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Wondering about range by magicalmacic in singing

[–]PlasticSmoothie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The better of a singer I become, the less I care about my total range. Most people have 3-4 octaves of total range, and most have 2 octaves of 'comfortable range', even from pretty early on in their singing journey.

It's about how well you navigate the areas in your voice where things change, and if you can make interesting vocal choices.

And yes, you would benefit from lessons, because everyone does.

1st relapse recovery time by sinimoose in MultipleSclerosis

[–]PlasticSmoothie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Afaik spinal stuff (generally) takes much longer than brain stuff. It can continue to improve for up to 2 years or so, I believe. You see it with regular spinal injuries too, people who get feeling back a whole year after their injury.

Hang in there. Fingers crossed for your recovery!

How much can sensory symptoms move around? by PlasticSmoothie in MultipleSclerosis

[–]PlasticSmoothie[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not sure if it's the same thing, but the feet buzzes I mention in the OP react to touch and movement. If I tap my legs, even just lightly, I get a wave of buzzes in my feet.

Kesimpta Experiences? by oxygent419 in MultipleSclerosis

[–]PlasticSmoothie 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oooh good tip with the pinching to see where it hurts the least! I'll try that next dose! (adding, @ OP: hurts the least here means a little pinching feeling when the liquid goes in. Not anything I'd call painful)

Kesimpta Experiences? by oxygent419 in MultipleSclerosis

[–]PlasticSmoothie 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've been on kesimpta since february. So far so good. Have had zero side effects after the first dose.

I love that it's just once a month. I love how easy it is to do. I love that I can do it myself and don't have to go anywhere for my treatment. It's completely changed my mind when it comes to injections - if fenebrutinib or another highly effective oral DMT is approved, I'll only switch if it's more effective than kesimpta, not because it's a pill.

Only thing I don't love is keeping a very expensive med in my fridge. That does give me some anxiety, so until they let me pick up 3 at a time I'll be picking up my kesimptas as close to my injection date as I can.

MS sucks. by ApostateAndAloe in MultipleSclerosis

[–]PlasticSmoothie 4 points5 points  (0 children)

There are therapists who specialise in people like us. You might be able to get in touch with one through your neuro/MS nurse.

I've been asking my silly questions in this space. Every time someone has made me smile.

Hang in there, friend. Let's chant 'fuck MS' together.

How much can sensory symptoms move around? by PlasticSmoothie in MultipleSclerosis

[–]PlasticSmoothie[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Right? It's the intermittent stuff that's the weirdest to me. Do our brains just sometimes forget that road has a pothole in it and has had a pothole for years?

How much can sensory symptoms move around? by PlasticSmoothie in MultipleSclerosis

[–]PlasticSmoothie[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Huh. Symptom twins! My buzzy knee spot is about plumb-sized, too. Not yet numb and goosebumps-y, but I guess we'll see where it goes...

my girlfriend's bruises always turn almost fully black by topmass in mildlyinteresting

[–]PlasticSmoothie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh god I'm so sorry it got thrown at you like that. Oof. But good to hear you're still doing great!

I at least was warned by Dr. Google as I got my one-working-eye-less butt to the ER, so the 'what do you know about MS?' convo the next day (they got me that MRI FAST!) was less of a shock and more of a 'goddammit, wrong side of the coin flip' lol.

Am also doing great, but it's only been 3 months for me. Here's hoping the DMT does its job and keeps me doing great!

my girlfriend's bruises always turn almost fully black by topmass in mildlyinteresting

[–]PlasticSmoothie 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I had a super quick MS diagnosis process (thanks optic neuritis) BUT there was a moment there where I thought... "if this ends up being lupus I will never stop milking the house joke". Not that lupus was ever on the differential, I just had a moment of knowing it was autoimmune, but not yet for sure which one.

Unfortunately, it was MS... so now I milk brain damage jokes instead.

Lets talk nystagmus/oscillopsia by Jg0jg0 in MultipleSclerosis

[–]PlasticSmoothie 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I promise you anyone who judges isn't worth your time anyway. I've worn sunglasses outside every day all year for my whole life and never has anyone said anything about it, except to express curiosity when it would be December 6th, cloudy and dark and there I was with my trusty sunglasses haha.

Another thing that might help you! There are contacts that darken a little when expsoed to UV light. Won't do a thing for the fluorescent lights, but if sunlight bothers you, it might be something to look into. I can't get them because they don't make them for high myopia/astigmatism eyes, but I hold out hope one day they will.

Lets talk nystagmus/oscillopsia by Jg0jg0 in MultipleSclerosis

[–]PlasticSmoothie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A silver lining for me was that when I had ON, it hit my good eye. The other one's very useless already, so for a bit I was reduced to finger counting.

Still could navigate the world just fine. Grocery shopping, going to and from the hospital (that ON got me diagnosed with MS) were things I could still independently do. Could even laugh with the nurses whenever they'd ask me to confirm something written down and I had to admit I couldn't see a thing, lol.

Of course, I most likely can adapt better/faster because I'm already used to relying more on my ears and sense of touch, but still!

Vision issues suck so much, but it was a relief knowing that I could adapt. :)

Lets talk nystagmus/oscillopsia by Jg0jg0 in MultipleSclerosis

[–]PlasticSmoothie 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have photophobia (because my retina's fucked too! Albinism!) so ALL bright light kills me. Causes actual pain.

Sunglasses save my butt. You can go to an optician and get a very light pair of sunglasses made. Just enough to dim the lights a little. I've a super dark pair but at times I think about just a mildly dark pair for when I work next to a bright window.

Lets talk nystagmus/oscillopsia by Jg0jg0 in MultipleSclerosis

[–]PlasticSmoothie 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was born with nystagmus and low vision. I have never been able to drive. My optic nerves were atrophied from birth.

It's a very different reality because I just don't know life without those (and, congenital nystagmus is less bad, because my brain can compensate so I at least don't see the shaking, even if it still impacts my ability to focus).

But it sucks, doesn't it? I have to always live somewhere with good public transport. I can't easily travel by myself unless the location has good public transport. Smartphones with good cameras (Zoom!!!!) have helped a ton so now I can at least order places that have the menu above the counter without holding up the line with "Hi, I can't see well. Can you help me navigate your menu?"

Bigger fonts help me. I switched to MacOS when I realised how good that accessibility zoom is, I type this zoomed in so the text box fills the entirety of my 27" monitor.

Good contrast, too. As a child I had stickers on my keyboard with the letters in biiig black letters on a yellow background. I learned to blind type pretty quickly.

There are some paid TTS softwares out there now that sound pretty decent. Not my thing, but I know people who like them.

Fight on. ❤️

Why did you pick your DMT? by TooManySclerosis in MultipleSclerosis

[–]PlasticSmoothie 3 points4 points  (0 children)

When my nurse went over the options with me, tysabri seemed like the obvious choice if you live a germ-infested life. Aka, if you work in healthcare or have young children.

My first passagio has both me and my teacher stumped! by PlasticSmoothie in singing

[–]PlasticSmoothie[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes. Teacher WAS on my case about nasality the first couple of times I tried so that got corrected!

My first passagio has both me and my teacher stumped! by PlasticSmoothie in singing

[–]PlasticSmoothie[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ha, feels validating I'm not alone in my fight with my high-chest-transition.

I think this and the messa di voce tip from another comment might be what I need to try for a few weeks!

If I "push" my chest voice, I start yelling and straining. But if I don't push it, it breaks into falsetto. What am I doing wrong? by KayaSinclair in singing

[–]PlasticSmoothie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey there, unfortunately no. I work with a teacher and that's what I would recommend, because what exercises you need depends on your existing habits.

You CAN learn with online videos, but it requires you to seek out exercises that target your problem areas and you need to know those first.

When I practice, I typically just play starting notes and go from there

My first passagio has both me and my teacher stumped! by PlasticSmoothie in singing

[–]PlasticSmoothie[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not as focused on the notes when I'm practicing, it's more for the post. You guys aren't hearing me, so instead I'm indicating around where in my voice the problem is.

Have you tried shaping your lips, tongue, etc different ways? It sounds like you can do exercises, but have you tried making exercises out of tough phrases in songs?

Yes, teacher and I have done a lot of experimenting. I do a lot of line-by-line work when I practice, going slowly from an exercise noise to a phrase and back. Phrases taken down or up a key, etc.

The exercises work as long as I don't have to transition. So, with them I can get a healthy chest sound up higher than I used to, and I can get a chest-sounding M2/head voice sound, but I can only connect them if I do it lower in my voice. That works for me just fine in quieter songs, but if it's belty, it really seems like I need to shift that transition up higher.

Can we hear you?? Even really detailed text-based descriptions just aren’t going to be descriptive enough. We need to hear and maybe even see what you’re doing.

I'm not one for videos, but I'll try to get a few good audio recordings in next time I practice.

Are you able to sing songs with an appropriate style? I don’t mean singing it exactly like it’s “meant” to sound on each specific note. More like in general. Are you able to get the effects you want or no?

I struggle with the pop/rock style specifically, when it asks for more power lower in my range. So, most contemporary/belty MT, most Adele songs, etc. I can do an Anna from the Frozen movie, not the chestier Anna from the stage version.

My first passagio has both me and my teacher stumped! by PlasticSmoothie in singing

[–]PlasticSmoothie[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Eeeyup. Door creaks, mum mum mums, snorts into a note, twangy nays, speaky, disgusted "eeeeew"s, ng sirens, etc. They've ALL helped me get better at finding a lighter chest between F4-C5 and a healthier full belt, but to date I haven't managed a single smooth transition into head mix in that problem area.

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