what do you guys do to prevent losing your voice? any ideas

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versuviusx
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what do you guys do to prevent losing your voice? any ideas

Post by versuviusx » Wed Jan 31, 2007 9:12 am

ok
so this is for all the sings that record often or sing live.
how bad would it suck if you were playing with a band and witin the second song you went comletely hoarse. what would you do? i mean can you think about not being able to even talk within the second song? check out this article. this guy couldn't even talk so he needed a little portable amp to talk in restraunts.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/h ... are24.html


the big question here is what can you do to have very very healthy vocal cords.
is there a list of things you can do before each performance or after each performance to reduce the possibility of losing your voice. i mean is there a steroid for vocal cords? is there some kind of tea or some kind of protein you can take? any kind of liquid? any kind of heath or lifestyle changes.

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JGriffin
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Post by JGriffin » Wed Jan 31, 2007 9:46 am

--Stop smoking.

--no alcohol, caffeine, or tea before singing

--no dairy before singing

--drink plenty of water

--learn to sing correctly, from the diaphragm and not the throat

--warm up prior to performing

--maintain good posture

--eat right and exercise
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redear
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Post by redear » Wed Jan 31, 2007 9:49 am

In a word "yes".

Longer.

1. Vocal lessons. From a good teacher. Learn to use your voice and do your vocal exercises.

2. Humidifier. Buy a good one and use it every night. Also get a small personal vaporiser if you can.

3. No caffene. No coffee, no carbonated becverages. Drink herbal tea; and lots of water.

4. Quit drinking all that beer/vodka/or whatever other alcohol you are drinking. That too drys you out.

5. Eat well. Suposedly Sushi is the best but dont eat McD's for sure. Eat well.

6. Stay fit. Lung suport is very important.

7. If you sing a lot this is more important.

Anyone else?

edit: Haha! at the same time!! Still good advise so I will leave it.

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Post by trask » Wed Jan 31, 2007 9:55 am

there was a great little TapeOp article on this somewhere around issue #45 or so... can't remember exactly, but I'll see if I can dig it up when I get home.

always warm up your voice though. SO important.
off somewhere listening.

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nutate
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Post by nutate » Wed Jan 31, 2007 10:28 am

I agree with the beverage things, but one thing is and I think I've read this... stay away from freezing cold water (or other (cold -edit) bevvies) The coldness constricts your vocal chords and can make them tense up.

Also, try not to sing with so much air pressure. I've been working a lot on that. You can still scream and everything, just without such a large high pressure volume of air trying to come out.

The rest of the advice looks good. Didn't this happen to the spin doctor's dude? "one two princes here before you" (you know you hate me now for sticking that earworm in your head.)
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Post by directaction » Wed Jan 31, 2007 10:50 am

in addition to all the advice above, there are some things you can do to avoid irritating your vocal chords at a show. I use slippery elm lozenges (Thayers), or drink herbal tea that contains slippery elm (try throat coat). It lubricates your vocal chords, and works wonders.

the other thing that worked for me is this throat spray called "Singer's Saving Grace." The taste will make you want to kill yourself, but it works remarkably well. It's sort of hard to find though. The only place I've seen it is at a health food store in Brooklyn.

Anyhow, those are some things to try before/during a show.

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Post by Marc Alan Goodman » Wed Jan 31, 2007 11:42 am

All very good points.

As far as dairy goes I've read from a number of sources that you need to completely cut it out of your diet in order to effect your voice/sinuses/etc. Choosing not to eat a slice of pizza before the show might not have much of an effect but if you can avoid dairy entirely for the two to three months it takes to get it out of your system it's supposedly a huge help. I haven't been able to make it that far myself..... god bless cheese.

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Post by JASIII » Wed Jan 31, 2007 12:26 pm

directaction wrote:
the other thing that worked for me is this throat spray called "Singer's Saving Grace." The taste will make you want to kill yourself, but it works remarkably well. It's sort of hard to find though. The only place I've seen it is at a health food store in Brooklyn.
I've found a similar product called "Entertainer's Secret", it does taste like crap (apple-honey, my ass), but it does work. Takes about 10-15 minutes before I really notice it working, but my voice lasts a lot longer and range is better, etc. I think you can get it at most music stores.

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Post by ledogboy » Wed Jan 31, 2007 2:05 pm

The single most important thing is knowing how to sing properly. I've been singing professionally since I was a little kid doing opera and I attribute my ability to go on long tours without losing my voice to the lessons I learned back then. This is even though I generally have done a lot of drinking, cheese eating, and ice chewing before, during and after performances. In my younger days I was in a punk band that I did a fair bit of screaming in. That sometimes made me lose my voice. Which is something to think about. Just because some dudes can bellow death metal endlessly and not lose their voices, doesn't mean everyone can. When you do that kind of thing, you are putting some serious strain on a very delicate part of the body. Some bodies can handle it, and some just can't.
Basically, I don't think there is any magic bullet. There is no lozenge, tea, or whatnot that will miraculously help you keep your voice. Training and taking care of the body are about the only way to go. Cheers,
Ryan

ps. Keep your voice down when you aren't on stage! Trying to talk over people at a crowded venue after performing can be even harder on the throat than the singing was!

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Post by AGCurry » Wed Jan 31, 2007 4:04 pm

ledogboy wrote:The single most important thing is knowing how to sing properly. I've been singing professionally since I was a little kid doing opera and I attribute my ability to go on long tours without losing my voice to the lessons I learned back then. This is even though I generally have done a lot of drinking, cheese eating, and ice chewing before, during and after performances. In my younger days I was in a punk band that I did a fair bit of screaming in. That sometimes made me lose my voice. Which is something to think about. Just because some dudes can bellow death metal endlessly and not lose their voices, doesn't mean everyone can. When you do that kind of thing, you are putting some serious strain on a very delicate part of the body. Some bodies can handle it, and some just can't.
Basically, I don't think there is any magic bullet. There is no lozenge, tea, or whatnot that will miraculously help you keep your voice. Training and taking care of the body are about the only way to go. Cheers,
Ryan

ps. Keep your voice down when you aren't on stage! Trying to talk over people at a crowded venue after performing can be even harder on the throat than the singing was!
+1. Proper technique is key.

Yes, alcohol can cause voice loss.

Dairy products do NOT. They do cause mucus thickening, which may degrade the sound of the voice, but they're not gonna cause loss of voice.

A lot of the suggestions here, while not bad, really go to MAINTAINING your vocal chops over a long period of time.

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Post by spacelabstudio » Wed Jan 31, 2007 5:58 pm

I luckily don't have to sing in public except for the rare solo show or backup vocal. But I have to say, I don't know how you guys do it. One conversation in a loud, smoky bar, and my voice is shot. I've always wondered how anybody could actually sing under those circumstances. Nothing to add, really, other than that I'm amazed any of you folks can pull it off. Kudos!

chris

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Post by Scodiddly » Wed Jan 31, 2007 7:45 pm

Education & technique is #1. I took a few lessons back several years, and learned a lot. My voice improved significantly, and I didn't even spend a lot of money.

#2 is learning to recognize how loud you can sing, when you're straining, etc. Learn to use whatever monitoring you have, get other people to turn down, etc. It's really easy to get excited and abuse your voice.

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Boogdish
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Post by Boogdish » Wed Jan 31, 2007 8:09 pm

practice makes perfect. If I go a few weeks without singing, my voice is more likely to hurt after playing a show or recording vocals. When I'm on tour and singing for 30 minutes a night every night, my throat feels great. Keep those muscles strong and you'll be less likely to strain them. If you're really serious about singing, try to sing some every day.

As far as tea/lozenges go, "throat coat" is the only stuff that I like.

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Post by spankenstein » Wed Jan 31, 2007 10:33 pm

directaction wrote: It lubricates your vocal chords, and works wonders.
Anything that touches your vocal folds is going in your lungs. Your vocal folds are on the trachea side of the epiglottis.

http://www.personal.kent.edu/~manaya/Miller2.jpg

I also call "bull" on milk.

http://www.jacn.org/cgi/content/abstrac ... ppl_6/547S

http://www.medeserv.com.au/ascia/aer/in ... _mucus.htm

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/quer ... t=Abstract

Warm up, sing what you can, don't push too hard. Basically if it hurts, it's wrong. Like anything else. Just use common sense and practice a lot.

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Smokin' Sinatra

Post by kweis7 » Thu Feb 01, 2007 6:53 am

The pics of Sinatra smoking in between takes at recording sessions always kill me. This one is not of a session but still:

http://img.inkfrog.com/pix/mrartz/316_RAT_PSMOKE.jpg

Sinatra said something along the lines of " I feel sorry for people who don't drink because the best they are gonna feel all day is when they wake up" . A different time indeed.

So, smoke and drink lotsa white russians while you sing....:shock:

All kidding aside,I think technique (good training) is the key to a happy voice. Singing is a very physical thing should feel easy if you're doing it well. If you're straining you're probably gonna get hoarse eventually. Would you go down hill skiing without some lessons?
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