Drinks to aid singing - a thought

Subject: Drinks to aid singing - a thought
From: Mr Red
Date: 12 Dec 17 - 05:36 AM

In other threads I have seen posters opine that drinks don't help with singing because the windpipe and larynx don't see the liquid.

Now. Whilst coughing and spluttering at 5:30am I gave up trying to get back to sleep. So I made my honey, lemon and hot water and came back to bed. The urge to cough vanished for several hours.

I did sleep and in those waking moments a thought popped into my head. How did that happen?

Was it pure placebo/psychosomatic? Were the fumes from the citric acid aided by the hot water, passing into my broncils and bronciolae?

AND

When I sing, doesn't the alcohol have fumes, and wouldn't that have interacted with the mucus in the air passages? Condensing on the vocal cords? (improving the chords!)

A physiological mechanism is identified, but how effective, and effective how?

PS can I discount the banana this morning?

Subject: RE: Drinks to aid singing - a thought
From: Jos
Date: 12 Dec 17 - 12:57 PM

Could it be that when you drink alcohol you become more relaxed, and when you are relaxed you sing better than when you are tense?

Subject: RE: Drinks to aid singing - a thought
From: Deckman
Date: 12 Dec 17 - 01:11 PM

I've used that hot water/lemon/honey trick for years. It sure works. bob(deckman)nelson

Subject: RE: Drinks to aid singing - a thought
From: RTim
Date: 12 Dec 17 - 01:34 PM

VocalZones work for me - but warming up the voice is also a good idea.

VocalZones

Tim Radford

Subject: RE: Drinks to aid singing - a thought
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 12 Dec 17 - 01:37 PM

I can access a lovely resonant bass when I have a cold or a phlegmy throat.

Subject: RE: Drinks to aid singing - a thought
From: JHW
Date: 12 Dec 17 - 03:30 PM

I'm afraid since my singing teacher became RIP I've forgotten about warming up and probably everything else she taught me. She did highly recommend the aforementioned potion (and never sing with a bad throat though a cold is fine).
I had a terrible cough a month ago but sticky drinks or patent medicine (eg Coughonya) immediately made me cough. Yogi Throat Comfort Tea was my remedy.
I'll tend towards beer if its available but if I'm doing a set I'll only have a bottle of water to hand.
Maybe I should sup Yogi Tea ahead of a night singing.

Subject: RE: Drinks to aid singing - a thought
From: Mr Red
Date: 13 Dec 17 - 04:23 AM

Another thought was that when you drink alcohol it is present in the blood and thus expelled via breath so affects the air pathways again.

It certainly relaxes you, medically it is classed as a depressant. But the larynx is a muscle and alcohol does seem to reduce the adrenaline that makes yer muscles twitchy.

But it depends on dosage. As Jazz trumpeter Humphrey Littleton said: It doesn't make you play better, everyone else sounds better!

But my raison detre for posting was about mucus and any direct effect on the vocal cords. Any sweets, lozenges etc that contain volatile substances can be seen to improve the situation. I think fumes has it.

Subject: RE: Drinks to aid singing - a thought
From: FreddyHeadey
Date: 13 Dec 17 - 07:23 AM

Report of a study on the relaxation effects of honey on the whole body.
This was a study on anxiety. But maybe it has a localised effects.?
When I was a kid and given a teaspoon of honey I remember being told to let it slip down slowly. Sipping it in a drink might be similar.


"Now, the dose of honey required in this study is rather high. Based on the results, honey relieves anxiety at 2.0 grams per kilogram - that is a lot of honey!? A 130 pound person (59 kilograms) would need to consume 118 grams of honey based on this study.
http://www.bee-pollen-buzz.com/honey-relieves-anxiety.html?

Subject: RE: Drinks to aid singing - a thought
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 13 Dec 17 - 05:25 PM

I've got an arsenal of remedies for throat and singing maladies.

I use the hot water, lemon juice, and honey soothant, but also vary it (on the advice of an old-time doctor cohort of my doctor uncle -- who prescribed it for my toddler cousin back in the late 1950s) as warm whiskey, lemon juice, and honey.

VocalZones are in my repertoire as are Entertainer's Secret spray, Zand's Herbal Mist Throat Spray and Singer's Saving Grace throat spray.

If iffy-throatedness comes on suddenly at a pub or a sing, I find that either Bushmill's or Goslings (rum) help and will probably get me through the session -- as will an order of french fries (chips for you Brits) and mayo (maybe with a few splashes of siracha or Tabasco.

Beer and pickled jalapenos also works. For me, at least.

Linn

Subject: RE: Drinks to aid singing - a thought
From: Mr Red
Date: 14 Dec 17 - 03:49 AM

I find food generates an excess of mucus, at times when I have no reason to expect such.

Subject: RE: Drinks to aid singing - a thought
From: Marje
Date: 14 Dec 17 - 04:15 AM

I find any drink with ginger in it gives relief from coughs and wheeziness. I recently got through a singing gig when recovering from a cold, with the assistance of a thermos containing Rochester ginger cordial, honey and hot water. The heat of the ginger seems to soothe the throat down immediately, even though I can't explain it in terms of physiology.

Alcohol can help relax you, but as has been implied above, the best way to get it to enhance your performance is to make sure your audience have plenty to drink!

Marje

Subject: RE: Drinks to aid singing - a thought
From: The Sandman
Date: 14 Dec 17 - 04:07 PM

perhaps, it is more important to know what drinks to avoid, particularly the ones that will make your singing worse, bearing in mind that everybodys system is different

Subject: RE: Drinks to aid singing - a thought
From: Mr Red
Date: 14 Dec 17 - 04:48 PM

Paul Metsers swore by a glass of water with just a hint of lemon. Mind you he had to drive back to Cumbria from a gig so maybe it was a substitute.

And a guide at the Black Country Museum, years ago, reckoned that tea kept his voice clear during the day, as long as there was never any milk in it. He thought that milk in any form was not good for 8 hours of schpielling.

Subject: RE: Drinks to aid singing - a thought
From: JMB
Date: 16 Dec 17 - 09:08 PM

These are good points for liquids in helping the voice. I use these ingredients (honey, lemon, ginger) in liquids. When it comes to foods, garlic and protein especially eggs (as they are low density) are also beneficial to the voice. I used to preach that alcohol in moderation is helpful as it is a relaxant as mentioned above. I have only had a couple of drinks in the last month or so, and I noticed that my voice isn't as strong as I was dependent on the alcohol. I noticed that if I had three or four beer in the evening before bed, the next morning, my voice was fantastic. I loved to drink Holsten Dark Beer (7 %) which is a German beer, and Grant Family Reserve Scotch Whisky, and I was also known to drink Faxe a 10% Danish beer.

Subject: RE: Drinks to aid singing - a thought
From: The Sandman
Date: 17 Dec 17 - 02:43 AM

Iam not sure its alcohol but the hop flavouring that helps the voice it might be worth experimenting with hop teas