I would think that compressed would give more subharmonics and deeper levels of subharmonics than decompressed overlays since the decompressed girt has been described as "smoother" and maybe also because it's a lower effort technique than compression which is high intensity enough that after an A#4 or maybe a B4 it becomes impossible. Besides using compression based grit, is there anything else such as extra constriction or lots of subglottal pressure that would also help make that "hard as granite" sound? I've tried looking into this and the closest thing I could find to answer is that maybe, what I'm after is a "dark" gritty sound and I heard it said that men with wide jaws and big necks tend to create dark sounds while guys with narrow jaws and smaller necks tend to create brighter sounds. Phil Anselmo sings an A#4 in 1:15 of this song when he sings the words "A NEW LEVEL"! ( Link right below) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=li91V6m_OR0&list=OLAK5uy_mEdSGtZnpiyztGgEaIYURc_q9S6egIHek&index=2 To me this sounds like straight compression (what you would call upper grunt???) - please let me know if I'm right and if I'm not, then what technqiue does he sing those three words with? Its my understanding that A#4 is very high for straight compression but he seems to be handling it with no problem. I bet he could have done a B4 with the same technique. HERE! He sings.some B4s in the song "MOUTH FOR WAR" with what sounds like all compression when at the 50 second ,mark she starts singing "been constantly so frustrated" - most of these words are sung at B4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3JSbOt7CLo&list=OLAK5uy_mEdSGtZnpiyztGgEaIYURc_q9S6egIHek&index=1 Why is it that we can't go above A#4 or B4 with compression based methods? Is it too hard....Would it just sound bad...Or is it just too dangerous?.

I've done so much work to try to create as much distortion as guys like Anselmo and Halford that if rather than a metal type distortion, I want more of a Mick Jagger type grit, I don't know how. The false folds are either activated or they're not and when they are, it's like a metal type grit. The lighter, more rock type grit like on "Start Me Up"...I don't know how to do it. If I tried to sing this it would probably sound more like Rob Halford than Mick Jagger. For those who don't know the sound I'm talking about, this is Start Me Up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGyOaCXr8Lw&list=RDSGyOaCXr8Lw&start_radio=1 I would think Jagger just isn't activating the false folds as much as Halford does, but with me, it's like my false fold are either on or off.

When going for the shape, I start feeling this muscle strain in the throat. Am I trying way too hard / doing something wrong, or just having those specific weak muscles 😅. Some background to my singing journey: I've been practicing distortion for the past two years semi regularly. Lately I have finally been able to make all sort of great sounding distorted sounds which feel good while singing. The issue still is that I seem to her a bit hoarse due to thick mucus about half an hour after distorted singing even if the singing feels relaxed and not too pushed. I still feel like I need to somewhat push for the initial distorted coordination but am able to relax once I've found it. I am hoping that this "if you feel like you need to push, cry more instead" approach could solve this!🤘

It's been a year now since my life was turned upside down after 23 years of marriage. It was odd to spend my 23rd anniversary in a therapist's office not realizing it was only a few months away from everything falling apart rather than launching the next phase of the business I had been planning for years. Even more off to spend my 24th anniversary in a court room, after months of trying to survive and keep on top of an overwhelming amount of paperwork and changes, being self-represented and owning a business that I no longer had control over making everything infinitely more complicated. It's taken me longer to get back on my feet than anticipated, which I should've expected in hindsight. And now I'm having to move in order to help my aging parents. Besides being closer to my parents again and helping them out, this will also benefit me AND YOU a lot too. If I had stayed where I was, it would've still taken me months more to get everything moving that I've been planning for years. This move will allow me to start moving forward sooner rather than later. I'm truly excited about what the next few months will mean for finally moving Rock Singing Success to the next stage. COMMUNITY ROADMAP In the next few months, I have plans to do multiple things with this community to make it more engaging, helpful, and discoverable. The below is a bit of a roadmap that's still being refined. As soon as you get a chance, I could really use your feedback on what you would like to see in each of the following areas: 1. More Active Posting — I'm definitely ramping up my own posts after moving to my new place the beginning of next month. But I'm also considering bringing one of my junior/associate coaches more into the fold. Either way, this means much more regular posts, videos, and shorts, as well as possible challenges, group calls, etc from me and my team. What would you like to see? 2. About Page Overhaul — We'll be cleaning up and enhancing the About Page. The about page has long needed an overhaul to sell people on what this community actually does. As I explore updating my RockSingingLessons.com website with more of what sets me apart from other vocal coaches, I hope to also do more of that here. That means focusing more no showing the results I've helped people get, and sprinkling in my 35 years in production, songwriting, recording, mixing, mastering, performance, etc..., while still focusing on making YOU the hero of the story rather than myself. If you have ideas on what to say or not to say that you believe sets my instruction apart, please say so. I take criticism well, because I truly want to be authentic AND help you and people like you as much as I can.

Because of how important Cry is for singing, how often it comes up, and how pretty much all our vocal training is about building better command and control over CRY, I made a quick video about it with some of the new ways I've been teaching it this year. As a vocal mode, the combination of physical and acoustic positioning, Cry has tow main parts: 1. Lift, float, or top-down whimper into the desired sound color from front to back of the mouth (the acoustic mode spectrum: edging, neutral, curbing). The edgier or more forward the position, the higher the larynx wants to move, also narrowing the vocal passage and AES into twang, making the voice ring brighter and project more easily. The thing to watch out for is constricting vertically, which can choke off of the vocal passage. 2. Sob physical quality (as Estill termed it) slightly dampens/relaxes the larynx (not necessarily neutral, but not moving too much), opens the throat, widen the pharynx (feeling like opening or expanding the vocal tract, relaxing vocal production overall, and adding darker harmonics. The thing to watch out for is opening too much and it sounding too operatic, emo, or dopey. Lift and sob together create an open and more effortless feeling in the vocal tract while singing that we call Cry vocal mode. Cry balances the two, helping you get the best of both. This means more effortless vocal fold adduction because medial compression is more passive—like how a stretched rubber band can hold something in the middle, but it's not from directly applying pressure to the middle.