1 I feel the result [of my singing] everywhere in my body but can be felt best at the bottom of my spine, in my feet and at the top of my head.
He said something interesting in another interview but I can't find it and can't quote it. But it was something like, "the key to good singing is the big belly."
Update: found it. He actually said "The big belly is the ultimate source of power! "
2 In most of the cases I have to find my way through walls of guitars, effects and larger than life drum arrangements.
3 Each track is recorded individually. Harmonizers and "perfect pitch" programs do not work well with my voice due to distortion and natural double layer effects my vocal cords have.
He is talking about the multi-layered vocal tracks where he does vocal harmonies - each track of those vocals that create a choir effect is recorded individually.
4 Apart from my natural singing abilities which helped in the early days of Blind Guardian, I didn't do anything to improve my vocal skills until "Tales from the Twilight World", our third album. Afterwards I seriously started taking classical vocal lessons
"Tales from the Twilight World" came out in 1990, so after 1990.
5 My teacher is a female opera singer and taught me a lot about breathing and how to establish and widen my range. She never tried to change my musical ideology, neither did she try to have an impact on how I do my Metal stuff in the studio.
6 Most difficult are the gritty high tones, because there is only a small difference between a controlled raging high pitched distorted performance and an almost hysterical, desperate attempt of a poor scream, which hurts my vocal cords.
"Doing some of these [while recording] can spoil a whole day and I could have too much grit on my cords the next days, which has an effect on the other keys I sing in. I need perfect control for the gritty ones to avoid these problems."
7 A vocalist only singing to rhythm guitars supported music can sing off key and you will not recognize it, because both sounds and ranges are barely far away from each other.
This is the 2nd half of the quote:
"The more melodious information you have and the more these melodies interact, the faster you will recognize blue notes, to say it nicely. In many songs we do have a lot of elements interacting at the same time. This can drive you nuts."
Hansi sings to very "melodious information" that isn't only rhythm guitars supported.
8 We are musically changing keys a lot and I constantly have to struggle with ranges, dynamics and complexity in the vocals and in the music.
He said that while describing the challenges at live shows.
9 Even with the most horrible laryngitis I went on stage. I have not found a way to keep full control with regard to my vocal techniques in such case. So that's the point when I exhaust my vocal cords and sometimes ruin my voice for a few weeks.
"To recover completely after such situations I would need to rest at least for a quarter of a year, which we usually don't have."
Hansi goes on stage with laryngitis and other illnesses because Blind Guardian have a rule "Do not cancel a show due to illness".
"Painful for everyone but extremely dangerous for vocalists, of course", he added.
10 Depending on the range I sing my body is more or less completely in use. If it is a high figure with a high climax and I am set up properly there won't be any pressure on my vocal cords and the neck region.
I had no space, so here's is the last sentence:
"This region only supplies the amount of raspy ingredients I want to add."
The Contenders
11 The big belly is the ultimate source of power
This was his answer to the question "How To Be A Good Metal Vocalist? "