Losing The Voice (A Singer's Worst Nightmare)

  

In this post, I would like to talk about BanG Dream! Season 1 Episode 10 an incident where Kasumi lost her voice which was actually based on the real-life experience of Kasumi’s seiyuu and Poppin'Party's Lead Singer the lovely Terakawa Aimi. In this post, I would also like to share my own personal experience on how I relate to this incident and how Kasumi and Aimi’s experience actually struck a chord in me, in this post, I would like to talk about the voice and how it works and I would like to share some health care tips on how to take good care of the voice.  For those who don’t know me let me introduce myself I’m Jeffry Manlutac I’m a singer from the Philippines and I also served as the lead singer for the 90’s Filipino Rock Band called “White Lies” the band that sang the iconic classics Alaala Mo and First Love Never Dies I served as the bands lead singer from 2013-2014.  More than a year after I left White Lies there was this incident that happened around early December 2015 a good friend of mine who is a Bass Player called me he said that there was an upcoming event a Christmas Party at a Mall on December 19 it’s kinda like a Jam Session with multiple singers from some of the employees of that Mall he said that he needed a Singer, a Guitar Player, a Drummer, and a Keyboard Player so I asked some members of my band back then and we accepted the offer and we rehearse for 2 weeks and then the day before the event during the last day of the rehearsal I began to feel discomfort on my throat  I feel scratchy then suddenly I felt something snapped and my voice starts to cracks and I was advice to take a rest for that day but I’m the one who suggests that I would like to perform on the event on the next day cause if I don’t perform I won’t get paid so I took some medicine and rest the whole night of December 18, 2015.  On the Night of the event on December 19, 2015, I actually managed to sing 5 songs and I still got paid. and the good thing was that multiple singers jammed at that event and the event became a success. After that event, I lost my voice completely and I was unable to sing for more than a month which is why I canceled those events that I was supposed to sing in that period.  As the lead singer of a band your instrument is your own body and unlike any other instruments in the band such an instrument can be unpredictable at times since the said instrument is your own body itself which is something that is vulnerable to many contributing factors such as a sudden change in the weather and unhealthy lifestyle can affect the voice.  Now for the vocal care and tips, this is just a disclaimer I’m not a medical expert, and the things I will be mentioning here are based on my experience doing tours and the things that I’ve learned from vocal coaches I’ve worked with and if you’ve been experiencing vocal problems better seek help to a EENT Specialist near you. So with that out of the way let's talk about what to do, what to eat or drink before or during the performance, and again another disclaimer each and every individual has tolerance for certain foods or drinks that might affect the voice and the examples I will give are the common ones and though these foods and drinks can’t be taken before or during performances it doesn’t mean you can’t take them for the rest of your life, you can still take them as long as you don't have performances during that time and everything should be in moderation.  1. Complete time of sleep around 7-8 hours or more. 2. Vocal Warm-Ups before the Performance and Cool Down Excercise after the performance. 3. Keep yourself hydrated with room temperature water, other drinks such as coconut water or fruit juices are okay as well as long as they are not ice cold. 3. Avoid cold drinks since it cools down the muscles in your vocal folds and makes them less agile.  4. Avoid drinks such as caffeine, sodas, and alcoholic beverages since they can also dry your vocal folds and cause the build-up of acid. 5. Avoid dairy products such as milk and cheese cause not only can build up mucus but acid as well. 6. Avoid foods such as pasta or any food that has tomatoes in it cause tomatoes have acid as well. 7. Avoid spicy foods since this one is a no-brainer and let's be real here spicy foods and healthy singing don't marry cause if spicy foods can burn your ass what more the throat where they go directly. 8. Avoid crunchy foods such as peanuts, chips, and other solid foods that might scratch the surface of your vocal folds.