Smoking...............

So, how many of you pollute your lungs with cigarettes?? Of those of you who do, how has it effected your voices over the years?

I smoked for 23 years, 3 packs a day. I finally stopped, cold turkey, May 3, 2006. I haven't looked back since. Before I quit I found I was losing A LOT of my past range. When I was younger, I could sing anything from Judas Priest to Steel Heart. I did rebuild my voice after i quit smoking, but I can't sing quite the way I used to. Oh to be young again. I guess being 44 doesn't help, either.

I tell my son, all the time, that if I ever catch him smoking I will rip out his lungs for him.

smoothedge69 wrote:So, how many of you pollute your lungs with cigarettes?? Of those of you who do, how has it effected your voices over the years?

I smoked for 23 years, 3 packs a day. I finally stopped, cold turkey, May 3, 2006. I haven't looked back since. Before I quit I found I was losing A LOT of my past range. When I was younger, I could sing anything from Judas Priest to Steel Heart. I did rebuild my voice after i quit smoking, but I can't sing quite the way I used to. Oh to be young again. I guess being 44 doesn't help, either.

I tell my son, all the time, that if I ever catch him smoking I will rip out his lungs for him.

I have never smoked, I used to listen to my dad coughing every morning and that was enough for me. You have to think of your voice as an instrument, for an instrument to perform at it's peak it must be properly taken care of. Singers naturally lose their ability with age, abuse doesn't help just look at Whitney Huston.

guilty smoker here...a pack a day for over 2/3rd of my life....yes it does effect my ability to sing just cant seem to quit

Athena

Never smoked, but my range has been affected by getting older and disuse. When I was in high school, I sang in the school and church choirs. Back then, I had three and a half octaves of useful range, starting at low D and counting the falsetto range. Now, I bottom out around F and what falsetto I have left peters out after a couple of minutes. But I am working on getting it back, now that singing is a part of my job.

Smoke & work in a smoking bar - double whammy there. Can't do alot of what I used to do but it's possible that I used to try stuff that I couldn't do before and just thought I could. Never thought of changing a key in the past, now it's more of a common occurance.

Never smoked but never really could sing either.....

We moved from a non-smoking state to a smoking ok state and I get a big hit of it every show--wish I didn't. I cough alot and in the winter when the doors of the bar are shut and there is less ventilation I get a bloody nose. I used to hardly even know anyone who smoked but since we moved I hardly know anyone who doesn't. One of the things that struck me about this state was the number of people carting their little oxygen tanks around behind them. Don't know if they can hold the notes once they get that far along.

I'll be honest, and I know this is a major argument starter, but I wish they would ban smoking, countrywide, in all bars and restaurants. I watch it happen in NY. Everyone was pissed, everyone boycotted places for a couple of weeks and then realized that staying home sucked. The bars and restaurants were busier than ever after that because non-smokers could enjoy them, too. At that point I was a smoker, and didn't mind in the least. It was nice not to have to sit in a smoky bar all night. My nonsmoking friends liked that they didn't go home stinking of smoke and coughing. It was a win-win for everyone.

I wish everyone had just stayed home for a while here in Florida....we still have venues that were forced to go non-smoking here tht have not recovered. Our freestanding "smoking" bars are still twice as busy as the non-smoking bars.

Athena

kjathena wrote:I wish everyone had just stayed home for a while here in Florida....we still have venues that were forced to go non-smoking here tht have not recovered. Our freestanding "smoking" bars are still twice as busy as the non-smoking bars.

Athena

Everything is non-smoking around here so it really isn't an issue. If you want to smoke there are assigned areas you can do so, some places even have smoking rooms, or you have to go outside. I think it makes it better for everyone. I don't see why people spend money to ruin their health, but that is their thing not mine. Have a nice day.

kjathena wrote:guilty smoker here...a pack a day for over 2/3rd of my life....yes it does effect my ability to sing just cant seem to quit

Athena

The reason you can't quit Athena is the cigarettes themselves were engineered by the various companies to be addictive. In fact the only thing more addictive is crack cocaine, something else I don't advise people trying.

I can believe it....Started smoking at 14 to "be cool" have tried to stop more times than I can count

Athena

It IS a problem when they allow exceptions--not a level playing field and it takes the non-smokers time to get back in the habit of going out. When it is across the board, there are complaints and "boycotts" at first and then it fills back in. I used to go out in the 70s until the smoke about did me in then quit totally. When they started the smoking ban in California I was out two days a week after decades of avoiding smokey places. When they tried it in Nevada they made too many exceptions. A neighborhood bar would have to market to outsiders to bring in the non-smokers instead of getting in a blend from the immediate area --it doesn't work too well asf people don't want to drive long distances to a bar.

kjathena wrote:I wish everyone had just stayed home for a while here in Florida....we still have venues that were forced to go non-smoking here tht have not recovered. Our freestanding "smoking" bars are still twice as busy as the non-smoking bars.

Athena

If they would just ban smoking in bars then it would make no difference. ALL the bars would get busy again. My buddy used to run his show at a bowling alley bar, a few years ago. It was so much better than where we are now. No smoking, and you could order food. It stayed busy, until the management changed and they decided to remove the karaoke.

we have both smoking and non-smoking bars...at "our" bowling alley we lost over 50% of our customers...these are people that still come out to other freestanding (and therefore) smoking bars and it has been years since the change in laws. I understand what you are saying I just look at friends that live in "non smoking states" and have worked both before and after the laws changed and they report a drop that did not recover. Being a smoker personally I do tends to choose places that I can smoke in especially when I may be having a few drinks. Other smokers in our area do just have get together's at home citing smoking policies and increased DUI check points.

Athena

kjathena wrote:we have both smoking and non-smoking bars...at "our" bowling alley we lost over 50% of our customers...these are people that still come out to other freestanding (and therefore) smoking bars and it has been years since the change in laws. I understand what you are saying I just look at friends that live in "non smoking states" and have worked both before and after the laws changed and they report a drop that did not recover. Being a smoker personally I do tends to choose places that I can smoke in especially when I may be having a few drinks. Other smokers in our area do just have get together's at home citing smoking policies and increased DUI check points.

Athena

This I would think would be of greater concern, having private parties at private homes, as the cost of going out continues to rise. This in the end these private parties could be more dangerous as far as the end of commercial karaoke than any piracy threats. Something to think about.

Yes, that is true. We know a number of our customer do throw home parties using subscription services (IE Karaoke Channel) and have even helped a couple configure home systems. Thank goodness singing at home even with a few friends does get boring after a bit

Athena

kjathena wrote:Yes, that is true. We know a number of our customer do throw home parties using subscription services (IE Karaoke Channel) and have even helped a couple configure home systems. Thank goodness singing at home even with a few friends does get boring after a bit

Athena

Neighbors tend to get a bit pissy about it, too.

only if you dont invite them

Athena

kjathena wrote:only if you dont invite them

Athena

I have been getting more private parties lately, especially in the summer time. You are right Athena the way you keep the neighbors from calling 911 is to invite them also. If the home karaoke party catches on and people rotate the action, it would seem that it could take a big bite out of the bar business, which is the bread and butter of most commercial karaoke hosts. Especially if the venues take Steve's other option and just drop karaoke altogether, to avoid all the legal fallout, karaoke generates. Have a nice day.

The Lone Ranger wrote:Especially if the venues take Steve's other option and just drop karaoke altogether, to avoid all the legal fallout, karaoke generates

If one stops doing it two more will see the potential and start doing it! Have a nicer day!

Steve Miller wrote:

The Lone Ranger wrote:Especially if the venues take Steve's other option and just drop karaoke altogether, to avoid all the legal fallout, karaoke generates

If one stops doing it two more will see the potential and start doing it! Have a nicer day!

Don't bet on it Steve. Have the nicest day.

I have already seen it, right here in Virginia when the first round of lawsuits were filed!

Steve Miller wrote:I have already seen it, right here in Virginia when the first round of lawsuits were filed!

The first might be the last, and the pirates could come back under the cloud Steve, think about that. Have a nice day.

The topic is smoking, not pirates.

smoothedge69 wrote:The topic is smoking, not pirates.

Common on smoothedge you know how hard it is for me and Steve to stay on topic, although he will say it is all my fault, sorry about the highjacking. Have a nice day.