Here's finally some of my vocal stuff that I've hinted I might do. Since I don't have fancy recording devices other than my iPhone 4S, the quality is also according to that, so keep that in mind.
Most of my throat singing is just freestyle, random overtone melodies.
Everything is unedited without any additional effects.
0:00-0:46
Playing around with overtones with clean vocals.
0:46-
Throat singing, recorder with the phone mic next to my mouth.
1:08-1:42
Recorded this about 3 meters away the mic and I think I like this better; the distance adds a cool effect to it.
Oh, and I realized just when putting the tracks together, that I held this "note" for over 30 seconds! I was kind of surprised since when I previously had tried my max duration I maxed out 35 seconds emptying my lungs completely so over 30 secs without even trying is pretty good. I think that's a sign of improvement in technique.
1:44
Get down! - Lower pitch throat singing
2:09-2:36
High pitch.
2:48-
I came up with this melody that sounds like something I'd hear in Chinese or Far East -music.
3:22-
Growling. I know that it sounds kind of funny without any other instruments (not to forget that if you don't have any experience on metal music where growling is mostly used) that have a big role on building the music with the vocals, but it's useful for improvement-vise.
You can actually play with overtones similarly to throat singing to create different pitches, like the "toilet gargle". Hah, I love it.
3:46-4:20
This is from a song 'Grand Conjuration' by Opeth.
4:22-4:50
These vocals are from a track called 'Heaviest Matter In the Universe' by Gojira.
4:52-
Some higher pitch gutturals with that nasty black metal-ish sound, of a track 'The Forest That Weeps' by Wintersun.
Listening my own singing (or growling, whatever) is actually pretty good way to improve and I've already noticed that I sometimes tend to lose some of my intensity on the growls when I pronounce a lot of stuff, so I'll work with that to make it smoother.
If you're wondering, I've practiced growling vocals for few years now, throat singing maybe a year since I picked it up. And now I feel like I can show off some without sounding like a cringey role play character, lol. (Maybe I still am, let me know if you think so.)
And no, doing "extreme" vocals don't hurt your voice, or at least shouldn't. Of course at the beginning you'll have some accidents and you'll hurt your vocal chords (when you notice this STOP, and try again later). But when you find the right technique you can do it for extended periods of time without any damage. And trust me: it's all about the technique, not pure force clenching your throat. No, actually you should be relaxed so that your tissue in your throat can vibrate in the proper space which creates the effect.
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