THROATY PROBLEMS

[shyamwestwind]

Ooooooof! The season's upon us and a show every day !! TYes time to earn a bit but gosh ! its sure tough when the viruses are in the air and the nip is in the air. My partner Elvis and I got this crazy viral infection and have just managed to survive the attack. Real terrible cough and bad chest congestion. We have done not too badly for the last few shows but the major shows are this week and we are keeping our fingers and toes crossed.
We have learnt a few tricks this season .......... playing it safe I guess.We use a DJ console for our shows and when we need to take a break, the Deejays (Elvis' son and my daughter !!!!!) pump up all the new stuff including Hip Hop , Trance, etc so everyones kept on their toes and no one notices our throaty hiccups ! When the going gets tough its nice to have the Jim Reeves Roger Whittaker, Dean Martin and Chris Rea songs to fall ack on.
Nice to hear how you guys deal with situations like thes
Wish all of you a clear throated season !!
Merry Christmas and a Very Hapy New Year once again !!
With warm regards
Shyam

[geraint]

Hi Shyam
Yes, I'm suffering a bit at the moment, Ive just got tonight to do then three nights off, just hope I last out the night tonight.

There is a woman who will be present who always asks me to finish with the American Trilogy, and those last few notes will probably finish me off, but we'll see.

Have a good Xmas

[mark]

Hi Guys
December is my busiest month of the year and i always worry about losing my voice. I find by eating light and drinking plenty i normally get through it.I have to admit i am xmassed out by Boxing day and cant wait to put away the christmas songs and get back to country and rock n roll.
have a great xmas
regards
Mark

[kldavis]

Hi guys

I've been singing for over 30 years professionally and unfortunately sore throats are an occupational hazzards. It getts tougher as you get older too but I've found that cutting down on the grog and getting decent sleep really help. I've also begrudgingly lowered the keys of few song that I now find a bit of a struggle - I keep forgetting that I'm 52 not 22!

Kirk Sydney Australia

[thingyy]

It's a good idea to have a back up of all songs in a lower key.

[Emerald Midi]

thingyy said:

It's a good idea to have a back up of all songs in a lower key.

Good idea but it also shows why using midi files as appose to MP3s can be the better way to go because with midi you can change keys at will

[thingyy]

Bit of a problem using using cakewalk 3 & windows 98 for a quick transpose though.So I save in an emergecy folder on the hard drive.
Yes I know what your gonna say but I find the old version of cakewalk takes less space and windows 98 more stable.

[jacqui01]

I've had a really Bad Cold for the last week, and still had some christmas parties booked which I didn't really want to cancel as it's normally hard to find someone last minute, I was going out with a whole bag full of potions, like a walking chemist, all kinds of Lozenges to suck, steam inhaling before I left home, vick inhaler to try and keep my head clear, tried not to have anything like Lem Sip drinks as they hold back the cold but really dry you up too, so you end up more husky.
So many times in the past I've sang the odd song and thought, this is a bit low for me, I must up the key a notch or two, Wow am I glad I still had a few of them to fall back on, they were my lifesavers.
Only trouble was once I went out of the cold into the hot places, my nose was almost running out the door, one gig I poured some hot water into my last bit of Honey with some lemon juice, kept it on the side and had the odd sip, then a lady shouted out, Why did you bring your sample with you luv!
Next year I'm gonna go for it big time with vitamins a friend of mine always goes down with colds this time of year, and took all the vitamins for the Immune System, and managed to avoid getting Ill for the first time, failing that I'll take the Micheal Jackson approach, and wear a face mask

[kldavis]

I used midi files live for years but it meant lugging an extra rack of sound modules and a mixer with more channels. If performers are happy using one module like a sound canvas fine but I find the sounds ordinary. I much prefer dedicated sound modules so now I leave them all at home and put my mp3s in a laptop. I preferred the flexibility of midi but space and weight are an issue these days
Cheers

[Steptoe]

kldavis said:

so now I leave them all at home and put my mp3s in a laptop. I preferred the flexibility of midi but space and weight are an issue these days
Cheers

Hi
Just curious, what programme do you use to play your MP3 backing tracks?

[kldavis]

Hi John

I just make playlists in Winamp works fine

Cheers Kirk

[keeeko]

Hi everyone!!

I hope you all had a good Xmas and a great New Year.

Although I am not a paid singer, I do love Karaoke and my husband has a fantastic voice. His two older brothers are professionals. My husband is not he is a nurse, anyway what I was wanting to say is we drink Stones Green Ginger Wine whenever we go out singing. I am on medication that dries my throat terribly, we both find that the Ginger Wine really helps the problem of a dry sore throat, hope it helps you too.

Regards
Keeeko

[sweetk2678]

Hi, nothing beats a good cup of tea for a dry sore throat. I don't drink alcohol and I don't smoke, and at a gig I have a thermos of black tea that I drink constantly all night. I also keep a medicated throat spray in the fridge at home, a couple of sprays before and after the gig help to keep the germs away. Oh yeah, I always disinfect my microphone, those things just harbour viruses.

[steveb]

OK,

After years of having trouble singing to the end of the night and still trying to hold a decent note for the last song, I have finally found a cure.....

If you drink glasses of water throughout the day and a couple before you go on stage, you will find your voice lasts to the end of the night.

What happens is, if your body doesn't have enough water, it dehydrates and your vocal chords "dry out" and don't work correctly.

It helps me heaps.