What do the Deftones use?

[KonradG]

I noticed that alot of rock bands use some modification to allow their scream to be nearly toneless. What exactly can be done to accomplish this? Ive just been using a small amount of distortion on a terrible mic and it sounds decent. Dont fuckin reply saying I cant accomplish this because its all in the voice, because it isnt. If you don't play metal, I appreciate your concern, but do not reply.
Konrad

 

[Noisybob]

I think they use some reverse eq to get rid of some tones. You would have to experiment, and see if this works. Some software has plugins that will emulate cheap mics, or telephones, and can add distortion. What software do you use to mix?

I know the frustration of people telling you it's impossible without the talent of the original artist. They are just people, and do it the same as us. I guess it's the fact they can practice more than we can. So, just experiment, and see if you can come up with sounds that appeal to you.

Good luck.
Bob

 

[Noisybob]

Found this post that might be interesting if you haven't read it yet.
https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=51043

 

[KonradG]

Thanks a million. to answer your question i use cool edit pro to mix. But if i was planning on tryin to get this sound live, the guitar pedal idea sounded damn good. The band came over tonight and i used a digital effects pedal through a cheap mic and it sounded good. I sang my own summer and the sound i got from this was decent. I got a sansamp ill try next time, voice is gone for now. Thanks.

 

[vangore]

you can bitch at me all you want but it took me a long time to learn how to do that scream like chino and its not a recording technique it up to the singer.

 

[chessrock]

Hey Vangore ...

You fake metal-head. Didn't you read Konrad's post? Don't fuchin' answer if you're gonna' give him some chit about how it's all in the singer bullchit.

Just messin' with you guys.

Yo, Konrad ... not sure what you mean by this near-toneless business. One would guess there's a combo of distortion, compression, EQ and reverb going on that kind of smoothens out the tone to a degree. There's also a certain amount of mic technique going on as well. If you step back from the mic a foot or so when you really start whaling, then you're going to get a much less "direct" sound, in addition to the room washing the voice out somewhat.

David Bowie used to do a trick where he'd have a room mic set up several feet away with a noise gate set on it. That way, the gate would open up only when he sang really loud ... putting a lot more of the room mic in to the equation on louder passages.

If you really dig the deftones vocal sound, by the way, I'd highly recommend investing in a Copperphone. They're fun mics ... good for helping you get that kind of low-fi, midrangy vocal thing : http://www.placidaudio.com/

 

[vangore]

see iv already been through all of this myself and that is the conclusion that i did come to, and yes i did read konrads post, obviously there is alot done to that scream in the mix but like i said its a completely diffrent meathod from the usual metal bellow thing.

 

[chessrock]

see iv already been through all of this myself and that is the conclusion that i did come to, and yes i did read konrads post, obviously there is alot done to that scream in the mix but like i said its a completely diffrent meathod from the usual metal bellow thing.

I was just messin' with ya. You are probably right ... Konrad's just going to have to go through the learning process.

 

[vangore]

woohoo im actually right about something, cheers chess.

 

[vigormusic]

I'd have to agree(sorry), that most of it is in the vocalist. There are alot of band that are too processed.
BUT
for a live sound, I suggest messing around alot with your mids. Just give a little reverb(depending on the room) and mess with your mids, low mids down and hi-mids up, just a little. try messing with it. Also, if you have a mid range frequency sweep, use that to get your sound.
Hope that made sense/helped a little

 

[KonradG]

you can bitch at me all you want but it took me a long time to learn how to do that scream like chino and its not a recording technique it up to the singer.

You're completely right, the vocalist makes the record. The reason I told you not to reply if you were going to say that is because I already knew this fact. If you have ever heard Jon Davis from Korn sing Twist, this is a perfect example of a metal scream and you would be crazy not to agree that this sound is hard to replicate. BUT, I have heard the un edited solo'd vocal track of Jon doing this and it sounds NOTHING like whats on the finished track. I have no problem with screaming metal at high or low pitches, but to get the sound (which everyone else helped me with) that I received by following the other posters advice, I now have a more solid sound out of the vocals. Thanks everyone.
Konrad

 

[vigormusic]

glad to help, (if I did)