Voice issues / Losing my voice
in Health ·
Hey everyone, I’ve been reading through some threads here and figured you guys might have some insight. Just wanted to say hi from the USA.
So, here's the deal—I'm 19, and I've been into beatboxing for about four years now. For anyone out of the loop, that’s basically vocal percussion—making beats, sounds, and mimicking instruments using nothing but your mouth. Around the time I was 16, I started getting into dubstep too. I've realized lately that this whole process absolutely trashes my vocal cords because most of the sound is coming from my throat rather than just my mouth. At first, I couldn't even go for a few seconds without it hurting like crazy—I was constantly chugging water just to cope. But after grinding through practice, I can now go for 20–30 minutes without much trouble. Though, during those intense sessions, I've actually spit up blood sometimes... honestly, I have no clue why. On top of that, my voice hasn't fully dropped yet. It cracks all the time and gets this super high-pitched squeak, which is pretty hilarious, I guess. Some people tell me it's because I'm straining my throat too hard with my beatboxing technique that my voice isn't settling, while others just say I'm not there yet—but hey, I'm 19. I'm kind of stuck. Some folks are warning me that I could lose my voice entirely if I keep this up, but man, I can't help it. It's like an addiction—I'm practicing at least 3, 4, maybe 5 hours a day, and I can't even imagine taking a break from it. If anyone has any advice, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks! 🙂
So, here's the deal—I'm 19, and I've been into beatboxing for about four years now. For anyone out of the loop, that’s basically vocal percussion—making beats, sounds, and mimicking instruments using nothing but your mouth. Around the time I was 16, I started getting into dubstep too. I've realized lately that this whole process absolutely trashes my vocal cords because most of the sound is coming from my throat rather than just my mouth. At first, I couldn't even go for a few seconds without it hurting like crazy—I was constantly chugging water just to cope. But after grinding through practice, I can now go for 20–30 minutes without much trouble. Though, during those intense sessions, I've actually spit up blood sometimes... honestly, I have no clue why. On top of that, my voice hasn't fully dropped yet. It cracks all the time and gets this super high-pitched squeak, which is pretty hilarious, I guess. Some people tell me it's because I'm straining my throat too hard with my beatboxing technique that my voice isn't settling, while others just say I'm not there yet—but hey, I'm 19. I'm kind of stuck. Some folks are warning me that I could lose my voice entirely if I keep this up, but man, I can't help it. It's like an addiction—I'm practicing at least 3, 4, maybe 5 hours a day, and I can't even imagine taking a break from it. If anyone has any advice, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks! 🙂