Axl Rose

EdgeJay

Hi. I watched Mr Ken Tamplin's video of himself doing Paradise City by Guns n' Roses, but as he said, he toned down the amount of rasp and nasality in the sound and we I didn't really get to hear that trademark Axl Rose sound. So that said, how would one go about achieving that vicious, high pitched sounds that Mr Rose uses in his songs? Is the technique mentioned in the video about vocal distortion and rasp the technique that should be used to achieve this type of sound?

streeter

The technique to achieve the rasp and distortion is the same. Axl Rose just uses way more mask and brings almost all the sound into the front of the face. It's actually easier to sing in this register with the timbre Axl uses. Ken is just ridiculously strong and able to keep it in chest (think Lou Gramm, Coverdale, Dio, Sammy Hagar) The fundamentals of the course still have to be in place to sing like this safely, so please don't skip ahead. Without breath control, proper support and Open throat you'll kill your voice within a few minutes.

EdgeJay

Hmm. What would you mean by saying that he brings all the sound in front of the face?

streeter

He gravitates towards 'E' and 'Eh' type sounds, uses a tonne of mask, compresses in his throat (different to KTVA, the result is the same but Ken's method is safe and reliable)and aims a lot of the sound through the nose. It's a really cool sound and there is only one Axl but it's not a sound that is going to get you through a lot of different genres, styles or songs.

A less extreme version of this is Myles Kennedy. Myles uses a tonne of Mask but still gravitates towards more open vowels and doesn't use a lot of compression. These factors along with a few others (techniques you will learn as you progress through the course) is probably why Myles is so consistent live and can have such a heavy workload as a professional singer.

EdgeJay

Oh I see. Thank you!