Losing lower range after warmup / singing

MattGee

Hey guys!

So this problem is bothering me for some time now and I can't figure it out on my own. At this point I'm afraid I'm doing damage to my vocal chords maybe, so I really need advice. I'm a dude btw

I think I've become a capable singer, and when my voice is warmed up I can go high (B5) and do some cool stuff, but at the same time I feel like I lose all the lower frequencies in my voice. I generally sing pop songs with no distortion, so no crazy stuff.
But I lose the abilty to sing lower notes which are no problem before warming up, and I have this weird feeling like my throat is tightened up or my voice box sits higher than usual.
As a result my normal speaking voice seems higher pitched too.
I am not pushing up my larynx when I sing as far as I can tell, my tone is pretty alright, It doesn't sound "pressed out".
When I stop and let my voice box rest for an hour or two, everything goes back to normal and those low notes come out extemely easy again, even better than before (You know like in the morning your voice sits really low). It almost feels a bit hoarse, but I don't think it is.
I have a reference song that starts on an A2, and I noticed the warmer my voice gets, the harder it is for me to get this low with a nice, crips tone. By the end I can't get that note out at all, can't even do vocal fry. What a weird feeling!
This is so annoying because I've become a compentent singer but then I struggle really hard when there's a song where you need those lower notes.

I don't know if this can be fixed by internet advice, but I thought I'll give it a try

Cheers

Wigs

What you are describing is actually quite normal. Your voice can get set in a high placement when you spend alot of time practicing in your upper register. The same would be if you did alot of lower singing then it would be hard to jump straight into a high song. The rest period you describe is your voice going back to it's more natural lower placement but with more resonance from all the singing you have done before.
How you warm up will affect your singing. Taking your voice high up as a warm up is good for high range singing, but if the song has alot more lower register, you will want to keep your warm up in the lower registers. If you are singing an entire set list within your full range, consider the order you sing them to help your voice adapt.

MattGee

Thanks for your reply!

While it's somewhat good to hear that this is normal, it's a bummer that my voice loses its qualities in the lower ranges as the singing session goes on. Are there any exercises to make this better over time?

The advice to keep this effect in mind when planing my setlist is pretty good, thanks!

Wigs

I have found after doing this for 4 years that during my exercises that include most of my full range, I retain the ability to sing clearly and with resonance in my upper and lower registers. After alot of proper training it seems that keeping your lower registers after training high is easier, as long as that training had low scales as well.