Thrown Voice during shows

  • Thread starter Thread starter Noah Nelson
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Noah Nelson

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the past three shows i have hosted/ performed i lost my voice. i am a hip hop vocalist with no vocal training. Can someone in Lame terms explain what is happening when i loose my voice? how can i prevent it? (no i will not turn my volume down):yawn: I hear a lot of tricks, cough drops, honey with cayenne, what works for you?
 
technique.

since you say you won't put your volume down, you're probably blasting off your vocal chords (just a fine and delicate membrane on your larynx) with too much air pressure so you can get loud - dude, you have mics for that, let them do their job.

you keep blasting the shiiii out of your throat, you'll end up with a quacking duck good for nothing voice. 1- you have to respect your vocal range - see if you're not trying to sing too high or too below what's comfortable. there are some warm up drills that help a lot, and knowing how to breath makes a good difference.

2- no magic tea makes up for bad technique.
 
nielphine said:
technique.

since you say you won't put your volume down, you're probably blasting off your vocal chords (just a fine and delicate membrane on your larynx) with too much air pressure so you can get loud - dude, you have mics for that, let them do their job.

you keep blasting the shiiii out of your throat, you'll end up with a quacking duck good for nothing voice. 1- you have to respect your vocal range - see if you're not trying to sing too high or too below what's comfortable. there are some warm up drills that help a lot, and knowing how to breath makes a good difference.

2- no magic tea makes up for bad technique.
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+1

Learning how to sing will resolve this. And you should be able to sing loudly, but healthily. Chances are you need to work on breathing and addressing constriction while strengthening the proper singing muscles through registration. There are no tricks to being good at what you do, sorry.
 
Yep. Figure out exactly what parts of your delivery are straining your voice (Hint: even a little bit of pain when you're singing/talking means you're hurting your voice) and fix your technique to correct that.

Drinking lots of water before and during your performance will keep you hydrated and keep your whole vocal system lubricated, which will reduce strain substantially, but it's not a magic bullet to fix bad technique. Teas, etc really only soothe pain and lubricate so you can recover after a performance.

Also, sing/speak from your diaphragm.
 
If you can't hear yourself clearly and easily, you're probably trying (subconsciously) to compensate for that by singing louder. That will cause extra stress on your throat and screw you over in the long run. Get some better monitors such as in-ears or just turn the vocal monitors up for yourself. As said before, let the mic do its job.

I personally fixed this problem immediately with in-ear monitors, but that wouldn't have made a difference if my technique was bad. Just saying :)
 
Another +1 on technique

You're shredding your chords because you've (by your own admission) never been taught to use your voice correctly. If you're serious about being a vocal performer, get to a professional voice coach. They can show you how to develop your "instrument" with proper technique, teach you warm-up and strengthening exercises, as well as maintaining your voice with proper diet and exercise.

There are remedies out there to soothe a tired, sore throat (lemon water, loquat syrup, etc)...but they wont fix what's happening to you. Below I have listed five things that can help you stop shredding your chords. HELP - not cure...only a professional coach can truly get you to a better place, but perhaps these will assist you in the mean time.

1) Stop constant throat-clearing. A lot of singers do this (sometimes subconciously) right before they start singing as a method to clear away any mucous. The problem with this is, it scrapes the chords together causing irritation and inflammation. A better way to control mucus over-production is through diet.

2) Limit excessive talking and avoid yelling. This may be difficult depending on what you do for a living, but if you have a vocal performance on Saturday, avoid going out Friday night to a concert or loud nightclub where you have to practically yell in conversation to be heard.

3) Avoid eating ANYTHING right before you go to bed. Even if you dont suffer from Gastric Reflux, a late-night meal right before lying your body down can cause laryngeal reflux. The stomach acid washes up and burns away the tiny hairs that line the vocal folds which hold moisture and keep your chords lubricated. The result is dry, chaffed vocal chords. The hairs grow back, but it takes three days.

4) Warm-up and stretch the muscles in your neck and jaw to relieve tension. There are a few videos on YouTube showing how to do this.

5) Stop glottal-ing. Glottal strokes happen in natural speech when your vocal chords slam together, and causes major wear and tear on your chords. In fact, I was told this burns your voice out faster than anything else!! Glottalization happens on the onset of a word (spoken or sung) that begins with a vowel (A, E, O). Its hard to explain without hearing, but its basically the difference between speaking "A" and "Hey". Notice when you say "Hey" how much softer the attack to the "A" sounds. Recording engineers sometimes have to remove this sound post-production because it doesn't sound good in the performance. A trick I was taught is to put an "H" in front of the vowel to soften the attack and minimize glottaling "Hey, Hee, Ho" instead of "A, E, O".

Also - drink LOTS of water and avoid tobacco, alcohol and excessive amounts of caffeine.


This is not a comprehensive list by ANY means, just a few of the things I was taught that have helped me preserve my voice for 25+ years!!
 
Self taught for 10 years and never once needed a coach to tell me how to not do something that doesn't feel good. Save that money and get some decent monitors. That's assuming you can sing comfortably in the first place.
 
I was self-taught as well, but noticed as I got older I was having trouble consistently hitting the higher register when I was doing back-to-back shows on the road. My voice coach was instrumental in teaching me how to preserve my voice through multiple performances.

I agree that good monitors are essential...if you cant hear your performance in the mix its very difficult to stay in key. But the OP never mentioned not being able to hear himself, or being forced to sing/rap louder than he usually does. My guess is he's shredding his chords due to poor technique, and the best monitors in the world aren't gonna fix that!

JMHO
 
sometimes the difference between being self taught and having had decent orientation is being able to sing in your later years better than many can by their 20s (the older lady was born in 1935, this is a 2002 recording - you do the math: RECITAL TERESA BERGANZA (2002-03) - YouTube)

over the years, I've learned how to sing even when I'm voiceless - it's something only technique and a good teacher can prove possible.

I am aware that different styles require different approaches - but a healthy voice is a healthy voice, and if you need someone to tell you how to get that, it's not only ok, but a pretty smart move. saves years of trial-error attempts, even if you only get coached for a while, and then get random sessions whenever you feel you need some input.
 
Kidfixer said:
the best monitors in the world aren't gonna fix that!
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They will if he already knows proper technique but doesn't have a good on stage mix with his vocals loud enough. My guess is that he is trying to subconsciously compensate for the inadequate vocal volume in the monitors' mix by singing louder.
 
wtfuhz said:
They will if he already knows proper technique but doesn't have a good on stage mix with his vocals loud enough. My guess is that he is trying to subconsciously compensate for the inadequate vocal volume in the monitors' mix by singing louder.
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That was the thought that crossed my mind as well....
 
wtfuhz said:
They will if he already knows proper technique but doesn't have a good on stage mix with his vocals loud enough. My guess is that he is trying to subconsciously compensate for the inadequate vocal volume in the monitors' mix by singing louder.
Click to expand...

if his technique is really proper, he should know how soft or how loud he can sing, how the mic should be reacting to his voice and that if he can't hear himself, he'd better sit down with the sound engineer, a couple of beers and sort out their problems.
 
wtfuhz said:
My guess is that he is trying to subconsciously compensate for the inadequate vocal volume in the monitors' mix by singing louder.
Click to expand...

Well, I suppose we could both speculate all day long about where the problem originates...but without more information from the OP, we might as well be pissing into the wind. I just hate seeing folks throw money at a problem (i.e. purchase better monitors) only to find out that's NOT the problem. I've been guilty of it myself...

When I was struggling with my golf game I tried fixing it by purchasing the latest and greatest equipment, fully-adjustable drivers and custom-fitted irons with promises of longer drives and more accurate shots...all to no avail, I rarely broke 90. Then I got myself to a professional golf instructor who corrected some fundamental flaws in my swing...now I'm a 4 HDCP and routinely break 80.

You may very well be right and better equipment will solve the problem...but an initial consultation with a vocal coach would be a cheaper avenue, and he would STILL benefit from it even if monitors are the problem.
 
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