NWB - Community Blog

You're doing the best things:
Drink lots and LOTS of water.
Keep to a whisper when talking as much as is humanly possible.
Don't panic.

NO BEER
it'll fuk yer up and keep yer gob shut til Fri
best o luck

Mark

shit dude...get some honey / calmomile fruit tea or something like that and just drink it warm...helped me out a while back...may have just been placebo effect but it worked anyway!!!

not a remedy but..............

Whispering's worse than talking - don't talk at all. If you've only got 48 hours, Increase vitamins c (kiwi is a good source) and D (sunlight) and zinc ( baked beans, pumpkin seeds) to promote healing.

Don't go overboard on honey and fruit juice. Still water is you friend here. Little sips often - keep vocal chords moist.

Yawn to relax muscles every hour.

If your voice doesn't come back, buy a Vuvuzela ! Good luck pal,
gargle with salt water.

Hello there. For those that don't know me I'm Phil, the singer out of Dresden North End and Sugar Bullets. I don't post on here very often for a variety of reasons but I am moved to add a response here as it happened to me a few weeks ago the week before my Sugar Bullets lead vocalist debut and I was gutted. The gig was on the Friday and on the Weds night I was lying shivering, completely bereft of voice. It looked like I might forced me to cancel a gig due to losing my voice for the first time in over 15 years.

Anyway, my gig went ahead and what I advise is this: as well as resting your voice, rest yourself. Get as much kip as poss. If you're meant to be working in the meantime, throw a sickie if you can and rest. I agree with all the other advice on here but would also add that I discovered Vocalzone tablets in the nick of time (which are even better than the Dequacaine that I used to keep in reserve). Sanderson's specific throat gargle stuff has been mentioned on here before as well and can be quite useful though it is foul stuff.

Other than that what I did was test the voice for about 15 mins the night before, which gave me a pretty good idea of how it was going to be the next day. I agree that that is v. short notice to canxel a gig but, hey, if you can't sing you can't sing.

Also, and I don't know how feasible this is for you, but I made sure I chose the set. If you can avoid anything that takes you right to the top of your range you'll stand a better chance of getting through.

If it does go ahead, be easy on yourself, even if you feel it's not the best performance you've ever given and don't show any fear to the audience- like dogs, they'll smell it! On that front, I also found that my voice got ten times better once the old adrenaline got going!

Whatever happens, good luck and you have my sympathy and best wishes!

All sound advice, specially water & camomile tea with honey (pref Manuka honey frm health-food shops), yogic breathing exercises will help relax muscles n keep u calm.

Failing that i'm with the Vevuzela & a singalong!!

Di x

Sanderson throat pasific u can get it from boots only its only cheap but is good stuff i alway have a bottle for the band i manage

good luck

u comin on friday Di?

scott ive heard of an old navajo remedy, you sit cross legged on a field of canadian alpine oak shavings, daub one mark across each cheek, the marks have to be blood from an arizona coyote, while chanting "eeeiiiirrrttthhii rooggeillss thrummill ooglolmeetthhi", you need to do this for 5 and a half hours exactly then immerse your feet in sand(which has to be from monument valley, nowhere else) for 5 minutes while hopping on one leg and whistling the verse to enter sandman.....

hope this helps

anyways ive practiced some of that there geetar today and that was all ok gonna do some more tomoz nite too :-)

me and scott are working on a rod stewart tribute, im gonna be jeff beck..

Me n the corset plan on it Roberto, hope 2 get a lift with Aaron or find a small space in sumwhere else to hitch,

LittlestowawayDi x

also try gargling salt water. the reason why you throat hurts is because they are full of liquid which makes them swell.

a quarter of a cup of water with a really high concentration of salt (2 teaspoons) will draw any excess water from the throat.

you gotta make sure it gets really far down your throat though without swallowing it. the best way is to shape your throat as if your saying 'ahhh'

try not to talk at all and have two tablespoons of honey right before bed so it has all night to stay there. also, again try to get it to rest at the back of your throat, by shaping your throat to say ahh, and leave it there.

good luck mate. hope this helped

Yep, salt water and refrain from giving blow jobs til after the gig - pmsl.

You'll be alright you big soft fekkin Weegie barsteward 80)

Sandersons, Vocalzones & Jakemans throat and chest. All good.

Definately no giving of blowjobs, till after the gig anyway.

Seriously Scott, I've got man flu and just got my voice back by gargling salt water !

Hot salted water as hot as you can not boiling and always do it just before you go to bed and brush your teeth first boiling lemonade fresh lemon and honey in a pan is also a good one. the salted water will not work if its cold.

This has happened to me a few times. It's creates anxiety which you don't need. The best things I've found are. Take two 200mg ibuprofen tablets(the liquid ones pref) every four hours unless you have known allergy. This will reduce the inflammation but it needs a while to kick in. Rest your voice completely. Sleep loads. Avoid alcohol and dairy. Drink hypertonic sports drinks to rehydrate tissues. Boil a kettle and put boiling water into a large bowl, drop 3 or 4 drops of Olbas oil into water and breathe in steam. Do not get too close or it'll blow your head off man, it's about 10 times stronger than vocalzones. Steambath is good for voice. On day of gig pick up guitar and find comfortable note to sing( i like low G), go through vowel sounds AEIOU at different intensities starting soft. Move down to the lowest note you can sing still doing exercises. Move chromatically back up to the highest note you can sing all the while giving time till the note is comforatble and clear.
I personally have had big paying gigs to big venues when I couldn't speak 2 days prior. A lot is my fault as i like a drink or three but the above has got me through.
If all else fails I would come and sing for you dude as I love tallica and can do a decent hetfield but I gotta drive to inlaws which is a bummer. Good luck La!! Andy

i ain't got no more advice, but I've got my fingers crossed you you dude! Anyone that can stomach that Sandersons specific stuff deserves a break! It's the vilest thing I ever had in my mouth!!

Mick

Take a spare singer?
Aaron probably has a mate who could help out?

One thing, that solves all, hangovers, sore throats flus. Two words

Mountain Dew.
Get some.

Loads of sleep.
Loads of water.
Don't say a word until Friday then warm it up as per Bad Reutation's post above. Avoid alcohol, salty drinks, sugary drinks and go steady on the herbs and essential oils as they won't help your body repair itself. On the night of the gig use whatever sweets/lozenges/drinks you want to help in the short term.

Jon

Sing the whole gig falsetto!!!

Mick

Salt water is great and should help, also mate try drinking soda water it's worked for me every time. The main thing is don't panic and try to relax your voice, if your uptight it'll make it worse.