Any other singers out there?

[flytrapper]

N00b here...

I play bass and sing for a rock band, and analogs were starting to change my voice in a way that I did not like, sooooo... I entered the world of vaping a couple of months ago. While I feel like my voice got a little stronger, I still had the sensation of my throat and vocal chords being 'coated', and hampering my ability to sing my best, and recovery time after gigs still was not what it once was.

Anyone else with similar experiences? What about just normal day-to-day talking voice? Did the analog-induced rasp get better? Worse? Change? Stay the same?

I've put away the 510 for a while, and have switched to Swedish Snus, and am feeling stronger vocally. If the snus satisfy the nic jones, I might have to kick the 510 to the curb...

--Mike

 

[jetracer06]

Yea I play guitar and vocals. I used to be a lot better singer than I am now b/c of analogs too. The more I smoke the less I am able to hit certain pitches which reeeeaaaaalllllly bothered me so I just recently purchased one of these bad boys to improve my vocal abilities. I would say it's not the snus thats helping you, it's time. The more time you're off from cigs then the better your vocals should be... atleast thats what i'm hoping for...

 

[Jaka]

Remember that the PG in vapor is dehydrating, and dehydration is bad for your voice. Drink twice as much water as you actually want to to prevent the PG from drying you out. I know the coated feeling you mean, but I find that with water and warmup it goes away just as morning phlegm does.

I was in musical theater for 14 years, from early childhood to adolescence. I quit singing about three years before I started smoking, as my voice teacher would not let me sing while my voice changed. When I took it up again as a young adult, I had gone from a clear soprano to a husky, "smoky" alto and I couldn't figure out where any of the notes were. I was depressed; I was going to have to totally retrain my voice and I hated the new sound of it. I gave up singing anywhere but in the car alone, with the music turned up too loud to hear myself.

I gave up smoking two months ago and my upper range is back, and how. Clearer, stronger, more focused, and the notes are roughly where I remember them - I need a little retraining after 18 years, and my diaphragm needs toning to give me proper support, but I only now realize what the analogs had been doing to suppress as well as damage my voice.

Now, I still sing in the car - and I vape in the car. That's a bad combination that will give me a cough, and I will lose my voice once my throat gets too dry from the double dose of dehydrating activities. And if I try to sing, or even speak, with a lungful of vapor, it will fade my voice out to a croak in a sentence or two until I drink some water. But I am becoming more and more convinced that if the vapor is having any effect on my voice, it is the temporary effects of dehydration and the coating you mentioned that fades with warmup; in general, both my singing voice and my speaking voice have improved, and my singing range has probably tripled - I was missing my head voice entirely as a smoker. So in general - vaping has done amazing things for my voice by getting me off the analogs, and the rest is probably no worse that the effects of allergies (coating) or antihistamines (dehydration).

 

[BradSmith]

I sing every day and I play in a band and sing for a living. My upper range vocals have improved. And like they say in the Army, Don't panic drink water.

 

[LadyPhoenix]

Singer here too. Can't tell you my results yet as I've just started vaping about 2 weeks ago, and off analogs for 1 week. But I do know that smoking analog cigs had a profound affect on my stage stamina, that is, I feel short of breath. I also noticed an increased 'huskiness' to my voice.

Anyway, I haven't noticed any issues yet with vaping but I am aware that PG is a humectant so there is a need for extra hydration of the throat. I drink more water and use cherry bark throat lozenges if necessary. Also I have been using 100% PG and I just ordered some 50/50 PG/VG. Perhaps this will not be as drying.

 

[Jo OnTheGo]

Fabulous thread. Thank you for posting about this. My voice is a GREAT concern to me and has been dreadfully affected by smoking.

Give yourself time to recover from the analogs. Being a noob, I'm not much help. But I have faith in the tremendous healing power of the human body.

Have patience, drink water, and try to remember to rely on your diaphragm more than your voicebox. To practice, bend over, and sing. Find that muscle and work it, its a singers best friend

Signed, an ex-pro singer.

 

[flytrapper]

Well, it's been a couple months now, and the Swedish Snus are doing the trick, so I no longer need to subject the vocal cords to the vaping experiment. Thanks to everyone for your feedback!

I now have some supplies to sell, but cannot do it here until I have five posts, so let's talk about this subject some more, shall we? :^)

--Mike

 

[whiskey]

Yup...was a lead singer in my rock band too..got up to do a few tunes with a guest band...and boy can I wail now!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[dmtnt]

I sing and play guitar in 2 rock cover bands. In the 7 months I have been vaping, my vocal range and power have increased dramatically!

 

[Nena]

I am thrilled to report that my voice is on it's way back....I've been singing since I was a kid, then professionally trained in college. I can't say it's back to what it used to be, but it is definitely getting BETTER after a full month of vaping. I don't sing professionally any more, but I am a vocal coach. It had gotten to the point that I couldn't demonstrate what I wanted my students to do vocally....and that's when I got PO'd enough to toss the cigarettes.

This is such a blessing to singers! I'm actually considering getting back into it professionally as my voice recovers....now if they'd just up the age limit to say 55 for American Idol, I'd do it! LOL, since there is a "snowballs chance" of that happening I guess I'll stick to some more local competitions.

GOOD LUCK! Love seeing all these singers here!