I'm no expert (I sing but I don't know that much about vocal pedagogy), but it sounds like the problem is technical. Either the singers are muscling to reach the notes that they're singing (this tires out a voice but quick), or they're not using their support apparatus to its maximum potential.
That said, I'm a classical singer, I'm not a man (men and women deal with traveling through their vocal registers in different ways), and I'm not usually singing for two hours at a stretch.
Here's what I do if I've got to sing a long gig:
1. I give my voice as much of a rest as I can the week before the sing. 2. I avoid prolonged phone conversations or talking in loud environments (restaurants, concerts). If I have to attend a social function, I seat myself close to a wall. 3. I do a warm up in the morning that involves deep breathing and hissing, speaking (finding the core of my singing voice), slides and lip trills (to loosen things up), 1 - 5 runs on oo and ee vowels (to connect the voice to the breath), octave jumps with a downward run (to prep myself for leaps), and then sustained mee-meh-mah-mo-moo on a single note to make sure the vowels are in the same position when I'm aligned. Relaxed and easy singing. 4. I don't over-rehearse before the show. There are ways to practice breathing, rhythm, and diction without over-singing. 5. I drink plenty of water and get plenty of rest. 6. I make sure that I'm using the proper posture as I sing. Using a "giggle posture" to keep the throat open and a "sobbing posture" to get me through the tricky high and low notes. (This is classical technique, though. You'd want to be more vertical than "sobby" in a cappella singing.) 7. I focus on deep breath and support as I sing, trying not to sacrifice the line for the diction. Because I'm a classical singer, I try to distribute the vibrato evenly over the phrases. Shallow breath and a hiked up larynx are killers, especially when I'm singing high. 8. I avoid manipulating the sound from my throat. All the manipulation should happen in the breath and support area.
The irony here is that my voice is totally in the crapper this week because of a cold. I have a huge concert next weekend. I'm trying to follow my own advice.
Oh, yes! Men and women both suffer from fatigue, but the problem areas for each gender can be very different.
The passagio, the place where the voice flips from middle to head voice or from chest to middle voice, can be a problem area for both voice types. If a singer muscles through this part of the voice, it can cause vocal strain.
Women tend to do a mix of head and chest all the way up and down their vocal registers. Women use a blend of middle and head voice to get into the upper register without having flips or issues in the passagio. Men have falsetto and can "cover" in the upper register, doing a blending of middle voice and "covering" to get through the upper passagio. The technique is different for the two genders as a result.
(If you have vocal pedagogy experts on your friends list, they should feel free to jump in and correct me! I'm simply regurgitating what I learned through the Zajick program and through lessons.)
Lip trills (blowing air through pressed lips so that you make a raspberry noise with a pitch) can get the voice connected to the breath without vocal strain. The lip trills keep you from manipulating in the throat.
Most of my starting warm up exercises go from "5", the solfege "so" note on a scale sliding down to the "1" or the "do" note on a scale. (e.g. a G to a C back up to a G again...)
5 -> 1 -> 5 -> 1 - you can move chromatically up and down the most comfy part of your voice to get things going.
I do the same exercise singing with an "ee" or an "oo" vowel and then I might open it up to full octave slides. 8 -> 1 -> 8 -> 1 (or "do" to "do", if you're thinking in solfege).
The jumping warm-up that I do is a classic for choirs: 1 -> 8 -> 7 - 8 - 9 - 8 - 7 - 6 - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 either on an "oh" or an "ah" - less focused vowels than "ee" and "oo" in the upper registers. Again, moving chromatically up and down in the comfiest part of your voice and then maybe taking it higher.
The sustained mee - meh - mah - moh - moo exercise is another classic. You sing the Italian vowels on a single note to make sure you aren't manipulating your throat, jaw, etc. to sing the vowels. You can use the "m" consonant to voice the sound, and you should make sure that you're not experiencing any tongue or jaw tension.
I think the "giggle" posture might be helpful for you guys. Pretend to giggle - the little snort through the nose you make before the "tee hee". Can you feel the soft palate lifting up and the throat opening up in the back? That's the sort of open relaxed posture you want in the throat while you're singing.
The "sobbing" posture would be less useful if you guys aren't singing music in a classical style. When one sobs or moans, the cricothyroid muscle tilts the larynx, creating the classical sound. This is the tool that I use to get through the passagio with ease and to increase the resonance in my sound.
Gosh, this is like a blog post unto itself! Sorry to hijack your comments area. If any of this isn't clear, I'm happy to give more detail by e-mail or by phone (once my own vocal rest period is over!). Hope this helps!
That said, I'm a classical singer, I'm not a man (men and women deal with traveling through their vocal registers in different ways), and I'm not usually singing for two hours at a stretch.
Here's what I do if I've got to sing a long gig:
1. I give my voice as much of a rest as I can the week before the sing.
2. I avoid prolonged phone conversations or talking in loud environments (restaurants, concerts). If I have to attend a social function, I seat myself close to a wall.
3. I do a warm up in the morning that involves deep breathing and hissing, speaking (finding the core of my singing voice), slides and lip trills (to loosen things up), 1 - 5 runs on oo and ee vowels (to connect the voice to the breath), octave jumps with a downward run (to prep myself for leaps), and then sustained mee-meh-mah-mo-moo on a single note to make sure the vowels are in the same position when I'm aligned. Relaxed and easy singing.
4. I don't over-rehearse before the show. There are ways to practice breathing, rhythm, and diction without over-singing.
5. I drink plenty of water and get plenty of rest.
6. I make sure that I'm using the proper posture as I sing. Using a "giggle posture" to keep the throat open and a "sobbing posture" to get me through the tricky high and low notes. (This is classical technique, though. You'd want to be more vertical than "sobby" in a cappella singing.)
7. I focus on deep breath and support as I sing, trying not to sacrifice the line for the diction. Because I'm a classical singer, I try to distribute the vibrato evenly over the phrases. Shallow breath and a hiked up larynx are killers, especially when I'm singing high.
8. I avoid manipulating the sound from my throat. All the manipulation should happen in the breath and support area.
The irony here is that my voice is totally in the crapper this week because of a cold. I have a huge concert next weekend. I'm trying to follow my own advice.
Best of luck with the show!
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Can you explain your warmups in more detail? Also, what are "giggle posture" and "sobbing posture"?
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The passagio, the place where the voice flips from middle to head voice or from chest to middle voice, can be a problem area for both voice types. If a singer muscles through this part of the voice, it can cause vocal strain.
Women tend to do a mix of head and chest all the way up and down their vocal registers. Women use a blend of middle and head voice to get into the upper register without having flips or issues in the passagio. Men have falsetto and can "cover" in the upper register, doing a blending of middle voice and "covering" to get through the upper passagio. The technique is different for the two genders as a result.
(If you have vocal pedagogy experts on your friends list, they should feel free to jump in and correct me! I'm simply regurgitating what I learned through the Zajick program and through lessons.)
Lip trills (blowing air through pressed lips so that you make a raspberry noise with a pitch) can get the voice connected to the breath without vocal strain. The lip trills keep you from manipulating in the throat.
Most of my starting warm up exercises go from "5", the solfege "so" note on a scale sliding down to the "1" or the "do" note on a scale. (e.g. a G to a C back up to a G again...)
5 -> 1 -> 5 -> 1 - you can move chromatically up and down the most comfy part of your voice to get things going.
I do the same exercise singing with an "ee" or an "oo" vowel and then I might open it up to full octave slides. 8 -> 1 -> 8 -> 1 (or "do" to "do", if you're thinking in solfege).
The jumping warm-up that I do is a classic for choirs:
1 -> 8 -> 7 - 8 - 9 - 8 - 7 - 6 - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 either on an "oh" or an "ah" - less focused vowels than "ee" and "oo" in the upper registers. Again, moving chromatically up and down in the comfiest part of your voice and then maybe taking it higher.
The sustained mee - meh - mah - moh - moo exercise is another classic. You sing the Italian vowels on a single note to make sure you aren't manipulating your throat, jaw, etc. to sing the vowels. You can use the "m" consonant to voice the sound, and you should make sure that you're not experiencing any tongue or jaw tension.
I think the "giggle" posture might be helpful for you guys. Pretend to giggle - the little snort through the nose you make before the "tee hee". Can you feel the soft palate lifting up and the throat opening up in the back? That's the sort of open relaxed posture you want in the throat while you're singing.
The "sobbing" posture would be less useful if you guys aren't singing music in a classical style. When one sobs or moans, the cricothyroid muscle tilts the larynx, creating the classical sound. This is the tool that I use to get through the passagio with ease and to increase the resonance in my sound.
Gosh, this is like a blog post unto itself! Sorry to hijack your comments area. If any of this isn't clear, I'm happy to give more detail by e-mail or by phone (once my own vocal rest period is over!). Hope this helps!
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