- Today's the day.
You've been preparing all week for this gig
but yesterday you felt a slight niggle in your throat
and despite your best attempts to ward it off
by overdosing on Vitamin C,
you've woken with a sensation in your throat
that can only be described as gargling broken glass.
Every time you swallow you feel sharp shards
of pain in your voice,
well, let's just say you are Barry White incarnate.
What should you do?
You've worked so hard in the lead up
to tonight's performance
and you've got people counting on you.
Okay, step into my studio, let's have a chat.
- [Female Voice 1] Sound check.
- [Female Voice 2] Check one, check two.
- Hi there, welcome to voice essentials
my name is Dr. Dan and I'm a contemporary
singing voice specialist.
It's my job to help you get the very best
out of your singing voice.
Now, unless you're one of my regular subscribers,
you're probably watching this video under some duress
because you've got a learning performance
that requires you to be 100% fit and healthy
but right now you feel anything but fit and healthy.
I hope you're feeling better soon.
Firstly, let's ascertain what's going on
with you and your voice.
Laryngitis is a term that singers often apply
quite liberally to a wide range of vocal conditions.
Basically, laryngitis is a swelling of the laryngeal muscles
which, in turn, leaves a voice in a weakened state.
It's important that we ascertain the primary cause
of your laryngitis because the underlying origin
of the swelling will determine whether or not
you proceed with your impending performance.
Now today's video is only going to deal
with acute laryngitis.
Acute is the term we use to denote impairment
that only lasts between a few days,
up to a few weeks.
There are longer forms of voice impairment
that are typically referred to as chronic laryngitis.
We use the term chronic to signal vocal conditions
that are longer lasting.
Triggers for chronic laryngitis include smoking,
systemic dehydration and reflux.
Generally speaking, we treat chronic laryngitis
through changes of behavior or medication.
So for example, the best way to repair a voice
that suffers from smoking-induced laryngitis
is to, you guessed it,
stop smoking.
Perhaps we'll talk about chronic laryngitis
in a future video.
But as I stated today, we're going to zero in
on a shorter form, acute laryngitis.
- [Female Voice] Sound check.
- Now, before we go any further, let me state very clearly
that I cannot and will not
diagnose your vocal condition here on YouTube.
I can, as many of you have seen
in the comments threads of my videos,
make suggestions as to what might be troubling a voice,
whether it be pathological or functional
but ultimately, these educated suggestions are only guides
in many cases, the only way to ascertain what is going on
with the health of a larynx
is to have it assessed by a laryngologist.
Until we actually see inside the larynx itself,
even the best guess is only speculation.
So with that important caveat in place,
let's proceed with understanding
acute laryngitis a little better.
Typically, brought about by viral or bacterial infection,
acute laryngitis can be a singer's worst nightmare
because it can render a perfectly healthy singer
mute overnight.
Personally I think this is one of the most stressful things
about being the singer in a band.
No other musician runs the risk of going to bed one night
with a perfectly functional instrument
only to wake up the next morning to find
that their instrument is completely unusable.
No, we singers have to contend with a biological
instrument that is both incredibly durable
while also being extremely susceptible
to environmental factors including infectious pathogens.
I'm guessing the burning question on your lips right now
is, okay, but is my voice completely unusable today?
What kind of risks am I running by doing the gig
while my voice feels like I've been gargling paint stripper?
Well, I can't tell you not to do the gig,
and if my 20 years of teaching experience
has taught me anything, it's that the show must go on
even when it really doesn't need to.
So against my better sense of judgment, let me provide you
with a range of considerations as you
prepare to do that performance that
you probably shouldn't do.
- [Female Voice] Sound check.
- In the interest of full disclosure,
my research for today's video was almost completely
referenced from the text
Manual of Singing Voice Rehabilitation by Leda Scearce.
And the following advice I'm about to give
is taken directly from her text.
Why reinvent the wheel when the wheel is already excellent?
Hopefully I've already impressed upon you that
proceeding with your performance, while your voice
is in a compromised state,
carries the risk of sustaining a serious and
even permanent injury.
But have you also considered that you run the risk
of damaging your reputation as a singer
by delivering a substandard vocal performance?
This second risk is perhaps more important for those of us
who are being paid for our singing.
But I think it's worth contemplating, regardless
of your professional standing.
So again, if you've decided that the risk is worth
the reward and I stress it often isn't,
be sure to do the following things to mitigate
the dangers associated with your choice.
Firstly, start by doing my three phase warmup.
I'll place the link in the description below
so you can familiarize yourself with
t0he three phase preparation of your voice for singing.
Warming the voice for use is crucial
when your voice is 100% healthy.
How much more so when your voice
feels like a dog's breakfast?
Secondly, drown your laryngeal sorrows
in three layers of water.
Hydration is so important and it will assist your body
to reduce the severity of infection.
Water also plays its part when you steam
with a personal inhaler.
Again, I'll leave a link below to a great video
for more about the benefits of steam for the sick voice
suffice to say, water in both its liquid and vapor forms
is a singer's best friend.
Now thirdly, it can be tempting to overuse the use
in an attempt to, you know, get it moving,
hoping that the voice will come good with a good
with a good hour or two of singing.
No, your voice doesn't have that much juice in the tank.
Now that your voice is sick, you're going to have to
rely on those hours of practice that you've already
done in the lead up to the gig in the previous week.
Your vocal use should now be heavily reduced
in an attempt to reserve what little the voice has
for the performance.
If possible, consider adapting the performance program
you had planned to sing.
Changing the keys of the songs
or changing the songs altogether
might be exactly what will get you through the gig.
It might even be possible to negotiate
singing less material, for example
perhaps you're booked to do a three set night.
Is it possible to reduce it to two?
Or perhaps you can give the instrumentalists
longer solos, which they'll love,
so that you can have longer periods of
no singing on stage.
Ultimately, it's all about doing whatever it takes
to keep the voice buoyant,
long enough to complete the vocal task.
I know there are times when despite
better judgment and advice
you will need to sing with a voice that should be doing
everything but making sound.
At these times, proceed with extreme caution.
And if you do get to the other side of the gig
and you're concerned that you may have sustained
a vocal injury, then seek out professional care immediately.
Don't wait days or weeks, get yourself
straight to a laryngologist clinic for a check up.
Okay, I hope today's video,
I hope after today's video
you are more informed and empowered to make a good decision
about the health of your voice.
Please make the right decision.
I'll give you a hint.
The right decision is often the hardest to make.
I'm always keen to read your comments below
so please share your stories and experiences
with the wider voice essentials community
and if this is your first time to voice essentials
good day, I hope today's video has been helpful.
Allow me to invite you over to my channel
for more videos about vocal health and singing technique.
Each one has been designed to develop your voice
and improve your sound.
I hope to see you in the next voice essentials video,
I'm Dr. Dan, sing well.
(crowd cheering)