to be the secret: air control. Take a huge breath, fill up your entire body with air. Then push it out of your throat as hard as you can, but without tightening your throat. I like to think of it as a reverse beer-bong. If you tighten your throat, you're gonna hurt after you do it. If you leave everything loose, what happens is that you're letting your lungs control the tone (as determined by the amount of air being pushed out of them) as opposed to your throat.

It shouldn't hurt. If it burns or feels raw, you're doing it wrong.

The hard part isn't getting the tone, I've found. The hard part is getting decent notes to go along with the tone. It's almost like trying to tame a hurricane.

Good luck!

Ryan

P.S. For an example of my "screaming", check out "Dead Alibis" and the end of "Say a Prayer" at http://mp3.com/37point5
 
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