Anthony Green's techniques?

viniciusoliveira

Just curious about which techniques he uses.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGFgppnkR4A

He seems to sing on the 4th octave most of the time,with little boy voice.
Uses distortion almost always.
Is his distortion healthy?
I think he doesn't use much air,thats why his voice sounds so timbral and heavy (thus,proper for rock music).

highmtn

You pretty much described what he's doing. The distortion actually sounds a bit more than I think is safe for the long term. That could cost him the little-boy quality after a few more years. If he's really cutting back the air enough, then he may be doing less damage than it sounds like, but it sounds pretty raunchy when he's doing those distorted screams.

Of course that's the idea, to create the illusion that you're shredding your cords when in fact you are not. He just may be very, very good at that.

viniciusoliveira

Does his distortion sound " a bit more than safe for the long run" only on his screams or on his overall singing as well?
It seems he also sang super distorted on the last lines before screaming.

"Get out,get out ,Get Oooooout, GET OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUT!! YEAAAH!"
It sounds he used the same amount of distortion yet less resonance on the previous "Get out"s,so that he could sing his high get outs with a lot of size; in order to "contrast" them.


Here is a track of him singing clear.
Of course,the reason he saved distortion for some few notes was the softness of this song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qETYuV-vmg

100% little boy voiced,only distorted at 1:40 and 4:07.

He sounds soft on this song. Is it related to his lack of distortion or the amount of air he used?
I ain't sure....



Btw,would mimicking his voice from the song above would be good to improve my little boy voice? He is one of my favorite singer and I'd be an awesome excercise.

viniciusoliveira

PS:Of couse,I'd mimick him once I get better at singing on the 4th octave.

TommyM

Having overdriven my voice in a similar, unhealthy way for a long time - albeit not with the 'little boy voice' sound - I'd be willing to bet that this dude's gonna lose that quality within a few years 'cause, to my ears, he's pushing WAY too much air through when he's doing the more intense "Get out"'s!

If that's the case, then chances are that he's probably distorting the softer parts in the same unhealthy way so it would be better and safer to approach that sound in the way that Ken describes.

highmtn

I agree with @TommyM, that too much wear and tear on the voice is going to eventually take its toll. That's why we talk about 96% or 97% clean sound blended with 3% to 4% distortion. Even that has to be managed to keep it from getting away from you. You can plainly hear a little distortion when it's blended with clean tone. I'm hearing more like maybe 9% at times in his voice, and that will cost you after a few years. You don't want your cords to become even partially like calluses. They will lose their resilience.

viniciusoliveira

highmtn said:

Having overdriven my voice in a similar, unhealthy way for a long time - albeit not with the 'little boy voice' sound - I'd be willing to bet that this dude's gonna lose that quality within a few years 'cause, to my ears, he's pushing WAY too much air through when he's doing the more intense "Get out"'s!

That performance was from 7 years ago.
On recent concerts and albuns,he sang clear 98% of the time,as shown on the video I posted after "Get Out".
You must be right about how this affected his voice.

highmtn said:

I agree with @TommyM, that too much wear and tear on the voice is going to eventually take its toll. That's why we talk about 96% or 97% clean sound blended with 3% to 4% distortion. Even that has to be managed to keep it from getting away from you. You can plainly hear a little distortion when it's blended with clean tone. I'm hearing more like maybe 9% at times in his voice, and that will cost you after a few years. You don't want your cords to become even partially like calluses. They will lose their resilience.

9% even on "the difference between medicine and poison" (the second song I posted from him)?

Aside from those 2 screams (at 1:40 and 4:07) ,I hear no distortion at all. Quite clean.

Ken teaches distortion through glottal compression,doesn't him?

I wonder how close glottal compression can get me to his distortion.
If he did use 9% at times,means it isn't THAT much more than 4%.
Thus I think its way more likely for me to approch Green's distortion than,lets say,that guy Dean Davidson from Britiny Fox who used over 50% of distortion all the time.





Anyway,about his timbre:
Though he uses a super bright and very timbral,pleasant to hear little boy voice sound up on the 4th and 5th octave,how about his timbre below them?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDmO7G51vsw

Still little boy voice to me.

TommyM

By the sounds of things, he's learned how to distort more safely in the second song you'd posted as it doesn't have the same amount of weight behind it. It's much thinner sounding and less harsh in the distorted parts, so he's probably learned how to better reduce the air pressure.

Personally I'm not big on that 'little boy voice' sound, but that's just a personal preference; he's got a pleasant enough voice but, to me, he sounds much better on the acoustic version and his voice sounds much richer than the older recording.

As for the live stuff, it's really good that he's altered his approach and I'm sure he's reaped the benefits in the long run. Look at guys like Chris Cornell: He destroyed his voice after years of distorting it so heavily in a live setting, lost a lot of power and a fair amount of his higher range. Nowadays, he's regained a lot of that range but doesn't distort in anything like the same way. His voice isn't what it was, but what he's maybe lost in terms of range he makes up for in a richer, more satisfying tone.

Ken teaches hyper-glottal compression in a safer way so that, while it sounds throat shreddingly intense, you're actually pulling an auditory 'sleight of hand' 'cause you're really reducing the air pressure while creating the illusion of volume. It's a very clever technique and I think Ken teaches it in the safest, most approachable way I've ever come across.

viniciusoliveira

Im a huge fan of little boy voice,thus my singing style is quite close to his. I aim on sounding as a blend of him with other vocalists alike.

I wonder if there are ways to develop ones little boy voice sound itself,to make it as pleasant to hear as possible.


How much (%) of distortion did he use on the second song I posted?


Indeed,distortion can be a voice destroyer. I bet Axl didn't know that.
I personally don't look towards having a raspy distorted timbre all the time. Singing with the same amount that Green did on the difference between medicine and poison(second song posted) is enough,although
some high screams sound better with a bit more distortion.

Anyhow its surprising his voice got so different on the acoustic version due to bigger amount of girth he used.

Sounds like he sang mostly on the 3th octave and only used a huge amount of brightness on his few high pitched lines.

There is another acoustic version of this song on which he tried to sing bright on the 3th octave.
Whenever one does this, its it supposed sound almost nasal or is this just me?https://youtu.be/E7ttcRDlrFE
I'd say there is at least a bit of nasality on his timbre during most of this performance.

viniciusoliveira

I was wrong,the song on which he used proper distortion was actually from one of his earliest albums.
Get out was from more recent (from 7 years in past).
He seems to be using more and more distortion with time...


Lets compare with his early days.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBHrXhpRqUI

Moderated distortion at 1:01 ,heavy at 2:17 (It goooes,aWAAAAAY) and 3:00.
Safe?