Ex Smokers...

Just wondering if anybody else has had the same dilemma I'm having. Been a smoker for 12 years. It's been a week since I've had one...cold turkey sucks! But anyways, breathing is already so much easier and I can hold notes a lot longer. But I seem to have lost control of my upper register? Not bad, but every now and then my voice breaks up? I'm trying to describe the feeling...the higher notes feel "looser"? Like I don't have as much control over them as I did. Anyone else had this problem?

Hmm. I'm an ex-smoker. Maybe it's your body still ridding itself of the phlegm and it's coming out in your throat, making those higher notes towards the end of your range less controllable and clear?

Or maybe your voice is more limber and stronger without the cigs and you just have to learn a slightly different way to sing to control that without feeling too "loose"?

I agree with Grace. You might have a whole new "voice" now that you need to play with and get to know. I think if you exercise / warm up for a while you'll get it back. Maybe it's the shock and your vocal cords are confused why they feel so much different. Could be a moisture thingy too cause smoking could have dried them out a touch.

Good luck with the no smoking - it's a life long struggle. I know....

I suggest breathing 10 sec in 10 sec out controlled. This will make your voice warm and you will can control it easier.

"New voice" can happen, since only fresh air pass your body.

Thanks guys...this "new voice" thing scares me, lol. Maybe, I should cave and buy a pack...just kidding

Congratulations on quitting when you did. Tomorrow is my one year anniversary after smoking 35 years. (Yeah I'm old). I was up to two packs a day for the last decade or so. It may forever be the single hardest and SMARTEST thing I ever accomplished in spite of the dismal fact it should have been done so much sooner. I still manage to sing better than most people I know but I am definitely permanently damaged from those damned things. Some things don't come back.

Thanks. I've got a looong way to go though. This is the first time I've done it cold turkey. It's amazing though in just a week, how much better things feel...except for the problem I mentioned, lol. I was messing around earlier and took a tablespoon of honey and it seemed to help some.

Hey Staticsound - not to derail this thread from the direction you meant it to go in but I have two comments to add about quitting cigs; 1) I was much too scared to go cold turkey and totally owe my success to that Godsend the transdermal PATCH! Was on 'em for six months before I had the nerve to go bareback, at which time I discovered I was magically no longer addicted to the nicotine at all and quitting that patch was completely painless...90% of the 'addiction' had been the BEHAVIOR of lighting up, inhaling, etc; 2) I found a surprise benefit to quitting (beside my cough clearing up). People say your food tastes better, that's not quite true, it's your SMELL that starts working again. And that goes both ways - good stuff smells GREAT and bad stuff smells doubly foul. You may become very fussy about the cleanliness of your surroundings. Anyway, more power to you. If you ever start to weaken grab a patch instead of a pack.

Just wondering if anybody else has had the same dilemma I'm having. Been a smoker for 12 years. It's been a week since I've had one...cold turkey sucks! But anyways, breathing is already so much easier and I can hold notes a lot longer. But I seem to have lost control of my upper register? Not bad, but every now and then my voice breaks up? I'm trying to describe the feeling...the higher notes feel "looser"? Like I don't have as much control over them as I did. Anyone else had this problem?

pretty normal ,,, your lung capacity is getting larger. You are basically over driveing your vocal chords would be my guess. It will take a little time to adjust to your new pipes.