Preventing ragging your voice out?

[jseth]

Originally Posted by freedomfarm

Wow, you really covered it all! Dean Martin... cool fun fact! Happy to say I have never smoked or use/used any drugs! and when it comes to alcohol and performing, I just won't drink until very close to the end or at the most nurse a beer a very very long time. Ice drinks close my throat up hard and fast, I learned that from chucking 10's of thousands of bales of hay in the sweltering heat in decades gone by. I would get mad at my late wife for icing the water in the fields! I will work on assuring hydration and breathing in addition to things others have mentioned. Thank you and thanks to all for tips and advice. oh, btw I absolutely love Stephen Stills' voice and he's my fav of CSN if I "had to" choose!

Oh, I absolutely loved Stephen Stills' vocals, on Buffalo Springfield songs , CS&N and solo work, without a doubt!

In my reply, I was referring to how blown out his voice became, after years of drinking and drugging to excess while performing... Stevie Nicks sang mostly falsetto, without a lot of support (it seems) behind her vocal - doing a bunch of cocaine while singing as she did absolutely trashed what little voice she had to begin with...

[Gordon Currie]

Jseth probably covered it most comprehensively. Unlike other athletes, ice is NOT your friend!

I would encourage the OP and anyone else interested in this to look into vocal coaching/training for the long term.

Warming up is essential, but if your breathing is not optimal then you are working the muscles too hard over long periods of time. It is shockingly easy to damage the fragile structures involved in singing.

Good training can provide you with techniques to get the most from your own voice with a minimum of effort and low risk of injury.

[BillyH]

Originally Posted by robrick

Remember to breath deep before singing each line.

Don't push too hard, let the mic and amp do the heavy lifting.

Have water to drink on stage for when you dry out.

Pretty much sums it up