Disturbed - Down With The Sickness [2000, IL, Nu Metal]

You gotta stay relaxed and let it be above or below the vocal cords. I do below, but it comes out not sounding exactly right. I have trouble staying above the cords though.

There's videos on how to do it that are better than what I can write, but the key is keeping the throat relaxed and open

It sounds like a scream, but if you watch Draiman do it, he stays really loose physically. There's only the barest tension in his chest when he does it, enough to drive the air out from the diaphragm. It does seem like he's pulling from there anyway, though he likely is also pulling support from the abdomen as well, what with the volume he gets without a mike.

For me, I start with some loosening up, warm up my throat, then start with a deep growl. A grrrrrr in my chest. Then I pull in some deep belly breaths and let the growl rise until it's just under the vocal cords.

If you're fine with it being deeper, you can stop there, because that's where the barked "ah-ah" needs to sit anyway. But if you're shooting for the higher version he uses, carefully engage the cords and do the wah-ah-ah without tightening them. Then move it above them for a few soft ones before pushing hard with the air. That's when you let it rip.

All the shaping of the sounds is in the mouth. If you try to generate the ah parts in the back of the mouth, you're likely to end up with them further down, and engage your cords, which is when they end up feeling abused as hell for a half hour.

I genuinely suck at doing it in the same pitch Draiman does. I can't really scream at all without engaging my cords, and that shreds them. So I growl it out. Doesn't even scratch if I stay relaxed enough.

What's funny? I can't actually sing for shit. But I can do stuff like that well enough. The basic techniques are the same as you use to project your voice when doing public speaking unamplified, or in a crowd.

Thing is, you might not be able to get the same effect no matter how you go about it. Everyone's throat is a little different. If the false folds aren't shaped similar to a given performer, matching their sound is essentially impossible. So you have to play around and find different parts of the throat to give the vibration from. I've heard people do that intro scream from their palate, just behind the uvula, where it sounds more like the usual metalcore screams. I tried that, and it just fucking hurts to me, and sounds like shit as well, instead of cool

I have mastered it at this point I think. Sometimes me and my wife just do it at each other over and over when we're bored