Killing my voice to fight the mucus from winter's dry heat at home
rabctakh
Pro Posts: 10
I have every possible problem under the sun when it comes to my singing, I started the program 5 months ago. If you heard me singing right now you would take my mic and hit me over the head with it before throwing it away. My biggest problem is post nasal drip from dry heat, I can't clear my throat enough times. Out of frustration I try to punch through the phlegm by screaming rather than singing. Another reason why I over-sing is because of singing alongside the original tracks I want to imitate, forcing me to get louder to "stand out" over the original singer. I know in time I will correct everything and become able to sing "Better Than Anyone Else", I do have a powerful voice after all. I am now wondering if I should give my voice a break to get rid of the hoarseness. I don't know how to slow down or stop, I am just not wired that way. I used to do AC/DC covers as a teenager because I sounded just like Brian Johnson, now I am 48 and can't do that to save my life. I am not interested in that sound anymore, I picked on Brent Smith from Shinedown and have been massacring is music with my voice. I have an incredible amount of confidence that soon enough I am gonna be not just good but amazing, but right now I sound like the victim of a horrible crime screaming for help lol
Comments
Have you sought help with the post-nasal drip? Certainly you need to stay as hydrated as possible. I've gone through periods where I had too much mucus on my vocal cords. I went to an ENT and he confirmed that and put me on a one-month regimen of mucinex.
I didn't like it, but it helped. I also cut WAY back on coffee, as it is a diuretic.
I didn't have post-nasal drip, just mucus that was persistent and interfered with my singing.
I'm all better now. I stay hydrated.
It would be good for you to find if there is anything that can be done to help stop your post-nasal issue. Waiting for the seasons to change can be frustrating.
One of the problems with clearing your throat is that the very act of clearing your throat can irritate your vocal cords and make it feel like you need to clear your throat. So you get caught in a loop of always feeling like you need to clear your throat, and that can cause problems with your upper midrange notes.
Certainly clearing your voice by screaming is a less than ideal solution. That might indeed lead to someone throwing your mic away after banging you on the head, as you said. ; ^ )
Drinking Green Tea, inhaling steam vapors (especially with a few drops of Tea Tree Oil in the vaporizing water), long hot showers, and lots of drinking water are ways to help clear mucus.
One way to reduce irritation while giving your cords a chance to rehabilitate might be to sing lightly, very gingerly for a while. If you're really slamming your cords, they may actually need a little rest from that kind of activity. Hard glottal onsets can be very rough on the cords, and it sounds like you're the kind of person that sings all-out all of the time. You just might need to pull back on the throttle for just a while.
I think an Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist might be able to take a look and maybe make some recommendations for you that could be very helpful.
I hope you get clear of this stuff soon. Sometimes problems like this are hard to shake off, and tend to linger without treatment. Take care of yourself, and get back into singing shape!
Bob
: ^ )
Good for you, my friend @rabctakh!
Good Singing to You!
Bob
Hi!
I also sometimes have problems with mucus, and also hoarseness.
I have found these solutions:
1. Don't panic. In the beginning I stopped singing when I was hoarse, but I have discovered that I can still sing, if I do it the right way, which is:
2. Sing lightly. I start out very gently. It may sound terrible, but again: don't panic. The fog will disappear, slowly. After a while my voice gets clearer, not exactly angelig, but getting closer.
3. Sing away the mucus. Often I start out being a bit hoarse, but as my voice gets warmed up, I can feel that the problem is the mucus, like it is sticking to my cords. When I sing it is like it starts to dissolve, come to the surface and hoarsness goes away. Then I sing away the mucus. I go on singing and singing, and it is like it pushes away the mucus, no clearing needed. You just get this slimy thing coming up, and you sing until it is gone.
And of course: drink water. Water is good, water is not boring, water is best :-)
This is the gentle, pe patient, no panic approach :-)
Trine
Trine is right on the money in her post!
Sing through the gunk, don't try to clear it out by "clearing your throat". Sing through it.
Bob
@rabctakh,
Have you been to a doctor to see about your hearing? Sometimes they might pull a big hunk of glup out of your ears that is muting your hearing. I've had a doctor pull chunks out of my ears and suddenly I could hear high frequencies that dogs couldn't even hear!
Bob
I am also gonna review KTVA and focus on breath support, as well as cutting back the air. Somewhere between loudness and passing through too much air I am still hurting myself. I am sounding much better overall, but find holding my breath more confusing than Chinese algebra written in braille lol
Yes, if you were around artillery, explosions, or arms fire, you may have been exposed to extremely high sound pressure levels of the most deafening kind! If you've had ringing in your ears, that can take a toll on your hearing.
Glad you made it through all of that.
Support can be a little challenging to wrap your brain around, but really, in the end it's just a means of balancing your breath and using your entire body to produce sound rather than just your throat.
Bob
I have been sticking to volume 2 but decided to go fishing for KTVA info in volume 3 supplemental. I have been doing EVERYTHING wrong that can cause hoarseness etc. Over singing, drinking gallons of soda, drinking no water, you name it I've done it. Sometimes I feel like someone put a foot down my throat and wiggled it around, time to change that. Ok so here is what I am going to do, I am going to stop being a moron. I am so happy I found all this info today, I woke up with that as my main mission for today. I am so exited right now because I know exactly what to do, and that my problems have an easy fix. All I have to do is change EVERYTHING, because I have been doing everything wrong. THERE'S HOPE FOR ME!!!!... YESSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!