wordsandsounds

sorry if this is a tired topic; i've searched the forums for a little bit without finding an answer.

i sing and write songs as a hobby, and usually smoke up once every few months mainly to spark inspiration and creativity. i'm not really an experienced smoker. i sing quite well while baked, and i really have the time of my life. however, two weeks ago, i took three bong hits a night, every other night, three times in one week. after that week i noticed that my vibrato isn't as tight and i have less control over the higher notes in my chest register that i gained recently through self training in the last year. i haven't smoked since that week.

are there any serious singers out there who've experienced the same thing? i just want to know if the effects are permanent, or if and when i'll get full control of my voice back. also, would a vaporizer eliminate the stress that smoking marijuana causes on the vocal cords? i really don't want to part with the inspirational moments mj brings!

LAsMoker17

This was just posted somewhere else, because I replied to it. I'll say the same thing, Im not sure about MJ smoke exactly, but I know cigarette smoking can harm the voice. Or at least drop it down in tone.

I assume its th same for MJ, but I could be wrong because I know people were posting they smoke everyday, and they can still hit all their notes...

trout13

I sing and write, and am recording cd currently of my songs. Lets see, the reason I say no effect is because of maybe five times a day for, ah 34 years ought to do it. Clear chest xray, and mouth. Have a very clean voice that refuses to get rough. It's actually better now than it was, or equal to age eighteen. Smoke burns hotter than cig, and like all things, diff people diff effect. Some has to do with heredity. If you stop, or bong, or drink frozen drinks, from a convinience store, it will cool it down. Done it for years now.
Later mon.

Beatlejuice

I have seen this discussion on the boards of music websites, and the consensus among most people is that after years of smoking, peoples voice's usually tend to get slightly lower over time. It may only be a half step or so over 10 years, but a lot of people seem to believe it does have make a tiny difference. You probably will not notice it because it is so gradual, but I believe it does lower the voice over time.

I happen to be a huge Joni Mitchell fan. Anyway who is familiar with her and her music knows that she is a frequent cigarette smoker, and her voice has obviously become much lower since her debut. Songs that she used to sing in a certain key now need to be done in a different key because she can't hit the notes she used to. Now that is an extreme example, but it does support that idea that smoking lowers the voice.

Your problem seems to be that you feel the quality of your voice is suffering, and I think that may have to do with how you hear it. The differences you hear in your voice may just be because you are high. If you can, try recording yourself high and not high, and then listen to them when you are sober to see if there is an actual difference or if it is just the weed making it sound different.

I'm assuming you are past puberty, so we'll leave that out of it.

__________________
"Zeppelin Ruuuule!" - Otto's last words

BaileyPaige

Hey, I am a music major mostly operatic. I have been singing and taking private voice lessons scince I was in middle school. As you can imagine I did not always smoke, but when I started highschool I got into it. I started smoking alot and it DEFFINATELY effects your voice. I found that my voice was not as strong as it used to be. I was flat a lot, and my vibrato would sometimes get out of control. It not only effects your voice but it effects your breathing, and breathing is an important part of singing. As soon as I realized what I was doing to my voice I slowed it down a little bit. Smoking every once in a while isn't going to do much, but in the long run I'm guessing it would have to do something. There are plenty of people who toke every day of their life and still sing. Well, I hope that helped a little bit! talk to you later
Bailey