Deep Stealth's "Finding Your Female Voice"

[Graverobber9]

I recently received this DVD and I'm feeling quite overwhelmed. Can anyone who used it successfully give me some tips on using it effectively? Thanks

[BunnyBee]

It was so regimented.  I'm so ADD.  It wasn't a good match for me.

I hope you have better luck.  The non-regimented approach takes soooooo much longer and soo much more effort.

[Beth Andrea]

I'm using it as time permits. My advice:

Be sure to read the instructions (body posture, have water handy, don't tire your voice).

Do each lesson set until you are confident you can repeat each exercise on demand, without searching for the muscles used. (Remember, the instructions say "Do exercises 1-11 until proficient, then do 12-24 (I think, I don't have my booklet with me), etc"

Don't skip ahead and try to do more advanced lessons...they build on each other.

Record and play back your voice for all audio sessions...listen for what she's emphasizing (falsetto, "Mickey Mouse" voice, etc)

Practice, practice, practice. Have fun with it...this isn't a physics or chemistry class, it's more like a foreign language, or music...If you play with the ideas and lessons it'll be much more effective imho.

[Janet_Girl]

I used it with good results.  Like anything you have to work at it.  But it is very much worth it.

[JungianZoe]

I'm thinking about giving it a try... this or Kathe Perez's CDs from exceptionalvoice.com.  If I had money I'd probably visit Kathe herself since her office is only a 25 minute drive from me.

[Whitney]

I'm thinking about giving it a try... this or Kathe Perez's CDs from exceptionalvoice.com.  If I had money I'd probably visit Kathe herself since her office is only a 25 minute drive from me.

I can sum up most of the primary three disks in Kathe Perez's program: practice getting the primary sounds "hee", "haa", and "huu" at an A3 pitch (220hz). Working from there into words, then phrases, then improvisational speaking. Once that is down resonance is trained by moving between pitches, F3->G3->F3 : G3->A3->G3 : etc between F3 and B3. Doing the previous exercises in reverse B3->A3->B3 : A3->G3->A3 : etc between B3 and F3. The third disc introduces some strange yodel exercise I can't begin to describe, nor am I willing to perform, even when I'm completely alone in my house.

Is it worth the money? I'm not entirely sure. But then again, I don't think anything can properly replace an in-the-flesh voice coach. As for me, I'm not letting up until I'm 100% pleased with my voice. Some of my closer friends have been coerced into voice-coach stand-ins.

And Zoe, queen of voices, are you not happy with the voice you already have going for you? I'd trade in less then two shakes of a lamb's tail!

edit: one other thing. I use VoicePrint 5.5 for a digital tuner. It's a piece of software built off of an older program called Spectrogram. Version 5.0 is available at electronics-lab.com. The differences between Spectorgram and VoicePrint are minor, the only reason I even bother with VoicePrint is the recording feature and resonance analysis.

[Virginia]

I only used the free program and the results were absolutely amazing. The exercises are extremely tedious but the results sneak up on you. Hands down well worth the time and effort invested. I started with a bellowing baritone and have been working on my voice for about 2 1/2 years- no one blinks an eye when I present in public, sing in Church or even question my gender on the telephone. Last time I checked I could hit an 850 hz hi note! Here's a comparison on my voice for my male and female presentations:

VAsVoices.wmv

And a link to their FREE workbook:
http://www.genderlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/voicebook020.pdf

There are an excellent series of phonetic exercises at:
http://indigo.ie/%7Eprospero/html/voice.htm

"Melanie Speaks" has alot of good info but isn't a training program per say. I bought the $20; you can find most of the info at http://etransgender.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=427

And then you can move onto the Rainbow Passage and Harvard Sentences!

These days I can just tell when my voice "sounds right," but some sort of qualitative feedback like Spectogram or Audacity is a big help when you're first starting out.

[LifeInNeon]

I don't think I could handle using it after its cameo in Transamerica. I cringe even thinking of that scene. Actually, that entire movie.

[straycat]

I used it and I think it helped me some but it does take time.  I could never achieve a dramatic change in voice though without it being a constant strain and too forced to just talk that way all the time.  My throat would get sore.  I make more of an effort in short conversations with people I don't know well.  Don't ignore other aspects of speaking besides voice control.  The biggest help for me was tuning word choices, conversation style/patterns, things like that. Listening carefully to women and reading and listening to lectures/books by Deborah Tannen gave me insight into ways of talking that better help me fit in and be accepted without dramatically changing my voice.