Blown Voice?

lordsammy

Hey guys,

I think I blew my voice yesterday. Today I have barely anything to the point where speaking is almost completely dropping out.

I made some stupid decisions. I had a gig at midday which was only an hour, so that was fine. I did Volume 2 completely to warm up. Then after the gig on the drive home I thought I'd use the time to sing through some hard songs, e.g Matt Corby's "Brother", which has full chest sounds and distortion, and Matt Corby's "Souls a'Fire".

I then warmed down a little, took the arvo off. Few hours later I drove down to my girlfriends, had 40 minutes so thought I'd do more singing, still intense, full voice, distortion. Warmed down breifly, then did the same on the way back home a couple of hours later. I was in no way delicate with my voice.

I also had a beer somewhere in between, though it was just one. 

I've watched Ken's video on Vocal Health and Wellness. He said if you are horse than try to come back with the bright timbral sound, but he also says if you have completely lost it, that's another thing. So I'm not sure what I should be doing.

It's currently 3 pm Wednesday arvo, I have a vocal lesson tomorrow and a gig on Saturday Night.

Ill try to get the timbral brightness back but won't over do it. 

Dumb decisions! Advice?

Cheers

Sam

highmtn

Do continue to sing lightly.  Be very light, and gingerly work through your full range.

Learn from what has happened.  It's always better to underdo vocals than to overdo them. 

Take it easy and avoid temptation during your vocal lesson and your gigs.  Think long-term vocal health. 

Your voice will come back, but not very soon if you beat it up. 

 

Bob

lordsammy

Hey Bob,

I literally just finished Vol. 2

Im seriously surprised at how much I just got back. It's probably gone from about 10-15% to 80%! Seriously incredible how the voice works. It still feels a little beat up from yesterday but I at least got it back on track.

Perhaps rest is now in order!

@highmtn

Thanks,

Sam

highmtn

Rest is important.  So is the light and ginger use of the voice when we need it to heal.

I kind of see it as waking up the voice.  It wants to go into hibernation if we quit using it.

If we lightly use it, when blown out, it's almost like we're gently waking it back up and letting it know we need it.

 

Bob

lordsammy

@cgreen
@highmtn

Correct I won't be doing that again. I suppose I know somewhat my limits now. My voice is not great today again. Should I do volume 2 again lightly to spur on my voice?

Thanks

Sam

lordsammy

@cgreen

Thanks man I'll take your advice on that and let you know the result!

Sam

lordsammy

@cgreen

Oh oops I didn't see that as I'm currently on my phone!

Thanks man I'll check them out ASAP

sspatrick

@lordsammy‌ . I'm guessing overwork and the beer. That kills me every time, beer dehydrates you. Plus with all the vocal athletics you weren't replenishing the hydration. I'm also guessing that you're Australian....this arvo? ). The drummer in my band is Australian.

lordsammy

@sspatrick

Yeah I'll try to avoid a beer from now on, and if I have one I won't work out!

Yeah I'm Aussie
What's your band called?

Thanks!

Sam

sspatrick

@lordsammy. My band is called Wyatt. We've got a few vids up on YouTube. Check em out.

rcrosier

@sspatrick:  I looked on YouTube, and there are various "Wyatts" of various other names... are you the one with "Roll The Windows Down"?

rcrosier

@sspatrick:  Figured it out... Listened to "Jesse James" and "Roll The Windows Down", love 'em both!  Great sound, great vocals!

sspatrick

I'm glad you found us and glad you liked it! Thx.