Karaokefilter? How to shred.
April 23, 2018 2:49 PM Subscribe
This is an admittedly silly question and one I don't think is going to be easy to answer but I'm wondering about the vocal "shredding" (I think this is what one might call it) that occurs, among many other places I'm sure, in Brandi Carlile songs and how the hell you get your voice to do that.
I'm talking about what happens at 2:52 for instance in The Story. I have a hubristic conviction that I could do this song some justice at karaoke (her range is congenial for one), but honestly, how do you do that particular, quite wonderful thing? Simply singing louder doesn't do it. Possibly it's a knack one has or does not have.
Or?
I'm talking about what happens at 2:52 for instance in The Story. I have a hubristic conviction that I could do this song some justice at karaoke (her range is congenial for one), but honestly, how do you do that particular, quite wonderful thing? Simply singing louder doesn't do it. Possibly it's a knack one has or does not have.
Or?
Ken Tamplin on YouTube covers all sorts of rock singing techniques. I have only watched a couple and I'm not a singer, but he seems to advocate ways to produce rock sounds without injuring your vocal apparatus.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 3:46 PM on April 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 3:46 PM on April 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
I (a trained voice actor, and a casual, semi-trained singer) can only make that kind of sound when my voice is already injured from overuse / smoke exposure / illness. And the day after I make that kind of sound, my voice is worse- weaker and more fragile.
I don't think it's really possible to make that kind of sound in a way that's good for your voice. Too bad, because it's definitely a great sound and it's very desirable in a lot of voice work.
Most of the singers and actors I know with raspy voices are prone to losing their voices all the time, and they have nodules.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 8:15 PM on April 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
I don't think it's really possible to make that kind of sound in a way that's good for your voice. Too bad, because it's definitely a great sound and it's very desirable in a lot of voice work.
Most of the singers and actors I know with raspy voices are prone to losing their voices all the time, and they have nodules.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 8:15 PM on April 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
I suspect there’s a bunch of compression, some mild distortion, and some other audio fx used in production of that sound. Maybe some clipping, maybe some filtering, who knows. That is not a simple dry vocal, imo.
Sure, maybe some people can mangle their screamy overblown voices to do weird stuff that gives a basis for that sound (with or without acruing damage), but let’s not forget about modern recording studio magic.
If you want to make sounds like that you can practice vocal techniques, but you also may need to practice audio processing and production techniques.
posted by SaltySalticid at 9:06 PM on April 23, 2018
Sure, maybe some people can mangle their screamy overblown voices to do weird stuff that gives a basis for that sound (with or without acruing damage), but let’s not forget about modern recording studio magic.
If you want to make sounds like that you can practice vocal techniques, but you also may need to practice audio processing and production techniques.
posted by SaltySalticid at 9:06 PM on April 23, 2018
It's unlikely to be production techniques beyond what would normally be used in recording vocalists. Bonnie Raitt, for example, uses a more controlled version of the same squeaking/creaking. Search on terms like vocal fry, voice crack, creaking, and so on.
posted by ardgedee at 3:37 AM on April 24, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by ardgedee at 3:37 AM on April 24, 2018 [3 favorites]
I concur with ardgedee. There are a ton of standard production techniques used in recording vocalists but this doesn't sound like something outside of that to me. Is it still good for her vocal health? No, but throwing a baseball 95 mph over and over is not good for a baseball player's elbow, either.
That said, I'd advise that you aim for a toned-down version rather than trying to nail her delivery, as it's presumably not your full-time job to repeatedly torture then coddle your vocal cords.
posted by desuetude at 7:27 AM on April 24, 2018 [3 favorites]
That said, I'd advise that you aim for a toned-down version rather than trying to nail her delivery, as it's presumably not your full-time job to repeatedly torture then coddle your vocal cords.
posted by desuetude at 7:27 AM on April 24, 2018 [3 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by brainmouse at 2:59 PM on April 23, 2018 [3 favorites]