Smells Like Teen Spirit - Kurt Cobain Isolated Vocal Analysis - Nirvana (Singing & Production Tips) 

I have always thought of Kurt's voice basically being just like a cranked tube amp, the way it breaks up so musically when he digs in, into that warm but raspy overdrive

Kurt’s vocal delivery is so unique, I don’t think anyone could duplicate it, but you do such a good job at pointing out the nuances in his singing and technique . Great job!

When you mentioned “best sounding doubles” it reminded me of John Lennon’s doubles and how much Lennon and Fogerty were an important influence on Kurt.

"If you try to control it to much, you're gonna sound like a control freak and not like a rock star" daaamn, that hits me hard lol one of the best advices I received, since I'm a very "squared"person. Cobain is the best antidote to people like me, for just let it go and trust in your body. Thanks for this, Chris!

Love the fact Kurt hated doing double voices but was told John Lennon did it so agreed

The amount of passion and emotion delivered in every line is astounding. Not only is Kurt’s voice expressive, but it sounds completely honest and true to him. So cool to hear your breakdown of this, man! Very insightful.

Kurt was a musical god and don't you forget it.

KURT COBAIN'S VOICE IS PRICELESS

my student is obsessed with kurt, this really pairs well with the guitar lessons i'm giving

The vocal delivery on this song is somehow even more of a masterclass than the actual lyrics and song itself. Kurt's NOT telling us how feelings, his emotions, like the lyrics of a song typically do. He's spitting out pretty much random words. But he's conveying his whirlwind and progression of emotion through his vocal delivery. It's genius and something I rarely if ever see done, or at least done so brilliantly, sincerely, and organically. But it's like a novel too. It's beautiful, like incredible-storytelling beautiful in terms of emotion. Check out the progression in the chorus from after "here we are now, entertain us!". It's angry and demanding, and then the very next line, "a mulatto!" is almost desperate, like a plea for help. This is ALL through just vocal delivery -- has absolutely nothing to do with a mulatto. It's genius, and, IMO, why I place Kurt in a class of his own as a songwriter with pretty much only the Beatles, perhaps with Kurt as a singular songwriter surpassing them.

Love this video, and I have a few tips to share as well from things I’ve learned about his voice and trying to mimic Kurt a bit. For his raspy sounds, think James Hetfield (Metallica) but yelling quietly. Yell and then picture someone telling you “quiet down!”. Another thing that helps with a lot of that grunge sound, is blocking nasal airflow entirely. When you hear him say “here we are now”, there is an undertone that happens (almost like throat singing)…this is most likely the result of forward yell and completely/nearly completely closed off nasal passage. If you listen to his talking voice, he’s always had this kind of sickly sound to his talking. Almost like he has a cold…but it’s just how he naturally talks. Practice compressed yelling type of sounds and purposely reduce air as much as possible. At some point, it becomes almost more of a fry than a yell, but there is a definite balance point. Very similar technique to Layne Staleys raspy stuff. If you learn a James Hetfield/Macho Man voice, Layne and Kurt both used a mixture of compression yell type voice, but incorporated fry and forward placement into the sound. Cornell, is always more of a mixed voice type of sound which is what made him stand out from the others. One last thing to note, the Hetfield yell is hard to mix with vibrato and you nearly never hear it with that type of compression. Laynes compression voice however has the least amount of airflow, which enables coordination for vibrato which made for his signature belting sounds. Kurt is kinda the in between of the 2, with no vibrato but little enough airflow that he gets some of those yodel/flip type of sounds in his compression. I’m no expert singer…but I love grunge and have practiced all day in my car for years to grunge songs. These are some things I’ve noticed from my practice in sounding similar to these artists. Hope it helps =]

Whoa what, I can do this! Ive tried to do Kurt for the longest time, oh my goodness, you literally just taught me how to do this, it actually sounds good recorded, mind blown rn

This gives me chills. He sounds amazing without the actual music.

I always wonder if your family is having guests next room during your recording and all they hear is your occasional shouting crumbling through the walls. Great work, I always learn a lot from you.

it almost sounds like he's yodeling a bit in the verse. he must be paying homage to his Irish heritage

Man I swear to god you’ve been changing my life ever since I started getting into your channel and learning appreciate your guidance Chris man!

Chris, the first thing I ever noticed when listening to the choruses isolated vocals is how Kurt sings with a bit of a swing. It’s imprecise, and hard to replicate, but there. It really adds to the groove and shows he had a great rhythmic sense.

I love that lazy pitch... In Song 2 of Blur, Suede, Soundgarden, Oasis,... It's like "I don't give a shit about the world"... 😂 I love it! And the pure rage... It makes me feel shivers down my spine. Like Chris Cornell.

Love the way you really point out or put a name to what we subconsciously loved about Kurt without ever really specifically naming it if that makes sense.. you nailed it! Giving away Kurt’s secrets LOL

Love your Rick and Morty impression at 3:03 Never thought I’d hear Rick song Nirvana 😂 awesome stuff as always man!

3:03 sounds like Rick from Rick and Morty possessed you for a second there hahaha. Excellent content and technique, thank you for the videos!

your analysis is always on point. You have shed so much light on what kurt did. thank you. It’s been driving me crazy cause I could hear it, but couldn't spell out why before

Fun fact.: You know why Kurt's vocals had "imprecision" as you say? Producer Butch Vig kept asking Kurt to double them, but Kurt was of the punk ethos where single takes for a performance tend to be the norm. However, Butch would occasionally trick Kurt by saying they didn't get a take and Kurt would do it again, or Butch would convince Kurt to do another vocal take by reminding him that his hero John Lennon did it. So, the doubled vocals aren't originally intended by Kurt to be doubled here. The fact that they still sounded so great doubled is a testament to how consistent Kurt was.

One of my favourite things to note is that Butch Vig doesn't often solo parts when mixing, so a lot of those sublte EQ changes were done while the rest of the song was built around it. Doesn't it make sense that the vocals should get brighter and less muddy as the instrumentals build in volume and intensity towards the chorus? It's easy to get a great sounding vocal track when you solo it, but that doesn't necessarily mean it will sound in touch with the composition as a whole. Simple but genius.

This was really cool to hear the isolated vocals and get an explanation how he sings. Not sure how you feel about Falling in Reverse, but hearing isolated vocals to some parts of "Losing My Life" would be cool! Rock on 🤟

Finally someone who analyzes this well. I hear so many people say Kurt couldn't really sing, but when you analyze it you realize why he was a spokesman for an entire generation.

Chris is gonna help create a bunch of new great singers.

3:03 the Rick Sanchez impression is spot on dude!

I never liked a video faster than this one! Awesome breakdown! 👍🏼🔥🔥🔥

His voice was very unique ughhh

Great analysis !! Just listen "Lake of fire" from the Unplugged. I never understood how it was possible to do it like he did...

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, no need to analyze so deep each "Hey" or "Yeah" and every second of Kurt Cobain voice...this just grunge 90s which sound real good in Cerwin Vega XLS speakers 🎸🤘👍

I would describe his voice as a howling angelic voice boiling nails inside 😆

13:30 WOW amazing and quite short notice!

It always sounded a little drunk/high and dejected to me. He was getting high to avoid his own misery and it came across that way, a little slurred and sloppy, but angry, and frustrated.

Underrated channel, amazing content, talented Chris!

Would love to see "You know you're right" - NIrvana and Jesus Christ Pose - Cornell

I’ve just started teaching vocal lessons and these videos help me IMMENSELY! With explaining technique and especially with contemporary, rock, and pop vocals. Thank you!! 🙏🏻

I really like how you capture the most difficult quirky parts !

Perfect Timing, I literally learned to play this on the guitar yesterday

Another killer breakdown, Chris!! That eq trick on hello is amazing! So special hearing such a well known track with isolated vocals. Do Coma by GNR 😁 please!

Great video and vocal analysts! Some great dynamics and inflections, and inspiring uniqueness that you have pulled out of Kurt's voice.

i like this method acting reaction. Its very precise about the approach kurt did to his songs. Always about himself

Great rock vocalist. I really can't think of a better one in the genre. He was really in the sweet spot between character singers( where personality is in the fore like Axle Rose or Neil Young) and the tons of prettier singers with more range and perfect pitch and all that but Kurt has that Spirit unique but formal at same time.

I love how you pick apart everything! I learned a lot from this reaction actually🤗

Really cool tutorial! you also have a damn good voice, and u came pretty close at times. His song "negative creep" is one of my favorites. Its so dirty, raw and awesome. I can hear the lazy pitch in that one as well.

Kurt's singing us all feel like a vocal couch

Man, this room looks so amazing

08:22 Soundgarden - Outshined Chris Cornell screaming yeaaahhhhhhhhhh

I watched this because it hurts my throat everytime i sing it. Thanks for teaching the right technique

His voice was amazing.. so much anger

I really enjoyed listening to you explain Kurt's voice and singing style brilliant video.

3:05 MORTY! WE NEED TO MAKE THE FOURTH NIRVANA ALBUM MORTY!

It´s very interesting, and I can really get your point, because you have a much more educated voice and you naturally tend to do it "the right way" to somehow name it. Great video as always Chris!!!

Hey Chris, is there any chance you could review the isolated vocals of "Tuna In The Brine" from Silverchair, it's an amazing song and it would be interesting to see your analysis on this one

Butch Vig : John Lenno- Kurt : You son of a bitch I'm in

I think this video shows a great didactical performance from you - Chris- as well!

3:04 he goes full on rick sanchez lol

sorry, but that scream at 8:27 got me laughing so hard xD But very informative video, i will surely dig into a few more!

After watchina a few of your videos, I have come to conclude that every voice is like a fingerprint. No two are alike.

Thank you so much for this, love the line “you’re gonna sound like a control freak and not a rock star”… by the way how did you extract the voice from the full mix?

This actually reminded me who influenced me the most after my father, who brought me into music and before Jimi Hendrix, who influenced me in playing guitar the most. As a kid with 7 years up to being 13 or 14 I was the biggest Nirvana fan of all time I guess. It had been some kind of obsession actually. :D I always thought about Kurt, that he was just singing and not tried to sing like a pop star or trying to sing perfectly. He just sang like he wanted to. And I think I copied this kind of attitude without thinking about it either. That's why I said in another video that I never tried to get better in singing. But these videos are very interesting!

Great Video! RIP Kurt! You are forever missed...

I like your re voice tones analyse...

I just discovered you a couple weeks ago and have to say,...👍YES! I am enjoying your videos! Keep them coming😁

Absolutely loved this video, given me a more in depth vision of Kurt's voice and technique. I'll never be Kurt but if I could get remotely close I'd die a happy man! ❤️🤘😜

Hey I'm a 12 year old who loves Kurt and I've practiced and this has had me make beautiful unique sounds and I'm glad you've helped me on finding out how he did it and I have done my own ways and made beautiful sounds. Thank you

You always make me laugh with your exagarations and humor . Keeps one concentrated on your teachings,thats actually really important and should not be underestimated.👍

WAS KURT GENIUS? Trained analysts praise his creative depth. He composed intuitively, with no formal training at all. YES, he was. RIP❤KC

Isolated vocals for King Diamond - Abigail, there you have a challange 👍

Awesome analysis! Loved it!

that's dope! great job as usual, Something from the misfits could be sick Graves and Danzig are both good singers.

This is incredible

Well done, thank you

yes people sleep on lazy pitch awesome video once again. A kind of lazy pitch is lil peep you should do one of him his talents were extremely slept on until he died. The mix andy wallace did on tho took the vocal wet /dry to another level.

Awesome. Thank you

the best explain

I was genuinely thinking about how cool it would be if you did this one *last night* this is awesome! Haha!

This video was cool

I wish next is rob thomas😭, thanks for the vid too!

Nice vocals

Album is literally called Nevermind, that's what he did

Great video! If it had been anybody but Kurt singing this, I'm just not sure it would be right. Joan Jett's performance at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is probably the closest I've seen to anybody capturing his essence.

Very interesting analysis! Also on a side note, for some reason when someone tries to sing this song I find it sounds more like Weird Al Yankovic cover version vocals than the original Kurt sound hehe.

Great analysis! Even inspired me to try to make a portuguese version with my take on this and other songs, thinking to go first to Jethro Tull's "Aqualung", "My God" or "Thick as a Brick"

He sounded really depressed when he sang. Of course he knew this and was exaggerating the sound of his voice.

Great video! It would be cool one episode like this about Dan Marsala!

Nooo waaaaayyyyy!!! Can't believe this!!!

Vocal analysis: **Turns into Rick from Rick and Morty**

it a funny thing, that with pain comes talent or trulyness (if thats a word ;) all the legends of the world, has some kind of tragedy in there lifes R.I.P Kurt

Very good analysis! Thanks! I've enjoyed it very much. Greetings!

Kurdt had a mixture of somatic empathy and malaise in his voice. A basic human connection where perfect pitch doesn't exist in nature.

At the entertain us part, what you had said about your voice wanting to go differently, what Kurt had used at that part was his regular raspy voice that kind of sounds like gravel, and a lazy voice and pitch with an almost voice crack but not a complete one.

Kurt Cobain watching this from heaven.

Hey Chris! Love your videos especially the michael ones but could you do a isolated vocals video on Nirvana’s about a girl if you could, that’s one of my favorite Nirvana songs.

Great video and vocal analysis Chris! 👍Always awesome hearing my vocal heroes in a new way! I would love to hear you analyze something from Travis Meeks(Days of the New). Very underrated in my opinion! "The Downtown" or "Dirty Road" are my suggestions but anything would be amazing! Keep on doing your thing brotha!🤘

Rick, is that you!? 3:03

Who'd have thought that being "lazy" would be better LOL......that is an awesome breakdown.....always loved Kurt's voice

3:04 really caught me off guard with that Rick Sanchez lmao

I love this content!