My voice is wearing

JoshB

Hi

I play in a band and we gig regularly. I cant find time to rest my voice and I know if I dont I will be sorry.
My voice's fallsetto range has dramatically dropped and it is raspy and airy. On the low notes of falsetto it sounds a little chesty.
I need to rest my voice. I think I am developing nodes or something.

I am in volume one. Is there something I can do that will help me stay away from any more damaging of the chord?

What kinds of things help heal quicker?

highmtn

Cut back the volume. Turn up the monitors so you can hear yourself without singing so loud. Use as much cord closure as you can, so that you will use less air. Air dries out the cords and makes you go hoarse.
That will knock out your falsetto.

Singing more gently will help you to survive.

In Volume 3 techniques are taught that will help you learn to cut back the air more. You aren't ready for that until you get there. For now, you need to sing more gently, use as little air in your sound as possible, and use as much breath support as you can. Push down on your diaphragm more, the higher you sing. This helps hold back the air.

Catch yourself as you are singing, and make sure you're not oversinging. If you are, cut it back. Sing some scales in your falsetto at the lowest volume you possibly can. That will help your cords to heal more quickly. If the note won't sound, try a little softer, etc.

Very gently.

Bob

JoshB

Ok thanks Bob. I know not using your chords for a week or so helps heal them but its hard because Im afraid I will have a tough time getting back to the notes and everything.

highmtn

Reducing the volume of your singing will be necessary in order to protect your voice. You need your voice to be there for you for the Long Run. If you do Vocal Rest and then go right back to overblowing your cords, you will keep having setbacks.

Like I said, Adjust the monitors. You might consider having "the talk" with your bandmates. If you guys aren't going for a cooperative "MIX" that is Vocal-Dominant, then you are going to have a lot of trouble with your voice. Bands have to work together as a team, and the Vocals are Number One in mix importance. If your band has an "every man for himself" or "More ME" outlook on the sound, you will most likely keep blowing out your voice. It's simple Physics. Your voice, no matter how good it becomes, has physical limitations, and in order to get a great sound AS A BAND, the VOCALS have to be on top of everything else. That doesn't go over well if your band has a wall of Marshall Amps and everybody is trying to out-volume one another.

I am fortunate that I haven't had to deal with volume wars for many years now. I control the mixing board from my drum set. I can hear myself and everybody else perfectly, no feedback, and no distortion. I talk to my bandmates if we start playing too loud, and presto, everything is back in balance. I use massive amounts of breath support to keep from blowing out my cords. My voice is better at the end of the night than it was in the first set. It used to be the opposite.

Something is causing your voice to blow out. It's most likely that you are oversinging, and people oversing when they can't hear themselves well enough. That is a fixable problem. If you don't fix it, it won't go away.

All the Best, My Friend!

Bob

JoshB

Thank you Bob. I am no longer blasting the sound out and have been trying to sing as light as possible but people who regularly hear me are saying things like "as long as he doesnt sing it light" and "The lighter style isnt meant for rock and roll. MY voice just doesnt have as much depth when I sing everything light.

It does help keep everything in tact I will admit. Iv got a little break of around two weeks until Im back doing gigs again and I went three days without speaking and did the warmups just about an hour ago and it feels thongs have got worse. I always drink lots of water so Im not worried about dry chords or anything.

Maybe I just have to give things even more time. When I use my falsetto now it isnt as raspy but not coming through unless I close my mouth and kind of cram things up a little. My light lower chest is a little raspy. I should give things more time I guess.

What I keep saying to myself for inspiration is "I would rather fix mild things early then wind up without a voice at all!"

highmtn

It is going to take some time for you to get through enough of the course and enough training to be able to get to the parts that train you to hold back the breath. You simply can't instantly arrive there. You have to work your way to that level of expertise.

In the meantime, you have to protect your voice, so that you will still have a voice to work with. It's like a kid saying "I want to be six feet tall right now!" It's just not going to happen without the time required for growth and development.

You have skills to learn, stamina to build, and that will take time and correct practice and application. If you try to skip ahead and not do the work, you will undermine your own progress. It doesn't work that way.

If your group or audience wants you to belt everything out right now, without you yet having the skills to do so, you are putting yourself into circumstances that risk your vocal health and longevity. If the band is just cranking their amps and making your voice compete with that, then you have the cards stacked against you. You are saying that you have been having vocal problems and your falsetto is weak. Continuing to oversing will have consequences.

You should consider booking a consult with Ken.

Bob

JoshB

Ok Bob I think I will hahaha. I gave my voice about a week to rest. I never spoke harshly and when I did speak it was very light and I went three days without talking in the beginning and I got rid of a lot of the raspyness. I still have a hard time with it but it certainly is healthier now. I am going to take better care of myself now and consider what Im going through as a scare not to oversing and destroy myself.