Since a few people brought this up. And I'm sorry if it has been discussed at some point before. I looked for any other threads on this subject..

My goal at some point is to scream high pitched. Not exactly like Rob Halford, not quite that High. But higher than I do and full at the same time.

I can, however, scream. I can sound raspy at anytime. I learned this on my own when I first started singing. I wasn't doing it purposely. I just did it.

As for screaming, my scream is really hard to explain how and what I sound like. But I project my voice/scream up on the top of my mouth and head if that makes sense.

I'm not sure who to even compare it to, really. But to be honest, I'm not totally happy with that. I want a higher pitch sounding too. That's why I bough Mark Baxter secrets to screaming. I've only had it a few days.

And since people have recommended Zen of screamng I plan on getting that. I can also growl a little, but I'm not really into that.

If you were to listen to Because of me by Seether at the beginning of the song he screams really high and just the amount that I would like. It's full and high. I know that takes practice.

I know you Brandon and few other's are learning/have learned.

Just wondering what your thoughts are.

John, I could go on for DAYS about all the advice and tips on the gritty, but Jaime is wanting me to limit the amount of direct RYV info that I put onto this page, because of some of the other products and projects he's working on. PLUS, he wants people to buy the book, and not get everything for free that we have all paid for.

Granted, it's a free site, and he wants to keep it that way, but I just have to be careful with any of the RYV info that I put on here.

HERE'S THE GOOD NEWS!!! If you already have RYV, I'd be more than happy to discuss such matters with you in private.

As long as NO ONE takes advantage of me for doing this, you can contact me privately (if necessary) at brandonselvey@yahoo.com.

I WILL say that you're on the right track as far as placement. Sometimes I feel it more in the roof of my mouth than in my soft palate, too. So you're good on that one, bro.

I've been using these techniques for a while and I STILL have not perfected this sound. It takes a LOT of practice, but it's so worth it.

As far as screaming up HIGH, this will take a little longer. When I bought RYV, my original intentions were simply to strengthen my voice and learn the raspy techniques. I'm only now starting to really try to expand my range, BUT even Jaime agrees with me that you need to get comfortable hitting the high notes clean BEFORE trying to add rasp to them.

So my summarized advice would to be to SEPARATE your two desires before meshing them. Think of the range expansion and rasp techniques as two separate things, and work on them individually. And considering your ability to "rasp it up" pretty easily, I'd focus more on range expansion first, and THEN conquering the gritty stuff.

For more in depth analysis and discussion, just write to me at my e-mail address, and I'll fill you in, there.

P.S. As far as Melissa Cross's ZOS, buy her "Scream Xtra" CD as well. There's a TON of helpful and necessary information that's on the DVD, but Scream Xtra is a more in depth look into the actual techniques behind screaming, BUT if you don't also get the DVD, some of the terminology will throw you off on the CD.

Hope I've helped!

John,
I've been messing around with screaming for about 3 years now...I 've only been doing RYV for a year and a half. I know how to scream in many different ways...light rasp like Chris Daughtry, Mega rasp like Hetfield, super heavy notes screamed like Phil Anselmo, noteless growls like like Lamb of God, and high pitched head voice notes like Halford or Brian Johnson. So what is my problem you may ask?
The break point...C5...4 notes below it and maybe 2 notes above it. I can't navigate through it with grit and control. Like trying to sing a gritty line using those notes from back n forth over the break is like impossible for me. I end up gathering too much tension trying to avoid my voice from cracking. So like you, my goal is to get completely comfortable rasp just a little bit higher...like Seether.

Hey Brandon,
Any tips on how to work out this area?...should i concentrate on it more than really low notes or high notes? This area in general gives me problems...Sometimes when I sing even without grit through the area I mentioned above (the break) these notes sort of die out. Like the lose volume and become breathy. I've asked Jaime about it, he says it could be anything from dehydration, to poor technique, to an actual physical problem with my folds. I told Mark Baxter about this, he says it's not likely to be a problem with the folds (phewww) he said its more likely that I'm sending up a constant stream of air with is not working for the breathy notes around the break area.

P.S. Baxter also suggested the same thing as Jaime, that you should learn to sing all notes clean with minimal tension, then add grit. Adding grit requires an ever so slight manipulation of muscles in the throat, closing it very minimally. I believe that this fact combined with the fact that you utilizing many muscles when approaching the break in full voice, makes it really difficult to add grit without cracking. Too many muscles are working and you can't safetly approach the break region without having the folds flip into falsetto. So I know I have to get less tension going on around the break...but it is really hard for me.

Well, altered, part of the response that I originally wrote to John on here was to separate the two techniques. So my suggestion would probably be the same to you. If the raspiness by itself isn't a problem for you, then put it aside for a while and work on the RYV techniques to smooth out that area of your voice. Be sure to do them clean, though. After you're comfortable with those notes, THEN put some stank on it!