Showing posts with label lost my voice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lost my voice. Show all posts
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Inspiration for a Wimpy Voice
I fell off the practicing wagon while on vacation, then once home promptly got the summer cold everyone seems to have had lately. Then my voice finally came limping back, and it was time to rebuild strength. I knew what would happen the first few days: it would feel like I hadn’t sung for years and I’d cringe at my vocal wimpyness. I’d feel like a beginning singer, a charlatan, an imposter. Then gradually, if I could tolerate my sound and keep practicing, my voice would get stronger, I’d get over the initial weak voice hump and I’d feel like practicing and singing regularly again. But I was resisting moving through the hump. I needed inspiration.
Last night, while researching a project online, I listened to several master singers singing wonderful songs. Some were songs and performances everyone knows, but I hadn’t heard them for awhile. By the fifth song I was revved up and ready to practice. Maybe that’s the mark of an extraordinary singer and a wonderful song: they not only move you, they make you want to sing.
Here are the songs and performances that got to me, in case you’re looking for inspiration. If you’re short on time just listen to Sam Cooke, that should do it:
Sam Cooke: A Change Is Gonna Come
Eva Cassidy: True Colours
Judy Garland: Over The Rainbow
More Over The Rainbow: Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
Let Him Fly: Patti Griffin
Marc Broussard: Home
If you've found or rediscovered songs and performances that inspire you, feel free to post them in the comments section below.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
How to Turn Vocal Cords Into Corn Flakes: Singing Vs. Air Conditioning
Yesterday I started warming up a very gifted student of mine and her singing sounded like her vocal cords were made of corn flakes. “You sound air-conditioned out,” I said. “Huh?” she replied. “Do you run your AC at night?” I asked. “Yes, I blast it,” she answered. “Is that a problem?”
I don’t know how she missed all my ranting about air-conditioning and what it does to the voice, but in case you have missed it too, here goes: Vocal cords like to be moist. Air-conditioning cools the air by pulling moisture out of it. Breathing air-conditioned air dries out your vocal cords.
Remember Border’s Books? I was playing a gig at the west Los Angeles Borders in the late 1990s. It was icy in there from the AC. I was wailing away when all of a sudden: no voice. Gone, just like that. It was a duo performance with my drummer pal Albe Bonacci, so I squawked a barely audible: “Drum solo!” and dove for my water bottle. Once I was hydrated my voice returned enough to finish the show. Later I read that it was zero humidity in LA that day, and the Borders AC was drying the air who knows how much more. My poor vocal cords didn’t stand a chance.
Some singers are more affected by AC than others. Before that show I’d noticed some vocal dryness from AC, but I’d never experienced just how much it can mess with the voice.
We had a very mild winter and spring here in Nashville, Tennessee, which does not portend well for the summer. On Cinco de Mayo I sat sweating in the park, watching the wonderful Fisk Jubilee Singers. It was 90 degrees at 5 PM in early May and I thought “We’re in for it this summer”. AC is necessary when it gets really hot. What’s a singer to do?
1) Ceiling fans. Some think they are bad since they can blow dust and other allergens around, but I love them. Just wipe the dust off the blades periodically.
2) Build up your tolerance for heat. When students aren’t around I keep my thermostat set at 80 degrees. No kidding. 82 at night, and that’s for my labrador's sake since she can’t take off her coat. It’s the green thing to do, too.
Last summer the government of Japan requested that the country's workforce keep the thermostats in their office buildings set at 82.
3) Wear light clothing made of breathable fabric like cotton and silk.
4) Drink gobs of water, room temperature. A gallon a day at least, says Carlton Lee, the LA voice doctor I sent all my students to when I lived there. See my article on what singers should eat and drink for more on that.
5) If it’s really hot and you must run your AC, run a humidifier as well to put some moisture back in the air. Cool mist humidifiers won’t heat the air, but regular cheap humidifiers are often quieter, so take your pick. I use the latter.
While I’m ranting, what’s up with movie theaters, restaurants, museums etc. where the thermostat is set at 62 in the summer and 72 in the winter? There I’ll be in my nice summer dress in July, shivering away. My local movie theater finally changed its ways this year, but before that I was taking my down jacket with me to summer movies. Don’t the owners of these places realize how much money they’ll save on power bills by adjusting the thermostat a bit? Not to mention conserving energy.
Okay, back to singing:
6) Warm up and do your practicing early in the day, before the heat rises and the AC kicks on.
7) Warm up and sing in the shower where it’s good and steamy.
8) If you live in humid places like Tennessee, take breaks while singing and go outside to get some moisture on your vocal cords.
Don’t think that celebrities are immune to the effects of AC. When Celine Dion had her zillion dollar concert hall built for her in Las Vegas she made sure it was humidity controlled. Plus there’s a steam room backstage for her voice. Sounds good to me!
I don’t know how she missed all my ranting about air-conditioning and what it does to the voice, but in case you have missed it too, here goes: Vocal cords like to be moist. Air-conditioning cools the air by pulling moisture out of it. Breathing air-conditioned air dries out your vocal cords.
Remember Border’s Books? I was playing a gig at the west Los Angeles Borders in the late 1990s. It was icy in there from the AC. I was wailing away when all of a sudden: no voice. Gone, just like that. It was a duo performance with my drummer pal Albe Bonacci, so I squawked a barely audible: “Drum solo!” and dove for my water bottle. Once I was hydrated my voice returned enough to finish the show. Later I read that it was zero humidity in LA that day, and the Borders AC was drying the air who knows how much more. My poor vocal cords didn’t stand a chance.
Some singers are more affected by AC than others. Before that show I’d noticed some vocal dryness from AC, but I’d never experienced just how much it can mess with the voice.
We had a very mild winter and spring here in Nashville, Tennessee, which does not portend well for the summer. On Cinco de Mayo I sat sweating in the park, watching the wonderful Fisk Jubilee Singers. It was 90 degrees at 5 PM in early May and I thought “We’re in for it this summer”. AC is necessary when it gets really hot. What’s a singer to do?
1) Ceiling fans. Some think they are bad since they can blow dust and other allergens around, but I love them. Just wipe the dust off the blades periodically.
2) Build up your tolerance for heat. When students aren’t around I keep my thermostat set at 80 degrees. No kidding. 82 at night, and that’s for my labrador's sake since she can’t take off her coat. It’s the green thing to do, too.
Last summer the government of Japan requested that the country's workforce keep the thermostats in their office buildings set at 82.
3) Wear light clothing made of breathable fabric like cotton and silk.
4) Drink gobs of water, room temperature. A gallon a day at least, says Carlton Lee, the LA voice doctor I sent all my students to when I lived there. See my article on what singers should eat and drink for more on that.
5) If it’s really hot and you must run your AC, run a humidifier as well to put some moisture back in the air. Cool mist humidifiers won’t heat the air, but regular cheap humidifiers are often quieter, so take your pick. I use the latter.
While I’m ranting, what’s up with movie theaters, restaurants, museums etc. where the thermostat is set at 62 in the summer and 72 in the winter? There I’ll be in my nice summer dress in July, shivering away. My local movie theater finally changed its ways this year, but before that I was taking my down jacket with me to summer movies. Don’t the owners of these places realize how much money they’ll save on power bills by adjusting the thermostat a bit? Not to mention conserving energy.
Okay, back to singing:
6) Warm up and do your practicing early in the day, before the heat rises and the AC kicks on.
7) Warm up and sing in the shower where it’s good and steamy.
8) If you live in humid places like Tennessee, take breaks while singing and go outside to get some moisture on your vocal cords.
Don’t think that celebrities are immune to the effects of AC. When Celine Dion had her zillion dollar concert hall built for her in Las Vegas she made sure it was humidity controlled. Plus there’s a steam room backstage for her voice. Sounds good to me!
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
...But My Voice Won't Let Me
For the first time since I was sixteen (when I was too young and dumb to appreciate it) I went on a vacation to Europe, specifically Paris, Tuscany and Rome. It was crazy, wonderful, and inspiring, but halfway through the trip I was laid low by the worst chest cold I’d had since I can remember, which ravaged my vocal cords and left me with less than a whisper for several days. It has now been almost three weeks and I’m just beginning to be able to croak out a couple of notes.
I’ve heard that Frank Sinatra would fall into a deep depression whenever he got sick and couldn't sing. Me, I just get thoroughly pissed off. Not being able to sing is like temporarily losing my left pinkie: I can manage without it, but I don’t feel whole. Plus, it takes awhile to build up vocal strength, and regaining that after an illness, especially a longer one like mine, takes more than a couple of days. So laryngitis and dealing with colds is on my mind. A few thoughts:
• Some singers have asked me if they should still sing when they are sick. I had a voice coach who told me that unless you have strep throat you should do your warm ups, but I think that’s insane. If it hurts to sing you should probably rest your voice if you can. If what you have is mild allergies or a head cold that is sitting in your nose and not your throat, then you can probably sing through it. It’s when the cold has irritated your cords that you could further the irritation by singing.
• If you’re sick and have a gig or rehearsal that night and the show must go on: rest your voice, drink fluids, inhale steam, hum. Unless you are really sick, the adrenaline of performing often will knock out most your cold symptoms for the duration of the gig. You can try rubbing Preparation H on your adam’s apple since it shrinks tissue and may shrink some of vocal cord inflammation.
• What do the famous singers do when they get sick and have a huge concert that night? Some get steroids shot right into their vocal cords. This reduces the swelling enough to get them through the show, but the next day there’s a slap-back effect and they lose their voice for the day. I’ve been told by someone in his inner circle that Marilyn Manson used to book his tours as a series of three days on and one day off: He’d scream through the first two days of shows, lose his voice and get a steroid shot to make it through the third day, then lose his voice the fourth day and wait for it to come back. Then the cycle would start again. This is not a plan I’d recommend!
• What about tea, honey and lemon? Honey is soothing. Citrus will dry your vocal cords. So will tea, though not as much as citrus. Theoretically, if your throat is full of crud and you figure out the right cocktail of tea and lemon that dries it out but doesn’t overly dry it, it could help. But it’s the steam in tea that really can soothe. I’d vote for herbal tea and honey just to be safe.
When your voice is starting to return:
• Breathe, breathe, breathe. We all get pooped and breathe more shallowly when we’re sick, so the first thing to get back are those good, full singer’s breaths.
• Go slow. Your vocal cords have been roughed up for a chunk of time and probably are still tender. Start with easy warm ups and songs.
If you, too, have a cold, you have my sympathy. No one likes getting a cold, but singers are hit especially hard. Let’s all get and stay healthy, then let’s make a vow to wash our hands more and cover our mouths when coughing and sneezing to reduce the spread of germs. It'll help reduce the amount of grouchy sick singers pacing the earth, waiting for their voices to return.
I’ve heard that Frank Sinatra would fall into a deep depression whenever he got sick and couldn't sing. Me, I just get thoroughly pissed off. Not being able to sing is like temporarily losing my left pinkie: I can manage without it, but I don’t feel whole. Plus, it takes awhile to build up vocal strength, and regaining that after an illness, especially a longer one like mine, takes more than a couple of days. So laryngitis and dealing with colds is on my mind. A few thoughts:
• Some singers have asked me if they should still sing when they are sick. I had a voice coach who told me that unless you have strep throat you should do your warm ups, but I think that’s insane. If it hurts to sing you should probably rest your voice if you can. If what you have is mild allergies or a head cold that is sitting in your nose and not your throat, then you can probably sing through it. It’s when the cold has irritated your cords that you could further the irritation by singing.
• If you’re sick and have a gig or rehearsal that night and the show must go on: rest your voice, drink fluids, inhale steam, hum. Unless you are really sick, the adrenaline of performing often will knock out most your cold symptoms for the duration of the gig. You can try rubbing Preparation H on your adam’s apple since it shrinks tissue and may shrink some of vocal cord inflammation.
• What do the famous singers do when they get sick and have a huge concert that night? Some get steroids shot right into their vocal cords. This reduces the swelling enough to get them through the show, but the next day there’s a slap-back effect and they lose their voice for the day. I’ve been told by someone in his inner circle that Marilyn Manson used to book his tours as a series of three days on and one day off: He’d scream through the first two days of shows, lose his voice and get a steroid shot to make it through the third day, then lose his voice the fourth day and wait for it to come back. Then the cycle would start again. This is not a plan I’d recommend!
• What about tea, honey and lemon? Honey is soothing. Citrus will dry your vocal cords. So will tea, though not as much as citrus. Theoretically, if your throat is full of crud and you figure out the right cocktail of tea and lemon that dries it out but doesn’t overly dry it, it could help. But it’s the steam in tea that really can soothe. I’d vote for herbal tea and honey just to be safe.
When your voice is starting to return:
• Breathe, breathe, breathe. We all get pooped and breathe more shallowly when we’re sick, so the first thing to get back are those good, full singer’s breaths.
• Go slow. Your vocal cords have been roughed up for a chunk of time and probably are still tender. Start with easy warm ups and songs.
If you, too, have a cold, you have my sympathy. No one likes getting a cold, but singers are hit especially hard. Let’s all get and stay healthy, then let’s make a vow to wash our hands more and cover our mouths when coughing and sneezing to reduce the spread of germs. It'll help reduce the amount of grouchy sick singers pacing the earth, waiting for their voices to return.
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