Health and safety - singing

It might look solely like the fun police came in to ruin the day, but health and safety is kind of a big thing. Without adhering to strict rules in your chosen art form or chosen job, you’ll end up hurting things. Usually people. Including yourself.

As I’m doing a singing related thing for a bit of a recording project in college, this particular health and safety post will be about using your voice to sing things. Should you be one of those rap or R&B singers, I’d recommend you instead learn on how to package small knives in your CD cases. It’s cheaper and gives the same effect as listening to your music when applied to the ear.

Which brings us to a blaringly obvious health and safety violation – sharp objects being swung around or even placed haphazardly around. I’m not sure why you would even need a sharp object when singing, but if, for any reason, it becomes a necessity (maybe you’re doing a gig in a rough area) then make sure you keep an eye on it. If there’s some sort of protective covering, use it. Otherwise, be sure you and your cohorts know where it is – in somebody’s leg is not a valid place.

Keeping your posture is also weirdly important. You might think that singing is all about the lungs and throat, and while that is true, the ability to push the air out is affected by your stance. Standing nice and straight and ensuring you can get a bunch of oxygen through those airways ensures a powerful voice and ensures you’re not straining yourself too much.

Straining yourself is a nasty one, and it’s so easy to do. Just overextending past your vocal range will strain your voice – it’s recommended that you train yourself very carefully. A little bit at a time. If you want to do a high note, I’d save it for a few albums or performances along, when you know you can actually do it.

Every singer worth their salt will do a brief warm-up exercise before they sing. Once more, it helps in the battle against vocal strain – having loosened the old vocal chords by singing the scale a few times will ensure that you both have an easier time singing and won’t mess your throat up quite as easily.

Stress is, oddly, a factor too. Under cases of stress you’re more likely to mess up or go a bit too powerful with your voice and hurt yourself somehow. That, or you could get angry with somebody and violate the sharp object health and safety rules – singing is pretty stressful in a group situation, as is any part of the musical group. Doing a spot of yoga, or listening to some ambient music (or both) can really help you chill out and forget all your fears. Don’t do drugs, kids.

The next one falls more in to the category of live gigs and performances – volume. This is really an all-round thing – I know the kids are going to want to hear some pumping tunes so loud they can hear it a few blocks over, but making those speakers too loud will not only wreck your ears, but also theirs. If not that, then you might end up with a minor case of tinnitus, which can often keep you up with its incessant ringing.

Be careful of trailing wires on the ground, especially with your microphone. We all know the wireless ones aren’t great, and nothing beats a wired bit of gear, just make sure you hold the wire away from yourself if you’re walking around and singing. It’s easy to lose yourself in the music and then have a fight with a wire, which usually ends up in you losing, and whatever (and whoever) you fall in to also getting themselves hurt.

Water is another one of those big things. It’s widely recommended you use a screw-top container of water for various reasons. For one, you’re going to want water. Singing brings the thirst very easily, and singing on a dry throat will strain your throat. The reason it’s recommended you use a screw-top is simple – you’re wandering around electrical equipment here. Nobody wants that stuff wrecked, and nobody wants fires to happen.

If you’re a singer, it’s also widely recommended that you don’t drink or smoke. Now, everybody likes a good drink, but that good drink can often mess your throat up. After all, why do you think some of the cheaper vodkas burn on the way down? Smoking is a no-brainer really, too; your lungs won’t thank you.

Ensure that your microphone is in a comfortable position, even if it’s in your hands. You don’t want to be stooping for the thing all day, and you don’t want to be on your tip-toes. You’ll do your back in, and then have to spend your entire career sitting down.

Learning techniques for singing is essential. Do a few google or youtube searches – better yet, take a few courses in singing. It isn’t a personal insult or a lack of skill on your part if you resort to doing this. It’s the smart thing, and you’re less likely to do yourself in. Proper throat discipline is key.

Lastly but not leastly is the universal rule of work. Take regular breaks. If you overwork your throat, then you’re going to do yourself some damage, and more often than not you won’t be able to talk right for a couple of days. Or sing, for that matter.

So all in all, health and safety takes a pretty broad scope over the job at hand. Singing is in no way as easy as picking up a mic and singing to the tune – it’s as dangerous as any other job, and it’s most definitely not as simple as it looks.