Live data from Hacker News

Singing is the most accessible stress reliever

bbc.com

71–80 of 83 posts

Re: Singing is the most accessible stress reliever

#71
post #17

Ask HN: any hackerlike ways to train your singing when alone with no feedback? I will try to search algolia and come back to you with my research

You really need a voice coach, because you really can't hear yourself sing. Crazy but little known fact-- even professional soloists hire voice coaches. A former coach of mine works over Skype, though I never tried that.

Re: Singing is the most accessible stress reliever

#72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Singing is loud - about the same as a trumpet (80 db).

Some singing is loud. Do you consider this too loud for apartment? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKGJyVWRdJM

yes, that is too loud for all but one of the 20 or so apartments I've lived in.

I once lived in an apartment where the manager told me don't worry about sound including running the washing machine late at night because the walls are double concrete with a gap between to be sound dampening. That's the only apartment that's been quiet. All others it was easy to hear conversations from neighboring apartments including the one I'm in now (T_T)

Re: Singing is the most accessible stress reliever

#74
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some singing is loud. Do you consider this too loud for apartment? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKGJyVWRdJM

yes, that is too loud for all but one of the 20 or so apartments I've lived in. I once lived in an apartment where the manager told me don't worry about sound including running the washing machine late at night because the walls are double concrete with a gap between to be sound dampening. That's the only apartment that's been quiet. All others it was easy to hear conversations from neighboring apartments including t…

Yes, but having poor sound isolation comes with reduced expectation of quietness (during daytime), not expectation of neighbors being whisper quiet.

Re: Singing is the most accessible stress reliever

#75

I wish there was a good way to sing together over videochat. The lag makes it impossible--if you've tried singing Happy birthday to someone over Zoom, you've probably noticed that it's the worst! Everyone tries to adjust to everyone else's lag and it just makes everyone even more and more out of time with each other.

https://endlesss.fm/ gives you a shared loop pedal. It's not real time, but just as social and the looping means you don't have to worry about lag.

Re: Singing is the most accessible stress reliever

#76
Singing to reduce stress is a great exercise because it feels like your voice comes straight from your heart. Find a song that speaks to you, sing it, and see what emotions come up. It can help to uncover some unconscious emotions you've been holding on to.

Re: Singing is the most accessible stress reliever

#77
post #30

Terrence McKenna believed stress relief is the reason that so many shamanic rituals include singing and steady drum beats. The anxiety surrounding communication with the dead or the gods is released through the music. He also pointed out rightly that singing requires deep, slow breathing, which prevents hyperventilation and its attendant stress. More practically, his recommendation for bad drug trips is to sing or hu…

"He also pointed out rightly that singing requires deep, slow breathing" I would generalize that "breathing is the most accessible stress reliever". Breathing consciously is the single thing you can do always to relieve stress and get your hormons in balance again. Singing and chanting and drumming can be even more powerful obviously, but you cannot always do that, but you can (and should) always breathe the right wa…

It's all about focus. Whether it's painting or rock climbing or play violin.

Re: Singing is the most accessible stress reliever

#78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Singing at a normal indoor volume is fine even in apartments. Maybe you can't belt music out at the top of your lungs but despite the lease agreement no city will allow the enforcement of a rule that no singing at all is allowed in apartments.

> Singing at a normal indoor volume is fine even in apartments That really depends on what kind of music you like to sing

It doesn't depend on the type of music. It depends on the volume.

Re: Singing is the most accessible stress reliever

#79
post #16

I sing best in the morning. After work, stress has usually built up so much that it's difficult to get my voice back into a relaxed state.

Try a different genre, or just something with more presence and power. At a time in my life when I had daily intense emotional stress, I sang stuff by Chris Cornell (Soundgarden, Audioslave) and channeling that raw unbridled energy in his music felt immensely cathartic.

Re: Singing is the most accessible stress reliever

#80
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not the transmission through the cable that matters, it's the fact that you're using a long cable to put things far enough apart that the speed of sound matters.

There's something weird here though. I reckon more 4 or 5 ms of latenecy is enough to put me off playing something in time (this is about what you aim for using DAWs to record music) and yet if you just think about playing a piano, the player's ear is about 1m from where the sound is generated. The speed of sound in air is ~300m/s so there's 3 ms of delay right there, even if the hammer mechanism is instantaneous, an…

That’s not as bad as the nerve conduction latency.

Also, on a grand piano, the hammer generally strikes before bottoming out, unless you play sufficiently loud, the timing dependent on how loud you’re playing. You have to begin moving your fingers or hands downward into the keys farther in advance when playing quietly, which is a whole thing when your hands are at different volumes. The mass and mechanical advantage of the finger affect the timing and volume, too.

Post reply on HN