[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1418076174' post='2626724']
The female singer in my function band went for a lesson with a vocal coach, the coach asked her
"whats you warmup regime?"
"?erm a pint of Stella and a fag?"
"No no you cant have a pint of Stella before a gig!"
"What about Carling?"
100% true story, never been back but she can knock out some blondie, pretenders, specials etc so its all good.
[/quote]
Brilliant.
I've been singing for over 25 years and have only ever completely lost my voice ( at a gig) once. It was about 15 mins before the end of the 2nd set.
And these days if I get a heavy cold I am at risk of losing my voice but luckily I don't get many colds. I have no special regime or tricks. I stay hydrated. This is very important. If you dehydrate, you can lose your voice. It's was from a book called the rock n roll singers survival manual (something like that).
I don't smoke.
I'm 46 and have no idea whether I will be able to sing when I'm 60 but I'll carry on trying.
These days, though, I do use a monitor but I don't know if that really helps with the straining.