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wasp2020

TMV World Legacy Member
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Everything posted by wasp2020

  1. Thank you so much for the responses everyone. Really, thank you. This is really the most helpful vocal forum there is. Something strange happened the past two days, I was able to sing again like old times. It was smooth, it was sweet, it was easy, it was clear, it was like the fry was never there to begin with. The tone and sensations was just like before, and my range and functionality was exactly how I left it (C3-Eb5). And it all felt so easy. I didn't do anything different to do it, really, it just somehow worked. This was like sunlight breaking through the clouds for me, because I'm sure we can all agree that singing feels amazing and I was glad to finally be able to do it again after like half a year of misery. But like a stupid kid in a candy store, I got greedy and sang for too long. Now today my voice is worn out again, with a bit of that fry creeping back in and out (esp. at the passaggio). Stupid stupid me, I won't make that mistake again (but could you blame me?). I'll take a break, and then stick to frisell excercises for the foreseeable future to really get it down. It gave me hope that my vocal cords does at least have the potential to function normally again, and confidence that I'm making some kind of progress, so now I'm just going to practice. The reason I even made this thread was because I had signed up for a little open mic thing (which would have been my first performance), hoping my voice would be in shape for the date, but I cancelled shortly after making this thread because it just wasn't working out. So I was in a panic as you can tell from my posts, feeling stressed and anxious, and then dissapointed with myself for missing out on an opportunity. I also wanted to start recording my songs and such. So none of that is a good mix. Now I'm trying to eat better (I'm skin and bones...), have been exercising more consistently, sleeping better, and also have been in a better mood the past week or so for different reasons, so maybe that's all helping. Now some notes on what you guys have said...While I never sing with rasp vocals, but I finally remembered just earlier, that a month or two before the fry appeared, I was developing too much of a shouty tone above the passaggio, trying to be 'ringier' but with bad technique. That's probably what did it in the end, too hard on the voice in terms of volume and force. I didn't go crazy with it and didn't do rasp, but it was probably enough to wear it down, I probably did develop some real damage. But I did take a few months of break since then and the fry was still there, so I was worried that it was permanent. As for speaking, I generally barely ever talk, I'm a very quiet guy. I don't drink, smoke, do crazy partying. But about a year ago I noticed that the few times I do speak, I used to talk with too much fry. It was all mental, because I'm pretty shy and try to hide my voice, but it ends up just making it even louder with an awful low fry mumble (especially at the low dips at the end of sentences). I've alleviated that problem a lot though, but I still talk way too low though, at an unstable B2, so I'm working now on having a C#3/D3 base at the very least. I know what you mean about Frisell, ronsws, I'm in this for the long haul. Frisell is like perfect for me, both the exercises and the results, so it's really no problem for me. I've pretty much restarted my whole singing technique, first did just simple breathing and hums, then started with really light stuff, etc, going through all the motions properly this time. For frisell, I've been doing them for the past while now at a very measured pace and I'm not going to rush myself through this. If even a tiny bit of excercises can help my voice a little bit, it's worth it. It's a bit funny, because when I started out I used to sing falsetto for everything, and then when I finally got some upper connection it was really light and heady and comfortable. So in a way, Frisell feels like common sense to me. I totally understand the tone argument as well, if that's my voice then I guess I'll have to deal with it (even though it really doesn't suit me...), but it really does feel wrong, uncomfortable, unnatural. like something is hindering and tainting the true voice. It sounds like a robot as well, not even human, it's not even a cool kind of rasp... I don't feel immediate pain persay, but my throat feels like burning shortly afterwards, and I get totally exhausted. Double-sound is a good word to describe it I think, jcazden. Perhaps some small soft node is hardening and fluttering about, like ronsw said. That could explain a lot. Or maybe it is some scarring. Hopefully, if I do in fact have them, such things will fade with a lot of patience and rehab. Thank you so much for the google reccomendation for doctors as well, thankfully one is in Toronto, two hours away. If worst comes to worst and my voice collapses I'll make it a mission to go to him (even though I'm just an amateur, so I'm very hesitant). I think my problem is a mixture of both physiological reasons and mental reasons. I believe it comes from swollen worn out cords from bad technique, and perhaps small soft nodes like ronws and jcazden mentioned. And mentally, with fearing the rasp, anxiety, and generally being miserable about having lost my voice. I think if I take it REALLY slow, calm, and confident, I'll be able to sing consistently again, hopefully. I'm grateful this thread exists because I know I scoured the internet trying to find someone who had my too-specific problem, but found nothing but a few reaaally bad yahoo answers. So to anybody google-cacheing this years from now, good luck!
  2. Thanks, yeah, that's exactly what it feels like. Unintentional vocal fry, like flipping a switch I can't flip back. Actually for the past few weeks I've been retraining with Frisell's method, just taking it easy with some descending falsetto exercises trying to really ease my voice into shape. And for the past two days I've been actually able to sing again a little bit. But just now I was testing out a few full voice notes and the fry crept in again, suddenly triggered, now I can't kick it. Sigh. I've been trying to figure out what exactly causes it, like a detective, but no luck. Those Heh's really seem to bring it out. Hmm, trying out with vibrato and no vibrato, still there...more nasally or not, still there... Testing it out loud though seems to be a little more resistant to it though. When I quiet down to the close of the note it comes right back. Testing it moderately, it's there. Could this be breath related? Or are the cords just too weak to stay together? I'm really bad with this technical stuff. I've also looked up some other vocal school rasp techniques (creaking, rattling, whatever) to see if I'm doing them by accident, so I can try and sort of reverse engineer them, but I really don't know enough about them. Update: After a ten minute rest of making some scrambled eggs for dinner, I came back to your A3 test and found I can crudely switch back and forth with some great difficulty. I went higher and tested it too (exaggerated to induce effect: http://picosong.com/vcX/). There is a very light "heightening" or rising sensation in the throat somewhere. Putting my finger on my throat, the fry rumble sensation also comes from around the mid-bottom of the larynx. The back of my tongue moves slightly too when "activating' the fry (although if I move the tongue on my own, it doesn't do anything, so something must be moving the tongue up). It almost feels like I'm yodelling a bit, you know, that breaking of the voice. So perhaps this is a high larynx problem or something. I think that's enough for me tonight, I don't want to beat up my voice even more (for the purposes of science), but I still feel I made some progress. And maybe I'm just overreacting and it'll all go away with enough normal slow singing training, hopefully.
  3. http://picosong.com/WUR/ http://picosong.com/WHB/ http://picosong.com/WHv/ http://picosong.com/WHF/ (I think you get the idea) I don't know what else to do anymore. It was good for at least 10 or so minutes, but then it came back. It's been like this for months now, since summer, every time I try and sing, I always get this awful rasp. It's like an ugly robotic rattling vocal fry all around, and once it 'activates', it gets stuck throughout the whole range like glue. I've pretty much quit singing entirely for the past few months, hoping some kind of mystery damage would've healed t least a little bit. I recently got back into the game with some very light easy exercises, but it's exactly the same. I was singing for at least a year and a half beforehand with no problems, clear voice and everything, able to sing C5s and traverse the passaggio well enough, I don't know what could've caused it. Sometimes by chance I'm able to get a clear phrase here and there, and falsettos still fine, and I still talk just fine. it's just after I start singing for a bit. It it a nodule? polyp? Dryness? Tension? Larynx stuff? Mucus? Acid reflux? Some kind of second puberty (I'm 22)? Just awful technique? I don't smoke/drink/etc. It's driving me crazy, no matter how or what I try to sing, how much I warm up or hydrate, or shifting all kinds of muscles and breath and resonance and vowels and everything, I can't get rid of it or figure out exactly what's causing it. I'm very distressed that it could be health related or permanent, but then at least I'd know.
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