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Hey Singers!
I’m Justin Stoney - Founder of New York Vocal Coaching
welcoming you to Ep. 121 of Voice Lessons To The World.
I’m joined today by one of the world’s top distortion experts,
Nicolás Hormazábal.
Nicolás is on the cutting edge of the science behind vocal distortion.
Research studies, high speed camera imagining, education - you name it.
Welcome to Nicolás!
Hola!
Hi everyone, I’m Nicolás Hormazábal from Chile.
Thank you, Justin.
Great to have you!
For the next 5 episodes, Nicolás and I are going to
walk you through the world of rasp and distortion.
What distortions can we do?
How do we do them?
And how do we do them safely and sustainably.
Today’s topic - GROWLS.
Nicolas, hit us with your best growl.
Yes, of course I can.
Okay, can I try one of those?
Yeah yeah, right there, very good, yeah.
Nice, really nice.
Okay thank you, thank you.
Alright so, now a few quick disclaimers about Rasp and Distortion.
Number 1, Distortions should not hurt.
They are not loud.
The microphone does the work.
They are usually much less aggressive and much more subtle than we think.
They are not damaging to the voice if done properly.
Distortions take time.
Be patient with yourself and study with an expert if you can.
So, Nicolás - Growls - how would you describe this distortion?
I describe it as a distortion that tends to be more flappy than others.
It’s really dark in comparison to the other distortions.
And it’s really useful for CCM singers in general.
Awesome!
Well let’s come up with a formal definition here.
Growls are a ‘bulbous’ or ‘rattling’ quality thought to be produced by
the Arytenoid Cartilages vibrating at the back of the larynx
along with the Epiglottis which is pushed back by the tongue.
Now let’s listen to a few singers using Growls…
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So, how do we learn to do Growls?
Let’s look at three strategies.
First One, Character Voices.
So there are some character voices we can do, right?
Yeah.
For some American people we have Don Francisco
and he speaks like this with a lot of knurdle.
And sometimes he says something like…
[demonstrates]
And he uses a lot of growl on his voice.
Okay alright, Don Francisco, who else?
Umm, Master Yoda too.
Oh yes, Yoda, very good.
Okay, love that.
What about Kermit the Frog?
Or Miss Piggy, HYAH!
Yeah, yeah of course.
Louis Armstrong?
Louis Armstrong, yes of course.
I see trees of green, red roses too.
Great great.
So we can start playing with these character voices
as a first step.
Next Strategy - the Knurdle.
We’ve talked about the Knurdle before on the show.
Go back and check out that full episode.
But basically the Knurdle is a clenching of the root of the tongue.
The hyoglossus muscle.
Squeezing this muscle brings the tongue and the
larynx closer together.
And you get that kind of cartoony quality.
Go ahead and tense the back of your tongue
and feel a contraction right here.
That’s it!
If you’re doing it right, you feel this area get firm.
From there, your throat is in the right position for the distortion.
Now the third Strategy, the “Throat Clear With Tongue”
So, throat clearing?
Yep, we can use throat clearing plus knurdle.
So the main idea is to think of swallowing your tongue
and then clear your throat.
Yeah, that’s a way of producing growling.
You can also produce growling with or without the pitch.
Without the pitch sounds like…
[demonstrates]
And with the pitch sounds like…
[demonstrates]
Cool cool.
So yeah, combining that knurdle with that throat clear…
[demonstrates]
And putting them together!
Yeah!
Okay excellent!
Well, I hope that gets you off to a good start with growls.
In our next episode we’re going to take a look at
rasp!
Yes, False Fold Distortion.
If you’re a voice teacher looking to train distortions
or if you’re a singer looking to master distortions, here’s how to get rocking…
If you’d like to sing with Rasp and Distortion
visit newyorkvocalcoaching.com/distortion.
If you’re a voice teacher wanting to teach Rasp and Distortion
safely to your singers, please visit voiceteachertraining.com/distortion
and become a part of our worldwide community.
To get your copy of Justin Stoney's book Sing Like Never Before,
visit singlikeneverbefore.com
If you'd like a vocal course that you can do from home,
check out the Voice Lessons To The World Vocal Course.
Our 12 part program takes you on a journey from beginner
to master level vocal exercises.
Find it at VoiceLessonsToTheWorld.com.
Finally, if you'd like free vocal tips sent to you each day,
sign up at DailyVocalTips.com.
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