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2023.05.25 – 0875 – Cocaine And The Voice Cocaine While smoked cocaine will have a similar effect to smoking marijuana, snorted cocaine will damage your nose and nasal septum (‘nasal deformity’) and so affect the nasal resonance of your voice. As well as that think of this (it’s a bit gross). You know when you have a cold and sniff and then are able to swallow the phlegm? Something similar happens...

2023.05.24 – 0874 – Marijuana And The Voice While soft and hard drugs use is quite common in society, it’s even more prevalent in the entertainment business. It could be because of the amount of money some of the stars earn, the relaxing effects of some of the drugs or the social aspects. So how do both these drugs affect your voice? Marijuana When it is inhaled the vapours of marijuana inevitably...

2023.05.23 – 0873 – More Cures For Summer Allergies   ·        Antihistamine or steroid nasal spray or antihistamine pills – although they can have a drying effect ·        Something to suck on – lozenges and pastilles can promote the production of saliva which, when swallowed will help calm the urge to cough on a...

2023.05.22 – 0872 – Cures For Summer Allergies   Trouble is, you have to balance drying out the mucous and not over drying the folds [1] : ·        Hydration - the mucous will be less thick, and the drying from antihistamine meds, less pronounced, if you drink more! ·        Steaming – a plain-water steamer (no un...

2023.05.21 – 0871 – Your Pitch and Post Nasal Drips   We already know about the ‘post-nasal drip’, a lovely term that refers to the secretions from your nose and sinuses which can drip into the back of your mouth and down your throat (think what you do when you have a cold…). With seasonal allergies such drip-drip sinus drainage (especially at night) leads to the vocal folds swelling, which c...

2023.05.20 – 0870 – Pollens and Blossoms: Summer Allergies and Your Voice We all love the lazy, hazy crazy days of summer, right? Well not if you have a seasonal allergy, and by ‘seasonal’ I mean anything from early spring to late summer, with various pollens having an effect on breathing and sneezing, and therefore your voice as well.   Allergies (pollen, as well as dog and cat hair, dust, s...

2023.05.19 – 0869 – Your Voice in Winter - 4   8. Let Your Mic Do The Work If you’re on stage in a show, MCing an event, turning on Christmas lights, remember the difference between volume and energy (loads on this from episode 323).   You have a mic for a reason, to make yourself louder, so there’s no need to shout into it and hurt your voice. If you do, you start a spiral effect: the s...

2023.05.18 – 0868 – Your Voice in Winter - 3   6. Prep and Pacing   Packed public transportation as people rush to prep, humans hurrying from one side of the city/county/planet to the other for the holidays, re-cycled aeroplane air, closed windows on buses and trains, big parties in small rooms, plus throw in mixed age groups, holiday hugs and mistletoe kisses and plates of food being pa...

2023.05.17 – 0867 – Your Voice in Winter - 2   4. Be Careful of Rich Food and Reflux Party and holiday food can be rich and creamy (think chocolates, fried or spicy finger food, plus carbonated soft or alcoholic drinks) which can lead to potential gastric or reflux issues (that we’ve looked at elsewhere, episode 755), so be careful how much you eat and when. And not too much and not too late!...

2023.05.16 – 0866 – Your Voice in Winter - 1 Winter can be a challenging time for your voice. To quote the song, “ the weather outside is frightful ” with cold air, there’s warm dry heated air inside, and if the season coincides with Christmas and New Year (depending on your hemisphere [1] ) there’s bugs picked up from socialising and travelling, holiday performances such as concerts and carols. S...

2023.05.15 – 0865 – Coping With Covid   Coping with long covid A small percentage of people who have had Covid-19 continue to have symptoms after 12 weeks, but because of the huge number of people who have had the disease, that’s a large actual number of people. This is known by health professionals in the UK and many other countries as ‘post covid syndrome’ or (by the WHO) ‘post covid condit...

2023.05.14 – 0864 – Don’t Forget Your Ears   Ears You need to know what you sound like so you can adjust your voice or your mic, and make some sometimes subtle changes in pitch or timbre. You may be asked to imitate a certain style of voice or personality, so attuned ears will help you hear, interpret and reproduce the subtleties. And of course, you need to clearly hear instructions from a di...

2023.05.13 – 0863 – Eye Exercises And a few exercises: Pencil Push-Ups Hold a pencil at arm’s length and focus on the tip. Move it closer and continue to focus. Repeat, moving it back and forth forcing your eyes to work-out. The Figure of Eight Pick an imaginary point on the floor or across the room, about 10 feet away. Focus on it and with your pupils moving, draw a figure of eight in the space t...

2023.05.12 – 0862 – Don’t Forget Your Eyes Your eyes and ears Most voice trainers overlook these critical body parts and the role they play in helping you get a better voice, but let’s spend a few moments doing just that here and now with a few considerations. Eyes Without stating the obvious, and with acknowledgement to the awesome voice actors who are blind and read their scripts with braille [1...

2023.05.11 – 0861 – Feeling Attractive vs. Sounding Unobstructed   Even though Connie was a radio presenter, she always came in immaculately dressed. Fitted suits, or tight jeans or blouses that left little to the imagination. The problem was that Connie couldn’t get to the end of even a moderately long sentence without having to take another breath. The problem seemed obvious: the clothes we...

2023.05.10 – 0860 – Tight Clothes, Tight Voice   What else will affect your vocal performance? Clothes What won’t help, anything that causes constriction or discomfort Tight dresses, trousers, blouses and shirts. Belts done up a notch or two more than absolutely necessary Tight shoes worn more for style than comfort. That could be footwear that pinches your toes or heel, the height or slope o...

2023.05.09 – 0859 – Myth 5: Dark-coloured Pee Means You Are Dehydrated Myth #5: Dark-coloured pee means you're dehydrated Pee is dark because of the concentration of various elements in it, but that doesn’t of itself mean you need more water. It’s actually more accurate to look at the concentration of sodium in your blood, but as that’s not usually practical, some experts [1] say drinking enough w...

2023.05.08 – 0858 – Myth 4: Drinking Water Can Help You Lose Weight Myth #4: Drinking water can help you lose weight OK, maybe if you drink a few glasses before a meal, you’ll eat less [1] but that’s not the case for everyone [2] , although obviously if water is replacing a sugar-rich fizzy drink then sure, you’ll be taking in fewer calories. [1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25893719/ [2] https...

2023.05.07 – 0857 – Myth 3: We Need ‘Sports Drinks’ Myth #3: We need sports drinks to replace salt and other electrolytes There’s usually no need to reach for the expensive coloured water after a work-out as you can usually replace lost salt by consuming more basic and cheaper, although not as trendy, food and drink.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023.05.06 – 0856 – Myth 2: Caffeine Makes You Dehydrated Myth #2: Caffeine makes you dehydrated The effect is almost miniscule and the 1928 research the claim is based on [1] doesn’t hold up to todays’ more rigorous research. NPR says “ Essentially, with the exception of higher alcohol-content beverages like hard liquor, all liquids count towards hydration. As does food. The experts we spoke to s...

2023.05.05 – 0855 – Myth 1: You Need To Drink at Least Eight Glasses of Water a Day H2O No-Nos – Busting 5 Myths About Water and Hydration [1]   Myth 1: You need to drink at least eight glasses of water a day Nope: After all, how big are the glasses, how big are you? Have you done any exercise or need more water, or eaten a ton of watermelon and need less? How hot are you? Like the porridge i...

2023.05.04 – 0854 – The Food And Drink Good List   The ‘good’ list Have these in moderation; you don’t want to feel full and bloated during a four-hour radio show. Neither do you want to feel nauseous, or feel the need for a toilet break, or suffer from either form of gas in a small studio. Eat enough of the right foods to keep your energy levels up – preferring fresh over anything proce...

2023.05.03 – 0853 – The Food And Drink Naughty List   The ‘bad’ list Dairy - Milk, yoghurt, cheese can all be difficult for the body to break down and so cause acid reflux which can ‘burn’ your vocal folds. It can also thicken mucus, causing you to clear your throat more often and reducing the manoeuvrability of your tongue. Processed sugar - Boiled and chewy sweets and juice drinks can...

2023.05.02 – 0852 – The Food And Drink That Can Damage Your Voice     EATING AND DRINKING It’s not so much what you should eat as what you should not , because, apart from foods which add to your water intake, there are few which actively help your voice. Most foods either hurt it, or make little or no difference either way. If these ‘bad’ items affect you at all, it will be likely...

2023.05.01 – 0851 – Your ‘Goldilocks’ Vocal Folds     ‘Breathy (or ‘aspirated’) onset’ – when they don’t close enough This happens when there is a lack of firm closure of the vocal folds, so excessive air escapes through them as you create sound and the resulting voice is ‘breathy’.   ‘Glottal’ onset – the folds are brought together before air pressure is increased, and are ‘bl...