Why do people think that music with screamed vocals is simple, immature or uninspired?

Perhaps people find it unpleasant and unmusical. Not everyone likes their music to be violent. I can’t imagine why.

I find being yelled at to be offensive. It takes zero talent to scream.

For the same reason nascar or country or anything else that you don’t enjoy is mocked. People are different. It’s a beautiful curse.

Personally I don’t enjoy “screaming” for the most part just because I have no idea what they are saying.. and as @daloon said.. they are often associated with violence, hate or anger.

I do, on the other hand, think it does require some talent and/or practice to be a good screamer.. it must be torture on the vocal chords.

i guess because they don’t find it appealing.
i like a certain degree of screaming, and it does take some sort of skill to do it right, as i sure can’t scream and attract people like killswitch engage does. but it’s probably the same reason people who don’t like country music say that they’re just whining and crying about dead horses. meh. to each their own.

“Foolish noise” in an opinion and people have the right to have that opinion. Saying it takes no talent, however, is ignorant providing that it does take talent, since that’s something objective. I happen to think it sounds awful and I would never listen to music with it (to me it does sound like foolish noise) but I don’t deny that not just anyone can do it well.

Frankly, I’m not a big fan of the whole demonic 12-year-old boy sound that so pervades emo and screamo music.

I have recently gone into listening to screamo, I like it, I only get agrivated when I don’t know what they are saying/screaming. And it’s deffinetly not easy to do.

But I guess it’s their opinion, can’t do anything about it. And to say it doesn’t have “talent” is just dumb. If it didn’t have talent why would others actually listen to it? And they think of it as emo, it’s not all emo.

@PandoraBoxx that’s not really true, it’s actually really difficult to do in a way that they do, I used to be in a band that would do a couple of those type of songs and shows now and then, I’m not a huge fan of it, but I can attest to you how difficult it is to hit notes like that.

What happens to the vocal chords of the screamers? Do they ruin those eventually along with hearing loss.

@gailcalled depends, it does put a strain on your vocal chords but if you do it correctly it doesn’t do much damage aside from making your voice a little raspy after the performance, which, girls think is sexy anyway so it makes up for the discomfort ;)

It’s angry music and I’m just not that angry.

You know, this does raise the issue of learning to “appreciate” various forms of art. Screaming probably does take a lot of work to do without killing your vocal chords. I know that screaming produces an extreme amount of energy, and it can really jack up a crowd. Some people require that level of excitement in order to feel anything. They want to get hyped up, and just throw their bodies around.

While it’s not my cup of tea, I can see how some people just can’t make a connection with others without that kind of push.

Still, does becoming educated about the effort and talent involved in screaming help people to appreciate it more? Can you come to like things you don’t like instinctively by learning to appreciate them?

@jaketheripper I don’t know if you have ever tried to figure out why your fans love this form of singing, but if you have, I’d love to hear your thoughts about it. How do you feel when you do it? How does the audience respond? What do they do? How do you know when you’ve done it well?

Anyway, I think it’s not surprising that people might call something that hurts their ears “nonsense.” It is completely inaccessible to them. They don’t like it and they don’t understand it, so how could it be anything other than nonsense?

My ears are particularly sensitive to volume. I generally have a real problem with bass players I am working with. They never seem to be able to hear themselves (either that, or they are under the impression that they are the band), and so they jack up their volume to the point where there’s no space for anyone else.

For that reason, I am not fond of electronically enhanced instruments. The typical response on the part of other musicians is to ramp up their volume. It’s like an escalation of hostilities kind of thing. What I hate about that is that the musicians stop listening to each other. It becomes a competition for air time, instead of a cooperative effort.

I think that when you’ve got a lot of guitars and drums, and you really blast up the volume, you kind of have no choice but to scream. It’s a very aggressive form of music, and it is not conducive to constructive relationships. It certainly isn’t supportive of subtle musical conversations. It’s just like an argument where everyone is red in the face and shouting at each other.

Frankly, I think it is fair to call it nonsense. It is unsupportable over the long term. It tends to attract people who think they won’t have a very long life. It isn’t listening to anyone. No one can understand the words, so there really is no communication—just babble. Just nonsense.

Now, I think it is defensible on a visceral level. The sheer energy of the volume excites the cells of listener’s bodies, and practically forces them to move. Kind of the way prison guards do with prisoners. But subtle it ain’t, and so it is attractive to people who tend not to think very sophisticated thoughts, or to be very introspective. I’m sure it does have adherents who are smart and know themselves, but I doubt if there are many like that.

I trust that by this time, you are willing to agree that it is nonsense, too? ;-) Albeit, potentially lucrative nonsense.

Because that’s what it sounds like to people who don’t care for that kind of “music” :)

i’ve heard music with screamed vocals that wasn’t angry (thinking something along the lines of the boredoms and melt banana). either way, people are going to like different things (period), and have opinions on the things they don’t like.

i listen to noise bands for example, and i would consider a noise artist like Merzbow
to be a genius, while others consider it well.. noise (which it is – only i happen to enjoy
it)

@quasi Yikes!

Noise drives me crazy, unless it is white noise.

Not that I’m racist or anything…;-)

@daloon you’d be suprised, once you give in to it, noise can be soothing and mesmerizing, in a similar way that ambient music or minimalism is.

@daloon you touched on a good point. I’m not a particular fan of screamo, hardcore, grindcore, etc. (see, it’s not all mindless rage, it has several very different sub genres) But I have been a musician and live performer for a few years now, and the fact that a lot of what they do is both vocally, and instrumentally very challenging makes me appreciate it, and makes it tolerable or enjoyable in some instances.

@quasi I can see that. Your mind will go crazy looking for patterns that don’t exist, and it’ll give up, throwing you into a meditative state where your linguistic brain no longer works. You’re then into your non-linguistic brain, which most people experience as a quietened mind.

Screaming could work in a similar way. Especially if it motivates people to frantic physical activity. You just can’t “think” when all that is going on. You are forced into an altered state, and, for some people, that’s the only way (besides drugs) they can get there.

Just because it’s hard to do doesn’t mean it’s pleasant to hear.
I never can truly believe anyone who says they “enjoy” that music. For instance, the human brain is wired to make you feel agitated and uncomfortable when you hear a crying baby, and the sound of a human scream evokes alarm and anxiety. So I can’t imagine anyone who would like hearing forced, harsh screeches in those kinds of songs. I always thought it was just an image, that people only listened to that music to seem “hardcore” and different.

@daloon yeah, exactly :)

@daloon the cool part about it is, though it’s very very chaotic and intense, there are musical patterns all throughout hardcore music, at least the good stuff, that is.

There is even a genre that uses mathematics to create a musical riff and base for a song. It’s unoriginally named “Mathcore”

When Jim Morrison of the Doors or Roger Waters of Pink Floyd does it, it’s genius.
When it’s Axel Rose or Stephen Tyler, it’s fucking stupid.

John Lennon even did it during his Primal Scream Therapy period. Genius.

@le_inferno
trust me, people really do enjoy it

some people enjoy pain as well, even though we aren’t supposed to.

@le_inferno big fans of it are such because of the buzz, or adrenaline rush it gives them, more so than the musical appreciation really.

@quasi and @ABoyNamedBoobs03 This makes sense to me. Especially the adrenalin part, and the mindfuck part. Obviously, it’s not something I’m interested in, and I kind of wish I could show people the beauty of achieving the same result through far different (softer) means. But, there’s more than one way to skin a cat. All we really need is to not annoy others, and to let everyone else get along.

“All we really need is to not annoy others, and to let everyone else get along.”

amen to that my friend.

@daloon
right, there is an endless amount of ways to skin the cat.
i certainly don’t listen to noise or loud music all the time, like most people i enjoy
a variety of sounds.

Vocal cords. No h.

To me it’s definitely not just an adrenaline, mindless party to an intense stimulus thing. I like the intensity but a lot of the appeal comes from the instrumentation. Most of it requires technical proficiency and musicianship pop artists can’t touch. With screamed vocals the instruments are completely freed to do what they want. Listen to August Burns Red. Their drums and guitars are incredible. But the only clean vocals that would sound good there are Iron maiden style, and even then it wouldn’t match the intensity. Or listen to Ion Dissonance. That stuff is mind bogglingly complex. There is no way clean vocals could ever work their way into those songs. I’m not saying it’s for everyone, It’s an acquired taste, but I think it deserve objective respect regardless of personal preference

I think it depends on the listener. I like screamo—sometimes, if the person is older, they think it’s just stupid because they’ve never had it be apart of their daily society. A lot of younger people are into this now though. I guess it’s mostly just the era that you grew up in.

To call all of it nonsense is painting with too broad a brush. But like all music some of it has merit and some of it is nonsense. Some of it works and some of it doesn’t.

Because it usually is foolish noise, and usually done by untalented people who can’t sing properly. To give you another example: anyone can draw a human face that looks like a cardboard box and not a human. What made Picasso special was that he could draw a portrait of a woman that was as good as any photograph. And then he decided to go and draw her square instead.
So, if you can really sing, and then decide that a particular song will sound better screaming, then even your screaming will be melodical (thinking of AC/DC here for example), and people (or at least those that matter) will appreciate it. If you just scream because that’s all you can do, even the fans of that particular type of music will figure you out sooner or later.

@Jack79 – it seems you haven’t been listening to the right kind of screaming music if you ever had. Try Attack! Attack!, Mayday Parade, Bring Me The Horizon, Framing Hanley, In This Moment, and A Skylit Drive—all amazing bands with equal parts screaming & singing. They’re good :)

I’m not really interested in listening to any of that. I’m just making a general point about art, and common misunderstanding (both on the part of the creators and on the part of the audience). I’m quite content with Bob Dylan’s out-of-tune whining for now.

I think because most of the screaming done today is associated with these metalcore/screamo/deathcore or any other scene kiddy trash. I can’t blame people for thinking it’s immature and untalented. And most of these times, they just sound (like what jack79 said) like that’s all they can do.

That’s why I suggested who I did. Listen to Mayday Parade’s “Miserable at Best”—all singing, no screaming—and tell me they can’t sing. It’s all about finding the bands that can do it all.

I don’t like screaming for the most part in the music I listen to (and when I heard the end of Cold Turkey for the first time, I felt like crying). But sometimes I can listen to metal with the “Cookie Monster”-style vocals and enjoy it.

I have hearing loss in one ear due to having fractured the stapes (the smallest bone in the body) after a bad fall down some steps. In spite of three surgeries, I now wear a hearing aid and have only 30% normal hearing in that ear.

I would strongly suggest you think to the future and not be cavalier about ear damage.

I do like some screaming vocals though
When it’s done by the right person

@Jack79 You say it’s dumb if a screamer can’t sing. Why? Its an aesthetic choice not to sing and that doesn’t change if they are good singers or not. You say you like Bob Dylan (I do too) He is not a good singer as you mentioned, and I don’t think he is just choosing to hide his incredible smooth voice. But it’s not about that, its about his songwriting and sincere delivery. Why can’t it be the same for screamers?
@gailcalled You don’t have to listen to music with screamed vocals any louder than normal music.

@jaketheripper that’s exactly what I said: if it’s an aesthetic choice, it means he can sing but chooses to scream. If it’s because he simply can’t sing, then even the screaming will probably be pretty lame. Even screaming needs to be in tune (you scream at a specific note, even if it’s so high-pitched it makes little difference). Bob Dylan can’t sing, and he’s a crap singer. The only reason anyone ever bought a Dylan record is because he’s such a brilliant poet, that his voice doesn’t matter.
Incidentally I don’t particularly like opera (which is also screaming in a way).

@Jack79: Heresy to call a trained operatic singer a screamer. It’s like calling Yo Yo Ma a fiddler.

@Jack79 what I’m saying is that you don’t have to be a good singer to respectably make the aesthetic decision to scream. There are many good screamers who can’t sing. Also while technically all sound could be classified with a note system, most screamers (excluding iron maiden, ACDC, etc…) are not screaming in tune. There are highs and lows but it doesn’t follow a melody.

Not all sounds follow a note system. There are atonal sounds and tonal sounds. It depends on whether there’s a prominent frequency or not. With vocal cords there tends to be, though.

All I know is that kind of music makes my butt quiver. I hate it, it makes me pissed.

@wickedbetty but watching your butt quiver can be nice!