For much of the last five years, opera singer Elizabeth Zharoff has analyzed vocal techniques across all genres through her YouTube channel The Charismatic Voice. Her first go-round with anything metal was with Nightwish’s “Ghost Love Score” in May 2020, and her work analyzing Will Ramos of Lorna Shore and his dynamic harsh vocals on “To The Hellfire” set her passion for vocal research ablaze. She’s analyzed plenty of nu metal in her time as well, from Linkin Park to System of a Down and then some.
Now, Zharoff is launching a project via Kickstarter to fund research into how harsh vocal sounds are made. Two years ago, with help from The University of Utah, Zharoff worked with Ramos and analyzed how he makes the sounds that he does. It was at this point that Zharoff realized just how much of a game-changer this research could be for not only musicians, but for voice-related healthcare, for science, and so much more. Zharoff and her team have eight vocalists lined up for the analysis which Ramos underwent in 2022. These include Tatiana Shmayluk of Jinjer, Travis Ryan of Cattle Decapitation, Alissa White-Gluz of Arch Enemy, Phil Bozeman of Whitechapel, Spencer Sotelo of Periphery, and Melissa Bonny of Ad Infinitum.
For as little as $2, fans can back the project. This tier provides access to any and all research documents, while higher tiers add access to exclusive vocal analysis videos, professional analysis of your own harsh vocals and screams, and more. At this time, the campaign has met its $235,000 goal, but stretch goals for the project exceed past the $1 million mark, and there is still time to make a pledge for this research that could genuinely do some good in the world.
Check out the Kickstarter pitch video, and view the campaign on Kickstarter:
