Spicy foods are bad for singers because they're often combined with oil which can add grease to your throat and can cause phlegm. This massively affects your tone, and there's then a huge temptation to clear your throat. Doing so involves your vocal cords suddenly smacking together which can lead to vocal fatigue.
So, it's best to avoid eating foods that cause extra gas before singing. This will help ensure that your performance is free of unwelcome... digestive interruptions. Some foods that may cause gas include: beans, fresh fruit, green vegetables, dairy products, spicy foods, and carbonated beverages.
Some foods and beverages to avoid prior to singing are mucous producing foods such as dairy, stimulants such as caffeine and spicy foods, soft drinks, refined sugars, chocolate, iced drinks and alcohol (including wine and beer).
A healthy voice requires a strong body with generally good muscle tone and endurance. So plan to eat a balance of protein, fruits and vegetables, whole grains and beans, and moderate amounts of healthy fats and oils. The current typical American diet of highly processed, packaged food lacks many essential nutrients.
As a singer, you should avoid eating too spicy, fatty, and junk food items. There are several food & beverages that trigger mucous secretion and can affect your singing abilities badly. So before and after singing, avoid eating such edibles as spicy food, acidic meals, greasy food, fried items, caffeine, or alcohol.
The best drinks before singing are warm drinks without caffeine or milk, warm water and herbal teas containing manuka honey, lemon and ginger are ideal. Warm or room-temperature water will hydrate your vocal cords, making them more supple and less liable to injury.
But dairy in general is difficult for the body to break down. It's a big no-no before your show. In many cases, it causes acid reflux that can creep up your esophagus and burn your vocal cords. In all cases, it tends to cling to everything in your throat, thickening the mucus that's already present.
If you're wondering what to drink to sing better, the answer is simple: water. Water is one of the best drinks for your singing voice, with herbal teas (but not too hot) in second place. Drink water throughout the day, and keep a water bottle nearby during lessons and rehearsals.
Use temporal, tuning, and low level compressing effects to create a vocal that sounds thick, and dense enough to cut through your mix. The idea is to create multiple reflections and voices, that can be combined with and augment the original signal.
The best thing you can do to improve your singing is singing regularly. “Practice makes perfect” is a cliché, but practice really does make you better. Singing every day strengthens your vocal cords, improves your vocal range, and will gradually lead you to a better vocal tone.
It can cause damage to the lining in the stomach, which in turn can cause gastritis, stomach ulcers and even intestinal disease such as colitis.” Ouch! You may like the burning sensation spicy food has on your tongue, but the flipside to that is “spicy food can also cause heartburn and/or reflux disease.
One study specifically highlighted that frequent consumption of spicy foods can trigger upper gastrointestinal symptoms in some people with dyspepsia (or, indigestion). For people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), spicy foods can also trigger symptoms.
Just because you're born with fewer capsaicin receptors doesn't mean you will never be able to enjoy spicy food in your lifetime. It isn't a myth — you really can increase your level of spice tolerance through frequent exposure.
It is best to sing on an as close to an empty stomach as you can tolerate. You don't want to be so hungry that your stomach is growling, however you don't want excess food in the stomach either. Any contents in the stomach will restrict the diaphragm and can cause you to sing out of key.
In all seriousness, while it's important to still eat in moderation and to not eat within two hours of a performance, keep an eye out for these voice-friendly foods: Hard- and soft-boiled eggs. Plain baked fish, such as salmon or tilapia, but stay away from the tartar sauce.
Using the straw is basically making the vocal tract longer because the straw is extending the space where the sound is resonating. The elongation of the vocal tract allows the larynx to lower to a neutral position. When the larynx is neutral, you can't over-squeeze.
Hot fluids increase mucus that lines the pharynx which can affect your tone. Also, if you swallow hot fluids, this is likely to cause inflammation which will increase sensitivity and make singing overall more difficult and uncomfortable.
Honey is known to have powerful soothing effects on your voice, vocal cords, and throat. It's rich in antioxidants and has antibacterial properties which help fight bacterial infections in the throat. Honey can help singers recover quicker from strained, sore, and lost voices.
Bananas moderate your blood sugar levels to reduce your appetite. This is ideal if you have little time to consume a rich meal before a performance. The glycemic index (the speed foods increase your blood sugar levels) of bananas is well-balanced.
For most people, eating dairy products like milk, yogurt, ice cream or cottage cheese will create mucus, and should be avoided within a couple of hours before singing. For most, hard cheeses don't do that. Mucus coats your throat and makes it harder to sing.
Unfortunately for chocolate lovers, it's actually one of the worst foods to snack on before you sing. It's high in both sugar and caffeine – two products that can affect the performance of your vocal cords before a show.