How To Sing With Distortion (WAY Better In 3 Steps) Inspiration From Chester Bennington's Technique 

You are the reason I can sing now, I started a band called counterfeit icons knowing I wanted to be the lead singer without knowing how to sing. Thank you. We’re getting signed soon

You do a great Chester voice, I usually hate hearing people cover Linkin Park, not many can pull it off.

You explain the complex things so understandable that even non-native speakers can understand this very clearly, thank you!

This video singlehandedly made me download the whole LP discography again

Something to consider as well: the heavier and more often you distort during a set, the quicker you'll get fatigued. Not to be confused with bad technique which will ruin you in a matter of minutes. After a couple hours of working on LP covers, while everything (including cleans) still sounds great, my voice is ready for a break.

You're the man. So many others hide their lessons behind paywalls not everyone can afford, or they bloat their videos with so much preamble b.s. that it's hard to discern the important parts from the garbage. You are straight to the point, you explain things so well, so clearly and relatably, your videos are free, you just do everything so right. You're creating so many better, healthier singers with what you're doing. You are literally making the world a better place. It's so hard already trying to be a musician in the modern world, the last thing aspiring artists need is to have an impossible time learning how to hone their craft properly. You are making improvement attainable, which is making the hard life of a musician just that much less challenging. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Rip Chester Bennington, you were one of the best vocalists there is, and you’ll still be the best vocalist for years to come

As a powerlifter who makes a lot of noise at heavier weights, this came pretty naturally to me. I just imagine squatting under the bar on a heavy set, and it comes to me. Lots of breath support in that kind of heavy lifting and distortion from the compression. Ironically, the top of my squats sound like GREAT distorted notes, plus it never hurts because of the heavy vocal support!

ooookay this is getting creepy. I literally just said "It's time I reassess my approach to distortion." to a friend of mine AN HOUR AGO. And now you drop this? You're the real deal. Excited for this lesson. And I've only heard the intro. You already won me with Chester.

Man, loved your version of somewhere I belong. you should release a full cover, so nice!

Honestly chris, you are quite talented in not only singing but explaining things perfectly. Been trying to sing for years and only saw progress once I found your channel and your way of explaining just made everything click. And then to also give this info out for free, you're a gem sir.

I've always dreamt of singing like Chester... Now seeing u doing the intro despite of being a baritone gives me hope nd motivation to sing in his high tenor voice

Holy heck, that was arguably one of, if not the best Chester Bennington singing imitation I've personally ever heard. You could easily fool me with that into thinking it's the real deal.

I just wanna say dude... Everything your trying to do with your channel is really coming off in the videos you put out. I hope that makes sense. Also, I'd like to add that I've known your channel for a while now and I can see a very visible improvement in your own signing. Which is rare and amazing to see in a teacher. That intro was 🔥.

"Happy little accidents" As soon as I heard this, I realized who my mind was drawing parallels between you and, from your first video. You're the goddamn Bob Ross of vocals, but instead of just making people solid with a decent set of middle-sized brushes, you're teaching people how to paint the motherfuking Sistine chapel with their junk. It's absolutely magnificent. I used to think I was born too late to explore the world, and too early to explore the universe, but it's people like you who make me realize I was born at exactly the right time, exploring not only in the mechanics of being human, through the most connected our species has ever been, but also exploring the power of consciousness, for example, the incredible differences that can be made by simply changing the way you are thinking about something, without purposefully changing anything else

Damn Chris, people like to say you'd be a great Cornell sucessor, but damn, you're an army knife! As far as I'm concerned Chester voice is much thinner in the Tenor spectrum, yet you were able to achieve extremelly accurate tones on the cover (even though sounding exactly like Chester/anyone is not the point at all). In this video, even though its content is amazing as always, I wanted to dedicate my comment to notice your incredible skills and performance! Wish you all the best!

I can't sing and still watched it. Staying for this awesome Chester Bennington interpretation!

Im still holding out hope for you to do a breakdown of Dustin Kensrue from Thrice someday. RU-vid doesn't allow me to send links but he's one of the most underrated vocalists of all time IMO

Long live Chester🥺❤ we'll miss you💓

Wow this completely changed my perspective on how attainable that sound is, amazing chester voice too never heard someone get it right like that

I was watching all the previous videos from you about distortion or singing aggressively. Here is what I think : i have to do this without hurting my voice. And okay someone will say : you need to be aware of how break works and make sonds as blaiden as you can. I'll tell you this : i was watching a vocal breakdown for Chester Bennington song Given up , followed all steps and it went really well. So just i am following the steps doesn't mean that I slacking off practice. I still making my progress towards singing aggressively , screaming , adding distortion to my voice without hurting it.

It's good to learn these techniques and not over work yourself on trying to get it right it took me years to get to a point where I can safely excicute a decent sounding distortion voice. I used music and my ears to recognize what the singer is doing and finding my own point of distortion. It's not about getting to the finish as fast as possible but getting to the finish able to still go again and again.

The 5:21 part cracks me up over and over again, no matter how many times I rewind 😂

Full cover please.

That long scream in the intro gave me chills, nice one dude!

OMG. I've been struggling with this for a while now. Lifting the desk I managed it instantly. Thank you so much Chris. P.S. the desk is O.K.

12:23 this one reminded me of Jared Leto's drives 🙂 Chester and Jared have the most beautiful techniques that I saw in their voices

Never before have I so enjoyed being yelled at by another man. 😂 thanks for the great instruction on distortion!

Lying in bed watching this, hoping it helps in the morning 😂 thanks Chris!

You’re the best bud! A bit self deprecating, not arrogant, not trying to be cool or ego driven, but a badass singer and educator. So much usable info and concepts not about performance or how to sing better than anyone else! I’m a 57 year old Perry style tenor, reworking range with compression concept for longevity and texture. You really explain the technique making it feasible. Work in progress but I see the possibilities! Thank you!

That awesome grit you did at (13:41 - 13:44) I felt that one! It had such a beautiful yet slightly sad tone to it.

5:22 i don't know why this is so funny, but I've laughed at this so many times now! Chris you are the best vocal teacher on youtube! Nice to see your channel steadily growing too, you really earn it! :)

Thank you so much, Chris! Your channel helped me to embrace fry. I first started doing false chord/growls. Of course, I want to keep that skill as well but since I can sing pretty high, I'd love to be able to put distorsion all over my range. Feel like I'm closer and closer to achieving that. :D

I greatly appreciate these tips on singing with distortion! I'm fairly comfortable with fry and false chord but I still struggle to sing with rasp without tension/tickling in my throat. Thanks!

This is my first video of yours in like a year but you're in my head every single day cause I use what you taught me every time I sing. Just wanted to say thank you for all the quality information you put out and you've gotten noticeably better since I last heard you which wasn't THAT long ago and you already sounded incredible! Keep going brother!!

Goosebumps on the end of your cover, with your scream, in the Intro of your video Are you going to do a full cover AND a full lesson of your covering and the Studio production??? That would be Awesome!!!

I can add distortion to my voice but it only lasts for one note. My screams are pretty well and sustainable but this is one thing I have to practise. I do Linkin Park covers, so this is definitely a helpful video for me.

Welp, guess I'm gonna sing during my deadlift niw

Chris can you do a video on the different singers of tesseract? Ashe era tesseract had such an angelic vibe that I feel like most singers cannot replicate

i don't know why i find it easier to do in higher notes. Thanks a lot for the video Chris, you have no idea of how much you help me

Trying to pick up the desk is such a good move! I usually pick up my mic stand but the desk is heavier lol

Damn, dude! Your short cover was awesome! Would love to see the whole song. Also, how is your 'super deep growls' that you learned from Britta coming along? Would be cool to see like a progress video. Like small clips of you practicing for like a whole month into a single video.

You just are THE voice teacher on RU-vid 👍❤️

You can also grab on the chair you're sitting on if you don't want to accidentally almost tip over stuff on your desk. No, that definitely did not happen to me and give me heart palpitations to go along with my home voice training.

"Happy little accidents" The Bob Ross of singing - just slightly more aggressive.

Yo Chris, i would LOVE to hear a breakdown of Tool's Ticks and Leeches, of course about MJK's vocal fucking annihilation on that track. I think it's one of the absolute best tracks to consider while breaking down distortion and hard singing stuff. Love your channel, keep up the good work.

You Keep Giving Everyone These Ahh Haa Moments!! Yes You Did It Again!!! So many different ways to approach and practice. Thank You!!! Keep it Fun and Relaxed!!!

Not even a vocalist but I find it really informing and interesting, with some practice I just might develop a decent singing voice. Thanks Chris!

I was using a lot of force to scream, lost my voice couple of times, once blood on my throat after practice with a band, ultimately left the metal band I was singing in. After just trying for few seconds screaming while trying to lift my heavy as hell dinner table for the first time in my life I feel it might be possible for me to sing and scream without getting tired. You're just the best man. This is freakin awesome

This is the video I've been looking for on youtube since 2012 and hadn't found it. Thank you so much Chris, you fulfilled a dream that I have been harboring since I was a teenager and heard Linkin Park for the first time, learning to sing like Chaz. You really made my day a lot better, man ❤️❤️

Damn dude, you really sound a lot like Chester hahaha holy shit. You rule

Not sure if I'm late the party but I'd love to see you do a Will Ramos (of the band Lorna Shore) analysis. I go on a little metal kick every now and then and when I stumbled upon this guy I had no idea the human body could make the sounds he makes. Would definitely be a wild video!

Hey Chris. Just wanna let you know. I’ve tuned in here and there and your videos really helped explain what I’ve naturally been doing and discovering for years with trial and error and have helped me identify the techniques and anatomy of what’s going on in my throat. It gave me more of a visual representation of the mechanics. We artists are visual inherently. So I’d like to thank for that visual gift and I’d also like to give you a ‘hell yea brother 🤟🏻’ because I wish I had content like this when I started out and I think this is some of the best content for the next generation of singers and screamers out there I could ever wish for. I think you’re jumpstarting dreams here.

Thank you . Awesome lesson . Im goin to practice my distortion voice tryin to not wake up my neirborhood

Wow! Intro cover is incredible!

Best vocal lessons on RU-vid, no doubt.

The last part of Somewhere ı belong smells Chris cornell, too. My favourite 2 singers of all my life

Nice man! Great tutorial! I was actually thinking that my voice is far too clean for some stuff I like to sing! Funny you push on your desk to do compression, that's something I learned from a choreographer years ago while prepping a musical... some trick my vocal coach never taught me back then, go figure haha. P.S. dope new profile pic! 😜😇

I almost accidentaly flipped over my desk 😂

Sometimes, when I know I don't have time to watch the video right now, I'll click on the link anyway just to Like it, cuz let's face it, they're always fantastic.

A great complement to the older videos on distortion singing. I love your videos, you're the best teacher on RU-vid for me.

I practiced the "Huh, huhhh" in the gym while doing a full body workout with a bit of extra weight to make them more genuine, 😂 the looks I got were hilarious

I really appreciate this Chris! This is exactly what I was looking for, Chester Bennington is my favorite singer and I try to learn what I can from him. It's a very difficult challenge tho. The main problem I have is with the Distortion in how using false folds compression I am just getting that buzzing noise. Is there any way to turn that buzzing noise into the more dry sounding rasp that you can hear chester, and yourself, use in songs like the song you chose "Somewhere I belong"? Thanks again for amazing content and for making stuff on Chester😁👍

Off topic, but I love your color choices in both your interior design and your guitars. The warm orange/autumnal tones of your walls and guitars, next to the black. It is very nice. :)

Awesome video man. I'd like to see a video on some of Ivan Moodys vocals. His live singing is very unique and almost odd sounding to me. Plus his use of distortion and fry are amazing in my opinion. I'll keep a close eye out in case you cover him one day.

Hello there. So i have learned extreme metal vocals, specifically fry scream and false chord with larynx. The thing is when i try to distort my voice i go into fry because it comes naturally. Any tips for that?

This biceps btw while you are trying to lift up the table. lol Huge thanks for what you are doing man! 🤘

Hello Chris, thx for doing this man. I love your videos!!! Does this compression relates to grandma voice the "valsalva" coordination that Ken Tamplin use?

Dang that cover sounded sick man!

I've been using this method over the weekend. As long as you don't push too hard and find the correct volume, you can get that distortion. When I first started doing it, I went a bit too forced and it didn't resonate well. Being relaxed and controlled is the best thing you can. My goal is to grow it into one of my strongest tricks in the bag.😋

Still loving you chris

Hey Chris, great video! Do you also use compression on head voice and not just on chest voice? Really curious about it. Thanks

Hey Chris great video! This really helps coming off of the lesson we had a few days ago - very timely info! I love the concept of really attacking the vowels that are giving me problems, such as "E", where it's so easy to just modify it, instead of staying pure with the vowel while working on the grit. I'm already seeing progress after just a couple days of working with this!

Is it okay if I just started doing this type of vocals to feel some tiredness in throat, like I mean, it's not pain but it's not super comfortable? I could sing and talk after it and I was not feeling it in the bottom of my throat. Maybe I got too intense with the grit too fast.. BTW I was kinda trying to pull of that Hetfield grit..

Chris uploads a video. I immediately come over and smash like! haha

if linkin park gonna start up with a new lead singer ever again, after the legend... it should be you they be calling! amazing. DAMN impressive.

This was awesome and I am learning so much! I’d love to see you break down the techniques Chad Kroeger uses like you did for Hetfeild. Cheers!

Gone and blown my mind there haha

damn those biceps when lifting the desk

Thank you for the lesson. What about Russell Allen or Ronnie James Dio, do they sing with compression always in? Shouldn’t it be harmful? I’d love if you could analyze their styles. Thank you

This is the closest I’ve gotten to Chesters style of distortion! However everytime I add distortion (I am relatively new to harsher vocals) my throat has a slight scratchy feeling, is this normal or is there something I’m doing wrong?

Lol wtf listening in my phone sounded like the real Singer of linking park. Good one!

Cheers Chris. I'll try it in my session tomorrow morning. Peace from Australia 🇦🇺 🤟✌️

i think i can do a good compression, but i sometimes feel the sensation somewhat too low, like below the voicebox. it feels like the grit is sliding down my throat if I am not paying enough attention.

Great lesson Chris! Am i meant ot feel a pain when adding grit? Does this go away after a while or am i doing something wrong?

Thing that Chris Motionless does in Another Life's chorus, perfect for me. Thanks!

HELL YEAH!!!

That into went so hard

imma try again and again cuz its more like badass distorted than soft

When someone starts unlocking his distortion, it's normal that it don't sound súper distorted? , I mean if i can do a little raspy, along the time i will do a big raspy, or i using My vocal cords?

B4 is one of my iffy notes, money ones gotta be E5 or Ab4 I'd say for me. Great tutorial!

What do I do when I can't find my grit threshold? I am singing my money note while trying to lift my bed for a month ( with some rest of course, don't wanna hurt my chords) and I can't find, what do I do?

you should really do a tutorial on how to sing like Dustin Bates from Starset.

i have also found that i most easily get into my distortion when im stretching,do you think that this was an unhealthy way to do so?

I tried it and I can do it.

Awesome video! Love your voice, and the demonstrations on all your videos, and all the different styles you have done. You are definitely the master of controlling airflow and placement. So much insight and info that lifts any singer at any level to higher levels. Thank you Chris!

My two-man boy-band with Chris Liepe: "Sonic Variance", two sensitive Chris Cornells in white suits and matching canes.

Either me with a medium english level could understand everything you said, you're such a good teacher, thanks for helping everyone around the world.

Fantastic video! Do you have any tips for those who just go squeaky and loses distortion? This happens with fry screaming as well. But man, you are a great vocal explainer!

Thank you for this video! ❤ I finally can sing with distortion properly. Now I just have to figure out how to increase my range with distortion added.