How to Fry Scream (Correctly)
Getting started on your screaming journey can be incredibly difficult, as all aspiring harsh vocalists know. Maybe you wanna sound like Mitch Lucker, or Oliver Sykes, or possibly Andy Biersack. They all use fry screams for their primary screaming method. Sure, they’ll use false cords or basic compression for that gritty tone we all know and love, but there’s a reason most vocalists that regularly use screams prioritize fry screams: versatility. No technique is as versatile as the fry scream, whether it’s clean or harsh.
To start, there’s two different ways to figure out how to get the basic sound. One, vocal fry; in other words, that crackly, static-y sound, especially popularized by a particular Japanese horror classic. Or, you can start by whispering. It’s not important which method you use here. The important part is focusing on how your throat feels when you do either one. You should feel your throat get slightly tighter. That’s called vocal compression. You don’t want to force the tightness, it should simply occur in the method you’re using.
Once you can identify and feel that vocal compression, the next step is diaphragmatic compression. Basically, what you should do to compress your diaphragm, or, as I like to put it, engage it, is flex your abdominal muscles, like you do when you run or do pull-ups. You should notice a change in the pitch of the sound you’re producing. For me, my pitch gets slightly higher, about 2 or 3 notes higher.
Okay, now that you’ve got that taken care of, the next step is further compressing your vocal folds (aka vocal cords). Focus on how your throat feels when whispering, how that compression feels. Focus on the muscle group causing that compression, and tighten up just a little bit, not too much. Overcompression will ruin the sound and can easily cause vocal damage. Experiment with the compression, and compress as much as you comfortably can. The keyword here is comfortably. If your throat hurts, you’re overdoing it. It’s natural to be sore after practice, but not full-blown pain.
Now, take all you’ve been doing here, and increase the volume until you hear a distortion in your voice, which will include an almost “gurgly” texture. Don’t add volume too much, that’ll come with time. I can be heard streets over with a fry scream, but I’ve been using these muscle groups for 3 years, and I worked my way up to this over that course, and I’m likely not done yet unless I choose to be.
You should have a basic fry scream at this point. From here, you can change your “pitch” (there isn’t actually a pitch, since basic false cord and fry screams are voiceless) in two ways: changing your mouth shape and tongue placement, and manually changing it with your actual vocal folds. I only recently discovered it’s possible to do the second method, and I believe it requires a strong foundation of clean singing. For a lower pitch, make your mouth smaller. For a higher pitch, open it up. You can also make a guttural scream with your fry scream, but that’s a more advanced technique and will be covered in its own dedicated tutorial.
There you go, you’ve got a basic fry scream down! Do note that it’s natural to be sore after a vocal session when you’re new to a certain vocal technique, because your body isn’t used to doing what you’re doing to produce this distortion. Take it slow, and be careful. Stay hydrated, as all vocals require good hydration to be the best they can be.
