You can join Elizabeth Zharoff of The Charismatic Voice in her effort to fund vocal research

You can contribute to Elizabeth Zharoff’s efforts to further vocal research and discover the process behind producing the amazing sounds that talented artists do. Elizabeth Zharoff is the host of the YouTube channel The Charismatic Voice. In an attempt to raise money for “the first-ever harsh vocal research study of [its] kind with the top vocal research team in the world,” Zharoff just yesterday announced and started an ambitious Kickstarter initiative. She hopes to raise $235,000 by Thursday, October 3rd in order for it to occur.

Zharoff, who is a trained opera singer, claimed that discovering metal voices are valid forms of expression through her YouTube profile. She’s actually grown to love our small corner of the music industry, devoting a significant portion of her channel’s attention to showcasing some insane metal vocalists. In the event of success, The Charismatic Voice Research Fund, a nonprofit organization, will receive 100% of the funds raised. The University of Utah’s most prominent researchers will use that funding to further their studies. The project will draw from a pilot study that featured Lorna Shore vocalist Will Ramos and was carried out at The University of Utah. Seven experienced metal vocalists have agreed to help with the project thus far:

• Travis Ryan (Cattle Decapitation)
• Phil Bozeman (Whitechapel)
• Mark Garrett (Kardashev) and Kardavox Academy (YouTube)
• Melissa Bonny (Ad Infinitum)
• Alissa White-Gluz (Arch Enemy)
• Spencer Sotelo (Periphery)
• Tatiana Shmayluk (Jinjer)
• Devin Townsend

I used to think that screams and growls were harmful to the vocal cords. Even with eight years of university opera training and a decade of performing, I believed these sounds were damaging. But I was wrong. We were wrong. In ten years, I want to see programs on vocal distortion at Juilliard. I want classical singers to cross-train in these techniques because there’s evidence that training in vocal distortion could actually improve your high notes.

After just one day of the project’s launch, 2,492 backers have contributed more than $171,000 on Kickstarter. If you were to back the project, you would receive a number of prizes, such as singing training, credit placement in the credits, and access to special videos. If all goes according to plan, Zharoff thinks that this will inspire a completely new approach to voice analysis. She envisions a time when opera and metal vocals can be “classically trained” in the same way.