Losing head voice

Whitesnake

About a week or two ago I sung in a call register without a warm-up and, on the next day, I found that I lost pretty much half of my range because of that. I can’t be silent all day because of the specifics of my work, so I just waited for my voice to recover. Right now, my chest voice seems to have progress in recovering, but my head voice is very, very weak. I sound like a dying bird when I try to sing in head voice.

So, what should I do right now? Should I try to do more exercises on head voice or it's better to give it a rest and do exercises on chest voice?

Klaus_T

i'd imagine you did not ruin your voice that severely in one session (hopefully), so I guess there might be tension involved, maybe because now you are over-analyzing it. i can't imagine your head voice being so shredded just from one slip. take it as a warning sign to not do it again, though!

if you own the course (which it sounds to me like you do), you know you can register for full forum access (some specifics, we are not allowed to talk about in the public sector)

Whitesnake

@Klaus_T sorry, I can't register and update my status. All I can do - ask here. I can upload some examples of how I sound like right now. I done some recordings right now. If it helps you or anybody else here at least say what is it and should I be worried or it's okay and it will be gone sooner or later.

Klaus_T

no problem, yeah please post the samples. how long did the "over-singimg session" last? minutes, hours?

Whitesnake

@Klaus_T um...not so long. Half and hour, maybe an hour long. Before that my head voice was a little shaky on a passagio notes, like D#4, E4, F4 and F#4. Those notes I always sing with my chest voice. But after that night, when I sung for about an hour, it got worse.

- here's how my chest and head voice sounds, around the passagio area.

- and here's how my head voice sounds when I sing higher notes.

Klaus_T

alright, thanks for posting it. it sounds a bit yodel-y on the head voice. i think this has to do with support not being strong enough, it sounds a bit airy/breathy to me. i assume you were sitting? try if standing up helps, support is strongest then. also, use even less volume for the head voice, see if it becomes more stable and less yodel-y.

i believe there is no reason to be worried about long-term damage, your voice sounds normal and fine to me.

of course, I am not an expert, but i hope this helps

Whitesnake

@Klaus_T thanks for the answer! Yeah, I was sitting. But there's no difference really if I use my head voice while sitting down or standing up. Head voice just weakened after that night. Before that my head voice was stronger, without this airy sound and some unwanted rasp. It's cool tho, if there's really no reason to be worried about long-term damage. Because I was really freaked out when I heard myself.

Klaus_T

I am pretty sure it will be fine! best wishes!!!