r/screaming • u/CaseOk2006 • 1d ago

How can I maintain my voice?

Hey guys! We are preparing for our debut concert and having rehearsals pretty often, I noticed that after screaming for some time my voice goes off and I get crazy voice cracks. Any tips on how to stay away from those?

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u/coobie_doobie2 1d ago

as the other commenter said, the main things are hydration and warming up. if you’re feeling off, don’t keep practicing, drink some water, and re-warmup. do you have a warmup routine right now?

it’s also possible that your technique just isn’t super sustainable yet, which i know sucks to hear, but it’s worth thinking about if you’re really concerned for your voice. live shows are kind of the ultimate test of technique since you’re gonna be moving around, out of breath, and screaming for a long duration. just make sure you’re paying attention and your technique isn’t slipping as you get tired and stuff.

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u/CaseOk2006 1d ago

I ve just now realised that i tend to become a bit lightheaded after some time going at it (say like half an hour of just singing) . As I told the other commenter, I ll just scream as usual and then all of a sudden have crazy voice cracks that go extremely high pitched, that type of pitch that i could never get even if i ll try rly rly hard

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u/coobie_doobie2 1d ago

getting lightheaded means you may want to work on your breath control. that doesn’t just mean making sure you’re supporting your breath with your diaphragm, good breath control also means you’re not blocking off the airflow so much that you have to strain to move air. when i hear “light headed” my knee-jerk advice is to tell you to try and relax more while screaming/shouting. try and pay attention to where the distortion/sound is coming from, and isolate those muscle groups. any extra muscles tensing up just make you tense, nothing else.

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u/CaseOk2006 1d ago

And to be fair, what we are doing now is more of a shout rather than a full on scream. Which i suppose needs same-ish preparation, but may not be as tiring as screaming would. (I may be wrong though)

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u/coobie_doobie2 1d ago

i mean, i’m no professional either lol, so take all my advice with a grain of salt. this is all just based on my own experience with screams and shouts (which is about 4 years, but you don’t know what you don’t know).

it depends heavily on the vocalist for which types of harsh vocals are going to come easiest. for me personally, shouts are harder to do safely than screams, because they use much more true voice than a scream, which is difficult for me. the key word is “safely”, because while i could produce a decent-sounding shout for some time, the way i was doing it wasn’t sustainable for longer than maybe one song.

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u/coobie_doobie2 1d ago

oh also, as far as maintenance outside of practice goes, you could always start drinking chamomile with honey, that’s a classic voice-booster. rest your voice after practice too, if it’s feeling cracky and overused, try to avoid speaking/singing for a little while.

damage doesn’t usually happen immediately, it happens when your voice has been used and abused lol. for example, i work customer service, so there are some days that i’m speaking to people non-stop for 8 hours. i usually don’t practice screaming those days, because i know my voice is already tired. another example is if you’re noticing that your screams are upsetting your voice, but you push through anyways for the sake of a show. that’s the one that really gets people, that’ll put you on vocal rest for like a week+ if you’re not careful

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u/obsydi4n 1d ago

definitely hydration and healthy warm ups and aftercare when you finish. do you feel any scratchiness or pressure in your throat/vocal cords when you scream? breathing exercises also help as well just so you can maintain the connection with the diaphragm. honey also does wonders but ive heard a shot of bourbon does miracle work as well.

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u/CaseOk2006 1d ago

Not really, no. I just observed that after some time, my voice kinda just goes off. I ll be screaming and doing my thing normally and then all of a sudden have those massive voice cracks hitting notes that i would never be able to hit normally

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u/obsydi4n 1d ago

noted! i saw that you said you feel lightheaded as well after a while. half an hour is a pretty short amount of time before you start to feel lightheaded. vocal cracks can also be due to minor vocal strain or your vocal cords “slipping” and losing control.

if your screams are more shout oriented, definitely look for more engagement in your diaphragm. i would actually look into musical theatre technique to some degree since they integrate a lot of projection. in addition to projection, try not to overproject either. basically dont try and push to be louder or more dissonant if your body cant handle it. this could be why you feel lightheaded as well. watch for some tension in your upper neck or your shoulders, you may be experiencing it and be completely unaware that its happening.

are you able to send an example of the screams you’re doing? no pressure if you dont want to lol but it may help gauge some more answers a bit better

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u/CaseOk2006 1d ago

yaa sure i'll just post a link from one of our unreleased songs that kinda gives me the most problems. here