HEVYDEVY FORUMS

Hi guys!

I'm a big DT fan, love his music and his vocals especially. I am just wondering if anyone has managed to get a similar effect on their voice like Dev's scream singing, and if so how it is done. A good example of what I'm talking about are the vocals at the beginning of Universe In a Ball, Bend It Like Bender, all the way through Addicted, or the verses os Shine. The answer many people seem to get is just add a lot of nasal grit to your voice but it isn't close to the same. Dev's is way closer to being a scream but yet has great range and pitch.

If anyone can help thanks! If not... Yay looking forward to Deconstruction and Ghost!

Can't help you, but I can say it's what first attracted me to Dev's stuff. No one else I have ever heard does heavy vocals like Devin. Melodic screaming FTW!

I don't get how he does it either. I kill my voice if I try it.

I've been trying to do it since 1993 when I first heard him sing this: http://mp3bear.com/steve-vai-dirty-black-hole

I never did have any luck. I sounded more like Brian Johnson from AC/DC. lol I was never much of a vocalist, anyway.

ppinkham wrote:I've been trying to do it since 1993 when I first heard him sing this: http://mp3bear.com/steve-vai-dirty-black-hole

I never did have any luck. I sounded more like Brian Johnson from AC/DC. lol I was never much of a vocalist, anyway.

Yes. Oh yes. Those vocals are incredible. Was going to mention that song but you beat me to it.

Everyones vocals are different, there's no point trying to imitate someone you've just got to go with how you sound. It just seems he's gifted with his awesomely powerful voice.

You pretty much hit the nail on the head. It's exactly the same as wanting to sing like someone else. Unless your voice is identical and you learnt in the same way, it ain't gonna happen. Learning to sing is hard enough as it is for some, you have to figure out what your singing voice is, some musicians take several albums to figure this out. Dev fortunately figured it out pretty early on in his career, but his earlier stuff performed live sounds more refined. Just figure out what YOUR singing style is and work on that Don't try to be Devin, be YOOOOOOOOOOU!

Exactly man, infact; if anything.. Attempting to sound like someone else damages your vocals, trust me.. I went through a phase of trying to sound like Dev with my vocals, but in the end of it all I simply don't have the range. I have a really deep voice, it actually hurts to get my screams/growls as high as him sometimes. You've just got to go with it, if it's a case of range as with me though, that can be worked on, but it's a very slow and gradual process to increase it with the right technique. There's some good youtube videos on how to do this if this is the case.

Hope this helped.

Joelieo wrote:Exactly man, infact; if anything.. Attempting to sound like someone else damages your vocals, trust me.. I went through a phase of trying to sound like Dev with my vocals, but in the end of it all I simply don't have the range. I have a really deep voice, it actually hurts to get my screams/growls as high as him sometimes. You've just got to go with it, if it's a case of range as with me though, that can be worked on, but it's a very slow and gradual process to increase it with the right technique. There's some good youtube videos on how to do this if this is the case.

Hope this helped.

I have the same problem, I see it as my equivalent of Dev style screams actually sounds like death growling. I'm slowly learning to pitch them better too, so hopefully with a lot more practice it'll be just as expressive/musical yet violent as Dev's scream singing. Having an extended baritone/bass voice doesn't often lend itself to lead vocals though so I'm still learning my clean voice and how to fit it into music without just being messy sounding, misplaced or like it's just backing vocals. Plus when practising along with CDs it's still weird singing along 2 octaves down to most things

RobD wrote:

Joelieo wrote:Exactly man, infact; if anything.. Attempting to sound like someone else damages your vocals, trust me.. I went through a phase of trying to sound like Dev with my vocals, but in the end of it all I simply don't have the range. I have a really deep voice, it actually hurts to get my screams/growls as high as him sometimes. You've just got to go with it, if it's a case of range as with me though, that can be worked on, but it's a very slow and gradual process to increase it with the right technique. There's some good youtube videos on how to do this if this is the case.

Hope this helped.

I have the same problem, I see it as my equivalent of Dev style screams actually sounds like death growling. I'm slowly learning to pitch them better too, so hopefully with a lot more practice it'll be just as expressive/musical yet violent as Dev's scream singing. Having an extended baritone/bass voice doesn't often lend itself to lead vocals though so I'm still learning my clean voice and how to fit it into music without just being messy sounding, misplaced or like it's just backing vocals. Plus when practising along with CDs it's still weird singing along 2 octaves down to most things

Ahaha indeed! Same here man.

If you're in a band try tuning down, I play an 8 string a lot for my solo project. Check it out if you want (www.soundcloud.com/joel-ayre).

All I can add is...Devin has a truly amazing voice, still don't know how he can sing after his years of "scream singing" (like that description ) with SYL. I think it is impossible to imitate, one has to find one's own voice (yeah, cliche I know).

Aggressive vocalists (well, proper ones) have training to ensure that their voices don't go kaput when they scream/howl/bark/shriek/growl

Lettuce wrote:Aggressive vocalists (well, proper ones) have training to ensure that their voices don't go kaput when they scream/howl/bark/shriek/growl

Yeah, when I started by myself and didn't know correct technique, I'd have to tread so carefully so I didn't hurt myself or do any damage. But the second I nailed a good technique it was like "Oh, THAT'S how you do it! What the hell was I doing before?" You still have to pace yourself, but when it clicks your voice progresses so much quicker. If I had to go on tour and do it, I'd need a lot more training and care, so doing it for fun isn't too bad at the moment for me

Feel sorry for people who do it every night though. Must be tough as nails.

RobD wrote:

Lettuce wrote:Aggressive vocalists (well, proper ones) have training to ensure that their voices don't go kaput when they scream/howl/bark/shriek/growl

Yeah, when I started by myself and didn't know correct technique, I'd have to tread so carefully so I didn't hurt myself or do any damage. But the second I nailed a good technique it was like "Oh, THAT'S how you do it! What the hell was I doing before?" You still have to pace yourself, but when it clicks your voice progresses so much quicker. If I had to go on tour and do it, I'd need a lot more training and care, so doing it for fun isn't too bad at the moment for me

Feel sorry for people who do it every night though. Must be tough as nails.

I know what you mean, I remember when I used to attempt to death growl by harshing up my throat and doing it in a lower pitch, but when I discovered about using the diaphragm it all changed.

It wasn't necessarily my use of the diaphragm that was my problem it was where I was producing the overtones for the growls. Working out how to force the air out so it resonates on the roof of your mouth instead of in the throat took a while to get, but once I got it, concentrating on things like breathing technique and power came much easier.

I ran my growls through Melodyne once they updated it to support polyphony, and it came up with about 5 or 6 notes per actual note because of the overtones. However right at the bottom was my chest notes and they were surprisingly well pitched, so I've tried using that to practice pitching growls. It's registering as bass notes (think the lowest I hit was a D1 with growl overtones) and while it feels like you have to almost exaggerate the pitch differences thanks to how much more power you need to growl properly, it's slowly getting easier to pitch them. It's helped add way more expression in my growling, but I'm a long way off full blown melodies.