Permanent Damage To My Voice?

[Alchemist94]

I've been trying to learn to sing recently because my band is looking for a singer, but the problem is, every few words my voice box will mute. It's only when I sing, never happens when I talk. Until recently I was a heavy smoker (About 20 a day) so is it because of the smoking? And will it ever get better?

[Envy]

I don't know much about singing, but does it mute when you try and change to a higher or lower pitch? That just has to do with training your voice if so.

[SessileNomad]

happens to most ppl who cant sing right off the bat, including me

just warm up your voice and practice, it should slowly go away

[Alchemist94]

Yeah it's when I change pitch, thank fuck for that, thanks guys.

[sorohanro]

Quit smoking if you don't want to be the next Bonnie Tyler.

[Alchemist94]

At 4/23/10 06:54 PM, sorohanro wrote: Quit smoking if you don't want to be the next Bonnie Tyler.

I have lol.

[Envy]

At 4/23/10 07:00 PM, Alchemist94 wrote:

At 4/23/10 06:54 PM, sorohanro wrote: Quit smoking if you don't want to be the next Bonnie Tyler.

I have lol.

But janis joplin. Theres a great smoker voice. And Mike Ness (I think he's also the singer of social distortion, but i have no fucking Idea, I could be wrong.) Theyve got some damn unique smoker voices.

[Offgore]

Dude.. how the fuck do you smoke 20 a day? Is that all what you did in your free time? lol.

[Noctrine]

Jason Mraz also smoked originally, was amazed that he could get that kind of range as a smoker. But yeah as stated above the muting is an issue with vocal training.

Back during HS I remember a bit of stuff the Choir people would say about trying to sing without proper practice and warm-up could cause serious vocal damage though.

[Gravey]

At 4/23/10 11:30 PM, Noctrine wrote:

Back during HS I remember a bit of stuff the Choir people would say about trying to sing without proper practice and warm-up could cause serious vocal damage though.

This is very true and very important. Always make sure to warm up before doing any strenuous vocal work. I was in a couple of choirs all through HS as an accompanist, and I remember the choir instructor always had me warm the choir up with a lot of different exercises while she was taking care of other matters.

Typically warm ups typically took about 15-20 mins in total and emphasized both range and vocal structure. By that I mean vowel sounds like "ooo's" and "ah's" and "ee's" and more were used during warm ups.

I honestly didn't think they really did anything for anyone until I took a couple of vocal classes in college. It makes a HUGE difference when you warm up as opposed to just winging it.

So if you do a nice structure of warm up exercises and techniques the problem should resolve itself when your vocal chords get used to doing this sort of workout everyday. Because it is a sort of strenuous exercise on the vocal muscles.

Also, good to hear you quit smoking. Congrats. :-) Not an easy thing to do for many people.

[thecoreman]

You just have to train your voice and warm up a bit before singing. However, you should realize that you might never achieve the voice you'd want to have because of the smoking.

Smoking is bad, yo.

[nathanallenpinard]

Actually it sounds like he might have had some dairy products before singing. That kind of has the same effect sometimes.

[Nechura]

At 4/23/10 09:45 PM, Sealander wrote: Dude.. how the fuck do you smoke 20 a day? Is that all what you did in your free time? lol.

I used to smoke a 30 pack a day. I've cut down now but I still have maybe 15 a day, max. And what exactly do dairy products do to your voice? Like shrink or constrict your vocal chords? I've seen a few videos on people warning not to drink milk and stuff before singing.

[Envy]

At 4/24/10 03:59 PM, Nechura wrote:

At 4/23/10 09:45 PM, Sealander wrote: Dude.. how the fuck do you smoke 20 a day? Is that all what you did in your free time? lol.

I used to smoke a 30 pack a day. I've cut down now but I still have maybe 15 a day, max. And what exactly do dairy products do to your voice? Like shrink or constrict your vocal chords? I've seen a few videos on people warning not to drink milk and stuff before singing.

I know milk can clog your throat. Like if you drink milk before bed, you end up having tons of phlegm in your throat and it sucks.

[Reaper93]

At 4/23/10 06:51 PM, Alchemist94 wrote: Yeah it's when I change pitch, thank fuck for that, thanks guys.

Basically changing pitch rapidly is difficult, as referenced already, and you will of course have some pitches you cannot hit with your natural voice (for men generally in the higher region).

[DJRAV3N]

i used to have the same problem. I got rid of it by humming each note of the scale than moving up an octave and doing it again. takes some practice but is very effective. Same with lip rolls

[BigRed]

At 4/23/10 06:03 PM, Alchemist94 wrote: I've been trying to learn to sing recently because my band is looking for a singer, but the problem is, every few words my voice box will mute. It's only when I sing, never happens when I talk. Until recently I was a heavy smoker (About 20 a day) so is it because of the smoking? And will it ever get better?

Proper vocal technique is what you need. Honestly, a couple of lessons with a vocal teacher will give you some great things to think about regarding warming up, your range, posture, and breathing techniques.

The biggest thing you can work on changing is your breathing right now. Do not breath into your chest. Stand up straight and put one hand on your belly button and the other on your side just above your hips. When you breathe in you should feel the air filling up that space. Your shoulders and chest should not move. Practice breathing in as deep as you can and then letting it out as slow as you can with only a slight touch of sound.

This will probably be the first thing any vocal teacher gets you to work on: breathing with your diaphram. Check out the link below. I just Googled it, but it seemed pretty legit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5CWsFaVn WM

[btriangle]

Yeah like many people said in here, i'd strongly suggest warming up your voice first by singing things up a scale for about a minute or two.

Also I would suggest stretching your mouth by screaming to 10 without making sound, very important.