Singing
Only a few bands can use the exact same instrumentation setup in every song and still sound fresh. This is personal taste, of course. But listen to your favorite band's recordings and see if they NEVER stray from their sound. By "sound", I don't mean just the musical instruments, but the vocals, too. Below are two somewhat silly but very effective ways to alter your vocals.
Vocal technique #1: Straining to be heard
My friend Vince, who agreed to try this technique, also made me promise not to tell anyone that he did it. It's really not that embarrassing, so here I go. We were working on a piece of music that required a strained vocal-something that said to the listener, "Call 911." I had Vince lay on the floor on his stomach. I placed a mic stand and microphone directly in front of his head. But instead of putting the microphone down near his mouth, I kept it about a foot above his head. Next, I instructed him NOT to use his arms to raise his mouth nearer to the microphone. Instead, I asked him to arch his back to raise his head upward. So he would arch upward, say his line, then collapse onto the floor to catch his breath. This worked really well and was very amusing to watch. When trying this technique, you'll need to adjust the micro- phone height depending on your performers' physical fitness and/or yogic ability.
Vocal technique #2: Swallowing your words
