Kate Bush Wrecked My Voice! LOL

I used to spend HOURS on end singing just Kate Bush songs when I was in my early 20s, and nowadays, although I can still sing her songs and apparently sound somewhat like her, it is DAMN HARD ON MY VOICE!

I've been singing KB songs today for an hour, all the early higher-voiced ones, and my throat feels swollen and sore around the outside. And although I can sing the high notes and all that, when I talk, my voice is SHOT! It's really low and cracky. I can now ONLY sing high!

I know this is only temporary, but what have I done? LOL

Perhaps youv'e gotten older...and lost some of your hearing. I know for me my range has been reduced because of hearing loss, and lack of practice. When your practicing everyday and taking good care of your voice and body it's alot easier to stay on your game, but whence you start getting lazy {as all of us do} or move to different flavors or genres of music you are bound to loose a little in the translation/transition.

Just don't let the gray hair get you...

Ooh dearie me!! Yes, I am 10+ years older now than I was in my Kate days.

I've stopped singing Kate now, and whenever I talk, I sound like an even deeper, more gravelly-voiced Stevie Nicks. LOL

Stevie Nicks may have vocal chord nodules, something like calluses on her vocal chords. You might be stressing your throat.

Oh yes, I know I am. I can tell just by how it feels about 30 minutes into it. Swollen, my voice feels like it’s way up just behind my tongue, and it just feels TIRED. And then, as I said, when I talk lower down my voice kinda sounds Stevie Nicks-ish…cracky, gravelly, and pretty much as if I’d never be able to reach the notes Kate Bush does, and yet when I sing, it sounds fine.

G, drop the cigs.

They can do irreparable damage.

I don't want to get into too personal of things but

diet can play a role in how your throat feels when you sing, especially

if you eat acid-rich foods.

A little bit of Mexican Coke (made with real sugar, not HFCS)

about 6-8 ounces smooths out my throat, but drink plenty of water.

Are you gigging yet?

Naaaah, of course not. You know me. All talk and no action. lol

Cigs. *mumble* Yep. I know. I'm not smoking...much. Just sometimes socially. I know it's terrible and stupid.

What are acid-rich foods anyway? Lately I've been stuffing my face with chocolate and junk food, which I hardly ever do...I'll be on a diet starting next Monday. Back to my usual healthy eating.

When you said Mexican Coke, I thought you meant the nose variety, you know? *sniff* LOL I was gonna say, that's terrible for your voice!!

Have you not tried that stuff for a while? Have you not been singing as much for a while, or nothing in that style? Dunno, maybe you're a bit out of pratice with that stuff and you just pushed it a bit far.

Did you notice anything different while you were doing it? Harder to hit the higher notes, more tension, etc?

Hmm, it wasn't harder to hit the notes...it was actually EASIER than it was back in my 20s (when I smoked, mind you, a pack of 30s or more everyday)...nowadays it's a cleaner, clearer sound on the higher notes than it was before, but after a while of constantly singing "up there", it just feels swollen around my throat...and it didn't used to.

Have you taken a break from singing or anything? Or despite the ease of hitting the notes, have you not been going that high for a while or anything like that? Or are you perhaps lately just not as well hydrated as you should be?

If you've been singing and it hurts, feel swollen, or affects your ability to sing. STOP. I would venture to say it has less to do with diet and cigarettes and more to do with not warming up at all, or not warming up properly. The vocal cords are very small muscles, what you've done is the equivalent of going into the gym and done 100 reps on the bench press with no previous practice or warm up.

Rest your voice for several days, find or go back to a good warm up routine and work into that range slowly and carefully. You'll be fine most likely, but you have to rest your voice, and that includes talking. Don't whisper -that's worse - but try not to talk a great deal if it's possible, and really rest not just your voice, but also your body. When I don't get enough sleep, I can feel it in my voice immediately.

Good luck!

K

Most likely, though I have never warmed up, ever in my life, except for singing songs before singing other songs, if that makes sense.

What used to happen was I’d go right into singing Kate songs, and the first few would be “rusty” but once my voice had gotten used to it, they became easier and sounded better and cleaner. It felt more effortless.

What happens now is that I launch into the Kate songs and it feels easy and sounds ok from the start and doesn’t really change the more I sing the songs, but it just feels physically uncomfortable the longer I do it. It takes about an hour of singing these high songs before anything is noticeable and then after that, if I keep going, when I talk, my voice is cracky and lower than usual, but as I said, I can still sing the high songs just fine.

Oh, and I never get enough sleep. lol

It may be possible that when you sang higher note songs back then you might have damaged your vocal chords by reaching beyond your range. So maybe now you can't sing those higher notes as well like you could back then. Maybe Kate Bush has a higher range than you so she was able to sing those songs fine, but for you, you might have to transpose the pitch of the songs to fit your range better.

Edit// Oh, maybe it's because you're not getting enough sleep? lol. I read somewhere that singers should get enough sleep before they perform, or they won't be able to sing as well.

Yeah, the voice is something that really suffers from a lack of sleep.

Yes, I know. My cats on the other hand, do not care for singing and do not care if I sleep well or not. They keep me up. Lol.

Anyway, hey Beach, I can still sing the “Kate notes”. It’s more how it feels afterwards (and I guess during), that’s a worry.

Even though you've never warmed up except by singing 'easier' songs first, or maybe because you never have, I would recommend that you find a good warm up routine - I know of a few if you are interested. I think much of it has to do with getting your muscles toned up. Clearly they are not strong enough to withstand the exercise you are giving them right now. It is amazing how quickly you can build strength in your cords, but it is also amazing how quickly you can lose it.

Yeah, I agree with that

If you listen to my songs (in a recent other thread on here), you’ll most likely hear that I don’t have much strength and/or I don’t have the slightest idea how to use the strength I do have.

You have a beautiful voice and great instincts. It does sound to me that if you worked on improving your strength across your range, you will begin to be able to do things you never thought you could. If you don't mind, I recommend that you check out Shelley Kristen's Total Warm Up CD. For some reason when I put the link in, my post wouldn't go through, but if you Google search it, you'll find it. I've used this myself and it did wonders for both strength and range. Plus the best part is that the first 6-7 exercises are a great warmup for pre-gig, pre-studio, pre-singing in general, and it takes maybe 15 minutes at most.

This is weird to me because I sing those Raspy tunes and I never feel

what you do afterward?

Yeah, but you probably sing with an actual technique as opposed to me who doesn’t, and just wrecks her throat all the time even if it sounds sweet and pure. lol

I know I've been quite unpopular because I was so GD abrasive in my

approach not just on the forum but in life as well:poke: so...

I've realised my wrongs and it's so weird that people (in public)

just "know" when you're genuine, approachable, or a snot face mega beast

(drop dead fred) !!!

Looking back on posts I've disliked my attitude but when it comes to vocals, you're nuts!

Your voice sounds pro, sounds controlled and comes off as you make it look/sound easy when it's obviously not!

I just got back from seeing Journey unathorised (cover band) and

it just inspires me more to go for it!

Take care, and keep singing, go for it as well.

Thanks pal.

I don’t think I sound pro! Unless most pro singers don’t sound that good when they haven’t been “tweaked” and “enhanced” in the studio. I hear little slightly off notes and weak vocal issues, but meh. That’s beside the point. Lol. I just meant that I have no idea how to actually sing in a proper healthy way, and so I sing with my throat which is bad, and this has caused my problems like the one which is the subject of this particular thread. Whereas you may sing “properly”, though I know you’re not classically trained either.

Oh, and I’ve never once found you to be abrasive or unpleasant, at least not in your interactions with me. You’ve been nothing but a lovely friend.

YAY for you seeing Journey!! VERY inspirational I'm sure, eh?

You're nuts! I mean your setup isn't professional but consider this:

When I used to sing on my old gear I sounded like poop, I'd never post

those clips now!!!

You sound good on anything, and the proof is in your clips.

I only saw the cover band with the look a like Steve Perry dude but

was kinda disappointed because he sang the high songs at least 3 full steps down (from the original octave)

Still had a blast and had a great time!

You see? You could've sung those Journey songs in the right key, right?? Not 3 steps down!! Hmm. You should go for it, man, seriously! Get yourself out there somehow!