Singing with a deviated septum

[samtkay]

Me singing: http://soundcloud.com/samtkay/deviated-septum-2

Long story short:

- Have deviated septum

- Effects breathing

- Can't breath through nose and can never get deep breaths

- Throat congestion (always clearing it constantly)

- Tinnitus

I'm not a good singer but i'm just wondering how these issues may be effecting my singing, i've never done much singing because i struggle to breath when i do but i'm getting my deviated septum fixed with surgery in a few months and i'm hoping it might make a difference. Anyone have experience with this?

Appreciate all replies!

[Adoney]

Bad link^

[samtkay]

oh whoops, thanks for letting me know will try fix that now!

edit: Try the link in the OP now, i think it should work, new to sound could tho.

[Adoney]

You are singing too quietly, I notice no problem at that volume.

[ronws]

One of my favorite authors on singing is Dr. Thomas Fillebrown. You can find his book on Kindle or digital download from Amazon. The book is "Resonance in Singing and Speaking." He was a doctor, surgeon, singer, and rehab therapist and his surgery concentrated in maladies exactly like yours. Deviated septum, cleft palate, and similar problems. After surgical repair, he would help the patient rehab their voice and learn how to breathe and speak and sing, all over again. Even though his exercises are good for anyone, they were also effective for patients with your condition. If I am not mistaken, the cost on kindle was free. Hard copy was, I think, 9 dollars.

[samtkay]

thanks for the replies guys, i'll be sure to check that book our sounds interesting. I can't sing any louder though i'm sorry, mainly because i can't get enough air and i struggle to finish a line if i try to sing loud, a few parts in that i had to cut short or pause because i was running out of air.

[ronws]

The surgery is going to remove that impediment. And, you will end up learning how to breathe and sing and speak, all over again.

One of our other members, Snax, had a tonsilectomy and he had to re-visit all of his singing instruction, as he now had a bigger space to breathe and phonate in. So, you won't be the first. But it can be done.

[ronws]

Also, if possible, if you can find a voice specialist who works with re-constructing voices after this type of surgery, that would be excellent because they will be able to hear you without the alterations to voice that our modern digital recording causes. For, it is a fact that 50 % of an analog signal gets lost in translating to a digital file. And so, most voice tracks have to use compression to make up for the loss but this creates an "artifact" in recording. So, if you can get a live person to hear you and rehab you, that would be even better.

[samtkay]

thanks for the great replies I was considering seeing a vocal couch just before the surgery and then after the surgery. Not that i'm a great singer or would be able to do anything with my singing but I'd like to for personal enjoyment. I've never learnt any singing theory so i won't be a problem having to learn again after surgery aha.

[ronws]

Great then, a fresh start, so to speak. Though even amateur singers with no training still have to decrease the misconceptions they have had to make progress.

And you will be great.

[Dougie]

I have a deviated septum from being king hit (punched without any notice) in the nose when Sodom played here in Sydney. One of my friends passed out in the moshpit so I tried to pick him up. Apparently some jealous dude with no self confidence lined me up and punched me in the face because I brushed past his girlfriend when picking up my friend. Yeah, it's much harder to do nose breathing and get deep breaths like that so you better get your mouth breathing down. I still think my singing has turned out alright and I would not say that it should be a really big issue for you. You have to learn your body when singing and what affects it and what you don't have to start with. As you learn and progress your deviation will not even be something you notice on a regular basis.