Good luck with it, I appreciate it!

Thanks! :)

I appreciate your comment! :)

Thank you very much!

Thanks! Yeah, often these terms aren't clearly (or consistently) defined, and also my effort to do so is just one possible perspective. I just observed that the sounds commonly called "squalls" is a very specific variation of the effect others have defined as "rattle", and that "growl" usually refers to the more kermit-y sound. So most plausibly the difference seems to be whether the epiglottis is involved in sound production or not, but as there's no omnicient and infallible school of vocal effects it's up to us singers to define them :)

If you wanna hear the difference between growling & squalling I would listen to Karen Clark SHEARD who growls & then Twinkie Clark her sister who squalls

That's nice to hear! :)

Sehr geehrte Kiki und Lotti, eher letzteres würde ich sagen. Wenn ihr mal in Leipzig in der WG vorbeischaut können wir das gern endgültig klären. LG Toni (für den Namen gibt es keine Verniedlichungsform).

I find it tricky too! Maybe you can search for a weaker-sounding rattle or even distortion in falsetto first before you try to achieve a thick squall?

Same

saaaame im trying to sustain the growl

Haha, yeah actors use vocal effects all the time! :D

Of course you can't growl on unvoiced consonants like "p", "t", "k", "s" and so on, but with a bit of practice it should totally be possible on voiced consonants - especially on semivowels like "w", "r" and "j" as well as nasals like "m", "n" and "ng". In general, the air pressure levels (often felt as a sensation of "holding" or "pulling") of any vocal style have to be higher the more you close your mouth. So while it might be quite effortful to produce a consistent growl on a voized "z", "r" shouldn't be much harder than a closed vowel like "u" or "i". In fact, you might notice small differences in your "support energy level" between all the vowels - a very open "a" might require the least pressure of them all. Of course this also depends on your range and volume, but I would encourage you to treat voiced consonants like very closed vowels and attempt some more energetic growls on them, and to waste as little air as possible on unvoiced consonants so they don't disturb your flow too much.

@@ToniLinke Thanks so much! I will practice the growl which I got on vowel and consonants , in order to connect the growl through the words - it's the coolest sound ever!

Mostly distortion :)

@@ToniLinke I mean was it fry, grit, rattle? Because I'm under the impression that different kinds of distortion involve different mechanisms...

@@amirsarwari3289 false fold distortion, or short: "distortion" in my categorization :) you can learn about that effect in episode #3

Haha!

I don't think full hyper-compression is possible in falsetto... You could get relatively close to the Chewbacca sound with a uvular trill (like a rolled German R sound).

They automatically appear if you include time stamps in the video description. :)

Very good question! People have different ways of clearing the throat, most people do a rattle, some do distortion, and some even do growl or grunt. So within one person it will likely only lead to one of the effects, but in my throat clearing examples you might notice that the rattle one is looser and the distortion one is more constricted. Rattle and distortion might actually feel very similar - a couple years ago before I knew the anatomy, I actually thought of them as one continuum of "grit", with rattle just being the more intense version of distortion. If you're not looking for a very specific sound, I'd recommend just going with whatever effect you get from clearing your throat, no matter if it's your false folds or arytenoids, because usually people tend to be able to do one of them much better. My default is distortion, and rattle is one of my weaker effects :)

@@ToniLinke Ok thank you !

In that case it might be better to either stop doing it or to take a lesson!

That's the case for most people. We rarely hear growl in falsetto for that reason. If you still want to do it there, make sure not to use to much air, ideally practice it on a very clear tone without any breathiness on it, that might reduce the risk of a scratchy throat.

Well then can you help me? I can squall/growl in my falsetto but not my chest voice, any tips?

I don't think so

​@@ToniLinke Good, let's make a lesson appointment for arytenoid things. Recently I got jazz growl by accident but never proceeded to arytenoid based ones. When are you ok

@@peterkim2187 yeah, feel free to reserve and book one via my website! :)

No sound is unhealthy if done right, but I assume cookie monster is more of a dark rattle or grunt. :)

@@ToniLinke Yeah, of course, but everyone was referring to the "cookie monster" sound as being a "no no". Are you saying there is a healthy way to produce that exact sound? And if so, could you elaborate the difference? Cheers :)

@@inceptionsd I've just listened to some Cookie Monster clips again, and it seems the two voice actors (Frank Oz, old and David Rudman, new) do it slightly differently. I recommend trying out whether you can get better results with rattle or growl, probably one of those will individually work better for you. I think that the myth of the cookie monster voice being unhealthy is based on the fear of harsh vocal sounds being inherently damaging, which is understandable but simply ill-informed. Maybe some people hear it as the same technique as Louis Armstrong's blues growl and condemn it for the knödel/kermit sound it has, as tongue root retraction is generally frowned upon in the (traditional) singing world. If you ask me, this health concern is ill-informed too. There are only two rules in voice usage: it has to feel comfortable, and it has to sound like you want it. :)

@@inceptionsd I can't do a super exact impression of Cookie Monster myself right now (only the rattle and growl sounds you hear in my video) so I'd probably have to practice a bit to get every nuance. The only thing I can do is advise you to produce the effect itself in the way my video recommends first before actually applying it to Cookie Monster's phrases so you can make sure it feels fine. If it feels scratchy or ticklish, that's a sign of too much air being pushed through your vocal folds (or them not resisting enough), and if it feels tense or tight, that's a sign of unnecessary muscle engagement (or a lack of dynamic movement). In case you do end up having problems producing that sound comfortably but you can't fix it by yourself, I recommend consulting a teacher who specializes on vocal effects :)

@@ToniLinke Beautifully said, man. I used to be so paranoid when trying out new vocal techniques because I was afraid of screwing up my voice. But that was a mistake, really. Without trial (AND error, even more importantly) there is no improvement and expansion of skills.

Good to know!

True and not true, it depends. Yes, to growl being generated by epiglottis, yes to this being controlled via tongue root retroversion and yes to some people being unable physiologically to produce this. The therapy isn't necessarily needed, it depends. For example, it is possible for some people to have a notably small epiglottis that doesn't really reach high at the root of the tongue (and by root I mean back & down the throat) :)

​@@AlikiKatriou That means, some people can never have that jazz growl? Since some brutal techniques include epiglottis movement, it is a really sad thing to me.. By the way, it is an honor to have a comment from Aliki.

@@peterkim2187 XD *humbled* Again, yes and no. Yes, it won't necessarily be done the same way as a jazz singer would achieve the sound. However, most distortions have "grey areas" during which they sound almost identical to other distortions. A carefully diffused false vocal fold tone can sound very similar an epiglottic distortion :)

@@AlikiKatriou if I can get the grit in a meatwad voice does it mean I'm safe from this disability or should I just give up, because i have been fearing that i have this

Hard to say. I'd tend to dark rattle, but it could be growl too! Probably also a bit of saliva and distortion sneaking in...

@@ToniLinke I guess it's also alcohol and cigarettes added to that mixture hahahahaha. Your content is awesome and very clearly and methodically layed out, unlike other videos where they talk for ten minutes without saying anything at all, so thank you!

Yep I do, you can contact me via Facebook or mail: toni.david.linke@t-online.de

Hey! It could be rattle or distortion! What I can say for sure is it's twang-based.