How not to wreck your voice forever!

Let’s start with a short horror story…

You are an enthusiastic and talented singer searching for that one lucky break. Having invested much time, money and commitment in producing a top demo that you are justly proud of, you have sent out dozens of copies to possible contacts and followed these up with emails and phone calls. After no positive response whatsoever, you decide to repeat the process. After a further six months of blood, sweat and tears you still manage to attract no interest. Finally, after what seems like eternal persistence and much rejection there is a phone call for you, possibly the phone call.  A top label, yes a bona fide one, loves your music. They think you have massive commercial appeal and are very interested in talking to you about a deal. This could really be it; the very thing that had always seemed impossible suddenly seems as though it might just be happening!  A meeting is arranged and the date fixed.

It is the day of the meeting. Your heart is pounding with nerves and excitement and you have no idea what to expect. Naturally you have a real desire to impress, yet struggle to appear cool and calm. All goes surprisingly smoothly; these guys seem to really like you! They talk about a record deal worth thousands of pounds, with no financial commitment from you. Their only concern, of course, is that you can reproduce ‘live’ the same quality as on your demo. They are confident you can, as are you, but they would like to see you showcase your work ‘live’ before any paperwork is signed. The record label hires a club just off Leicester Square in London and sets up an evening of entertainment, comprising some cover artists, a tribute band and topping the bill – you! This is your one chance to clinch the deal. The showcase is scheduled for a couple of months ahead.

You are unbelievably excited about this opportunity and it feels as if your dream is at last becoming a reality. Your diary is full up with smaller local gigs in the interim, but you know you will approach these with renewed self-belief and unprecedented confidence. Roughly a week later, you have a pub gig, your adrenalin is running high and you cannot wait to take the stage. You have a slight head cold, and a tendency to clear your throat a little more often than normal.  At the end of the night, you are flying high, even if your voice does feel a little more tired than sometimes. The ‘after party’ is suitably wild, the drink flows, you enjoy the odd cigarette and conversation is lively and loud.  The following morning you awake a little concerned that your voice still seems weakened by the events of the night before. You still have seven weeks until the big showcase, so you’re bound to be back on top form by then.  However, your cold blossoms forth and you carry on working through it. Again, adrenalin gets you through a band rehearsal, but at the end of the next gig you’re sounding just slightly husky. You’re not too concerned as you still have six weeks until the big one. When three weeks later however, your voice is no longer slightly husky but positively hoarse you begin to worry slightly. Your vocal tone feels strained, as if you’re fighting to sing through layer of film, and your high notes keep vanishing on you. Reluctantly, you decide to cancel a gig scheduled for the following week. Your forthcoming showcase seems like make-or-break and nothing can spoil that! You have one more remaining gig and then the chance of a lifetime to secure that unbelievable deal. You’re beginning to panic, but personal pride prevents you from letting anyone else know that.  After another band rehearsal your voice is really beginning to worry you; after just one number you feel you’ve run out of vocal stamina.  One more private gig to go and then London…

At this point you really are beginning to feel threatened and you are even starting to entertain the idea that maybe your voice still won’t be on top form for that all-important Leicester Square showcase. Aware that you only have ten days to go and a wedding reception gig before that, the stress is beginning to get to you; your forehead keeps beading up in a cold sweat. Although you’re putting on a brave face, privately you keep breaking into uncontrollable sobs. You decide to visit your GP, just in case he can prescribe some magic potion that will make your voice come back quickly. He suggests resting your voice and not to sing or speak loudly for a few weeks – some encouragement that is!  A chemist sells you a throat numbing spray to help get you through gigs. Even talking feels as though it’s putting a strain on your voice.

You decide not to speak or sing for the three days until the wedding, as you’re starting to feel that your ultimate dream might just turn into your worst possible nightmare! Silence hardly comes naturally to you, but you do your best. An hour or two before the wedding gig your voice feels just a little stronger. Encouraged, you energise yourself with a bar of dairy milk, spray your throat with wonder spray and away you go. Your voice doesn’t have its normal power, but at least there’s no pain; the spray must be working. Half way through your third song, as you reach for a powerful note, which normally you’d reach with ease – the unthinkable happens. Nothing comes out - absolutely nothing! Your voice completely fails you. You realise immediately that there is no way on earth that you can get through the rest of the gig and you have to get away now or your dream as a recording artist could be snatched from you forever. Feigning sickness, you apologise profusely to your band, abandon the gig and leave them to provide an instrumental set. You feel deeply ashamed of yourself but really believe you had no other option.

By Wednesday of the following week, with your London showcase only a matter of days away, you realise there is no way you can impress anyone right now with a live performance. Suddenly it seems all too obvious that your voice needs weeks, maybe even months to properly recover.  Your vocal tone seems permanently husky, your range limited and your confidence crushed. Your only hope is to phone the record label, explain your position and pray that they will postpone the showcase until you are back on top form. After staring at the telephone for what seems like hours, you eventually pluck up the courage to make that call.

The call lasts less than two minutes. They are clearly deeply unimpressed with having their ‘top’ artist pull out on them at such short notice. What to you is the best and most tragic reason not to perform is, to them, just another excuse. Will they wait for you to recover? Aw come on, this is a fickle industry. Sure enough they fill your place less than an hour later with yet another promising young artist.

How does reading that make you feel?

Can you relate to any of the above, or does it all just sound like some unthinkable nightmare. Whether you have experienced something similar or not, just how important is your voice to you? Do you dream of becoming a superstar or are you happy just to enjoy a fabulous pastime?  Either way, you have one voice; one instrument and if you want it to last and retain its quality then you need to take good care of it!

So just how do you take care of the voice? There are two all-important factors that should be considered here.

• The first of these is a solid foundation of vocal technique. We need to learn to produce the voice correctly, enabling one to sing better, more powerfully, for longer and with a good range. This alone is a mammoth subject and far beyond the scope of this article.

• The second area we need to consider is that of ‘vocal hygiene.’  This is not so much a question of how to produce the voice but more one of how to maintain it, how to look after it in fact.

‘Vocal Hygiene’ eh?  What a nasty term that is, all sounds far too politically correct. I think I must be allergic to political correctness. In the old days we used to have something called ‘common sense’, but alas these days it is not so.. er.. common.  So be grateful for your voice, enjoy it, be proud of it, respect it and therefore look after it! Your voice was designed to last a lifetime, but it won’t if you overuse or abuse it. The voice is inconsistent. Whereas a piano, guitar or clarinet all sound the same each time you play them, your voice will fluctuate. Your health, stress levels, diet, stamina and even the weather can impact on the general health of your voice. Vocal hygiene is there to support you in a preventative way. If I give you a few tips and facts, hopefully that will enable you to make some simple habit changes that will improve the health, sound, and stamina of your instrument. 

1. Sleep more! There, is that so terrible? A tired singer has a tired voice. Equally, a well-rested singer has a well-rested voice.

2. Drink more. 3 or 4 pints a day of water will actually help thin out mucus on the vocal folds and reduce the need to clear your throat. Your voice needs to be well lubricated to work properly. Besides, water is good for you!

3. Try not to clear your throat. Each time you do so, you are jamming the vocal folds together hard, causing irritation, inflammation and almost certainly the desire to do so again and again. Before you know it, clearing your throat becomes a damaging and totally unnecessary habit. Whenever you feel like clearing your throat, try and resist. Instead, drink a sip of chilled water and then swallow. It takes roughly 30 days to make or break a habit, but it is easier if you replace a bad one with a good one.

4. Avoid a dry or over-centrally heated environment. A humidifier can replace some of the moisture that central heating removes. Treat yourself to a steamer to steam your vocal mechanism. Failing that, boil a kettle, throw a tea towel over your head and inhale the steam. Your voice will love it!

5. If you are a singer, then it’s unwise to abuse your voice.  Avoid shouting, whenever possible. Don’t compete for volume by talking above other people. Whispering is a false economy and is almost as bad as shouting; you are rubbing the dry vocal folds together. Talking on the telephone is always unnaturally louder than normal so, again, be careful.

6. Avoid throat lozenges and sprays before singing. All these do is to numb the throat and vocal folds. The reason you have pain is let you know something is wrong! Numbing the pain of a tired or abused voice is sure-fire way to wreck your voice, be warned! 

7. Decongestants and some allergy medicines may clear ear, nose and throat but they also remove moisture, thereby drying out your vocal mechanism. If you need to take any of these, it would be wise to drink more water to compensate.

8. Learn to pace yourself. If you have a big performance or gig in the evening, give your voice some time out during the day.

9. Ok, now for some less popular habit changes. Try to eat fewer dairy products as these increase mucus on the folds. Chocolate? Not great, I’m afraid.

10. Smoking. I would never tell someone to give up smoking as I smoked on and off for years. However, as a non-smoker my range increased, my voice became smoother and my respiratory system clearer. Needless to say that by not smoking, I am also increasing my life expectancy. It’s your decision. 

So I repeat, just how important is your voice to you?  Either you can wreck it through misuse or you can treasure it, give it the respect it deserves and have a voice for many years to come. The decision is yours.

2007 © Sheridan Coldstream, Total Vocal Coach.