Heavy metal isn’t as damaging to the voice as you may think
Jun 10, 2024, 8:53 AM | Updated: 8:57 am
Chris Jay and and "Army of Freshmen" from Ventura, California play Kilby Court Sunday June 15, 2003. Heavy Metal singers might sound like they're screaming, but it's not damaging their voices the way a normal scream might. (Keith Johnson, Deseret News) (Submission date: 06/15/2003)
(Submission date: 06/15/2003)
SALT LAKE CITY — Heavy Metal singers might sound like they’re screaming, however, it might not be damaging their voices the way a normal scream might. With the right technique, it turns out all that screaming doesn’t damage a singer’s voice at all, according to a recent study.
University of Utah Speech Language Pathologist Dr. Amanda Stark is fighting the stigma that heavy metal damages your voice.
“A big thing that keeps coming up is like, ‘Oh a scream’s got to hurt,’ or, ‘That sounds painful. They’ve got to be doing damage,” she said. “And, it’s been quite the opposite.”
According to Stark, heavy metal singers produce their harsh vocals differently than clean vocals.
Heavy metal singers contract their airways in different ways. Done correctly, it enables them to safely produce the characteristic metal sound.
“Not only are they showing no damage to the vocal folds or the tissues of the throat,” Stark said. “But, they’re actually doing and producing these sounds with such a safety that that’s how they’re able to keep touring and doing show after show after show.”
According to Stark, the techniques are applicable in other genres, too.
“I believe, (they) can even be generalized to a lot of different voicing populations … outside of metal,” she said.
Dr. Stark has partnered with YouTuber The Charismatic Voice to create videos about their research. Together they hope to study more vocalists and better understand how they scream.
Josuee Sanchez is a reporter for KSL NewsRadio.
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