hi im ann the pans daughter,im also a singing,i hav terrible problems with my throat.if i two gigs in a row the second gig i cant reach the notes,due to smokie air,and my voice is very husskie the next day has anyone got any good remidies????let me know.
RE: throat
I you discussed this with your voice coach or singing teacher?
They usually have their pet remedies. They can also check that your technique is good and not doing anything that may aggravate it.
Make sure that your not bending your neck backwards when you sing.
My old piano teacher used to swear by a dilution of borax from the chemists. Make sure that you read instructions or get pharmacist to advise. It will only be any good to calm down a sore throat, though and not prevent this happening.
If you have any stiffness or tightness in the muscles of your neck this could be affecting your voice and affect the blood supply to the mucous membranes of the throat. Neck stretches an posture may be enough for that.
You may be sensitive to tobacco smoke, especially if you have any allergies.
Andrew.
RE: throat
i cant reach the notes
my voice is very husskie the next day
Hiya Ann The Pan's Daughter.
Sounds like you're straining your larynx (voicebox) when singing - the smoke wont help since it dries your windpipe out.
I had surgery on my larynx last year because of straining/stress over time (cysts had formed).
Did you know you had a false vocal chords? These are what kick in when your 'real' ones are tired, probably producing the husky sound the next day. Between the smoke and singing a lot, you are both drying out and straining your voicebox.
The drying out is as dangerous as the straining, according to my speech therapist, who was brilliant at explaining it all.
she gave me LOTS of advice, and most of it is very simple, but very effective!
to prevent dryness:
drink plenty water! Sounds simple, but singers/heavy talkers (which is what I am ;)) need to drink extra to keep their larynx moist and vibrant.
reduce caffeine intake (this dries out the throat)
monitor alcohol intake (ditto)
avoid smoke (impossible when doing a gig)
get plenty sleep
also - eat fresh fruit and so on - very common sense stuff, but I'll vouch for it as being effective
preventing straining is more difficult and is what you need either a singing teacher or speech therapist for, since they can personalise you training your voice to use whats called a neutral larynx position.
humming exercises are good since they help you work on projection into the 'oral cavity' (your mouth) which is our natural 'loudspeaker'. It is common for heavy voice users to produce the sound in their throat, and also to project from there, which is what strains the voicebox - its job is to produce the sound - the mouths job is to project it. With humming you can really feel where you are projecting to and from because of the vibration - like i say though, really need a teacher to point out your personal talking/singing habits.
[link= http://www.vocalist.org.uk/singing_exercises.html ]http://www.vocalist.org.uk/singing_exercises.html[/link]
this link will give you some breathing and posture tips (which, when used properly, will ease the strain on your voicebox) as well as singing exercises to help warm up/cool down your voice - which really is essential, especially if you are doing gigs for more than one day in a row (since there is little time to rest your voice in between). My sister is a singer and when i gave her a copy of my voice exercises sheet, she really noticed a difference after doing a few minutes humming each day.
anyway, hope all that helps.
Darren