The "Does my voice pass?" thread

[pretty]

Hmm, it seems people have listened to my clip, but no comments?

Well, I try to keep an open mind but I also think you get out of your transition what you put into it... unchanged of course your voice is distinctly in the male range and I don't think it would pass to most people.

Obviously it is totally your choice not to change your voice but I am kinda puzzled because, is it really worth being lazy about? 

Sorry if this post seemed rude 

[kelly_aus]

Well, I try to keep an open mind but I also think you get out of your transition what you put into it... unchanged of course your voice is distinctly in the male range and I don't think it would pass to most people.

Obviously it is totally your choice not to change your voice but I am kinda puzzled because, is it really worth being lazy about? 

Sorry if this post seemed rude 

Not rude at all..

But the point I'll make, is that it 'passes' - except over the phone.. It doesn't cause people to give me any funny looks or anything like that. It doesn't cause people to suddenly start referring to me as male. Can't comment on your location, but where I live, not every women walks around with a perfectly pitched female voice - much in the same way they don't all have a perfect hourglass figure or a 'beautiful' face..

As for lazy? I don't think I am being so. I transitioned to be me - Kelly. And guess what? Without changing my voice, without the extensive FFS some around here told me I'd require, I live as  and am accepted as a woman.

[pretty]

Not rude at all..

But the point I'll make, is that it 'passes' - except over the phone.. It doesn't cause people to give me any funny looks or anything like that. It doesn't cause people to suddenly start referring to me as male. Can't comment on your location, but where I live, not every women walks around with a perfectly pitched female voice - much in the same way they don't all have a perfect hourglass figure or a 'beautiful' face..

As for lazy? I don't think I am being so. I transitioned to be me - Kelly. And guess what? Without changing my voice, without the extensive FFS some around here told me I'd require, I live as  and am accepted as a woman.

I guess you are trying to make a point but passing is important to a lot of people and voice is one component of that (of many... a masculine voice isn't guaranteed to get you clocked but it always will help you in that direction).  Maybe this is not really the right section to make your point? In the does my voice pass thread it is all about voice and as you said your voice by itself does not pass (not that it would be expected to w/ no changes).

[Stephe]

Not rude at all..

But the point I'll make, is that it 'passes' - except over the phone.. It doesn't cause people to give me any funny looks or anything like that.

Which is why I didn't comment. You seem to realize when just your voice is heard, it sounds male.

I lived full time for a couple of years with a fairly male voice (no HRT, no FFS etc either). I do feel once I developed a female sounding voice, I noticed people did treat me slightly different. I didn't have any real problems when I was living full time with a guyish voice, but I do think I have more self confidence, chat people up more without worry now etc. At this point in time I never even think "am I passing?" in any situation. Like before I was afraid to talk to a friend while in the women's bathroom or if another woman asked me something while in there, I was hesitant to respond. I had to modify my behavior because of this. I would avoid starting a casual conversation with strangers because of my voice, which isn't like me at all. I'm a mega extrovert.

And just to be clear -I- feel more confident about myself, someone else it may make zero difference. It is nice to never be sired on the phone or at drive thru's etc too. I get where people are coming from about "I am me" about not wanting to change their voice. I guess now my new voice IS me, just like I look different than I used to, I sound different now and I like how I sound MUCH better than my old voice.

[kelly_aus]

I guess you are trying to make a point but passing is important to a lot of people and voice is one component of that (of many... a masculine voice isn't guaranteed to get you clocked but it always will help you in that direction).  Maybe this is not really the right section to make your point? In the does my voice pass thread it is all about voice and as you said your voice by itself does not pass (not that it would be expected to w/ no changes).

My point is that is does 'pass'..

[Jamie D]

Thank you  I tried again...

http://soundcloud.com/user963959415/love-story-karaoke

But I still hear a boy 

Sorry, Pretty, you don't come even close to a boy voice!

Me, on the other hand ...

[Jamie D]

Here's me, the rebel who hasn't done anything to change my voice. I'm probably going to get told I sounds like a guy, but as I state in the clip, this voice works for me..

http://soundcloud.com/kelly-stephen/audio-recording-on-sunday-1

Kelly, I looooooovvvvvveeeeee your accent!  And if it works for you, great!

[Isabelle]

Confusion.
If you know it passes, why are you asking if it passes?

Alice, I've responded to your pm

Pretty, you sound as cute as a button however, Taylor Swift makes me crave acts of misanthropic violence.

Nadine, the clip is suuuuper short but from what I heard you sound female to me post a longer one maybe?

TessaM, I just watched your YouTube clip on voice. I was wondering if you're not busy later can we please get married?

[Jamie D]

Here no singing no nothing! Its 8 in the morning and I thought id play along :p
http://soundcloud.com/mk5golf/audio-recording-on-saturday

Your voice is feminine and charming.

And I love your laugh at the end.

[Bijou]

I'm not going to lie, I'm super excited after reading the comments about my voice! I guess I didn't realize how short the clip was, so I'll be sure to put a longer one up when I get home. And I think it came across as quiet because I do have a tendency to move my mic upwards toward my forehead for some odd reason when i talk haha.

[Kelly J. P.]

My point is that is does 'pass'..

It may be possible that people are just being polite to you - it would explain why you don't pass over the phone. Your voice definitely sounds male... which is to be, obviously, expected when you don't put any work into it. If how you expressed yourself in a more feminine way, using pitch to modulate as opposed to volume, it would help... though, your voice would still sound male - perhaps "flamboyant", but it's a step up.

The problem is with how your voice is coming from your chest, full of body and strength. That is the defining feature of a male voice - many females have low voices, but they are still unmistakably female because of where their voice is coming from, and how much 'voice' there is.

So, I would say your voice does not pass. Whether you want it to pass or not is certainly decided by your surroundings, and if you don't feel you need to put any work into it, then chances are you feel that way because you don't have anyone in your life that makes trouble for you for it. You are probably very grateful for that fact. It's very fortunate that the people in your life treat you as a woman despite your history and voice.

So, my best wishes go to you.

[twit]

This thread is arguably more important than the other "do i pass" threads. Voice is everything!

Keep in mind though that it is not everything for some here and they may feel a little put off by statements like that.

[Noah]

Please give me some feedback if you have a minute...thank you!

http://soundcloud.com/user443462524/voice-3

[Isabelle]

Keep in mind though that it is not everything for some here and they may feel a little put off by statements like that.

The primary purpose of this thread is to provide support and tips to each other however, the secondary purpose is to ask each other the simple question "does my voice pass?" It's not a philosophical discussion on the nature of passing for people who're "full time" and know their voice passes or don't care either way. It's not that those discussions aren't valuable, it's just not what the thread is for. Luckily, making new threads is free, if you want to offer thoughts or pose questions as to wether it matters if your voice "passes" then by all means start a thread about it It seems like a discussion that people have varying opinions on and would certainly be an interesting dialouge.

[Stephe]

Please give me some feedback if you have a minute...thank you!

http://soundcloud.com/user443462524/voice-3

The pitch and resonance is fine.  The problem (what makes it sound male) is the monotone and  the inflection is wrong. Women use pitch for inflection, guys use volume. It's a bit too stacatto, a womens voice is more smooth. The sounds from one word blend into the next, more like singing.

An example, a guy would say "Ah ha" in two distinct sounds with a sharp start to the H in the second word, almost with a "catch" to it.  A woman would say it more like "AhHa" with the start of H soft and more breathy.  This is actually a great short phrase to practice to smooth out your voice and add a little breathyness too it. Obviously a little breathyness goes a long way

[Noah]

wow ok, this is all new to me - thank you for that detailed response!
I don't even know what pitch and resonance are, and I even tried googling them! I think pitch is how high or low the voice is? Perhaps resonance is how much vibration or deepness is in my voice?

I can work on the monotone easily. But I am scared of sounding like some weird super girly sing songy type person. The last thing I want is a voice that sounds contrived or super girly.

How do you use pitch for inflection??

I understand turning it from staccato to fluid...that makes sense....

[Stephe]

You simply change the pitch (usually up) for emphasis rather than raising the volume. It's why you can't have your top pitch your "speaking" pitch, you need headroom for inflection. And you don't want to super exaggerate sing songy but most women have a fairly sing songy way of speaking. Close your eyes and listen to women speaking on TV. They don't sound contrived and you won't either. Listen to the patterns they use to say specific types of phrases. It's like a song, they use the same notes to say the same type words/phrases depending on the number of syllables. It's best to practice 2-3 word phrases (maybe a list of the same "type" and then string them together into sentences.

And yes pitch if how high or low and resonance is the amount of vibration/overtone to your voice. Our voice is not a single wave of sound but is multiple waves mixed together. It's why early computer generated voices sounded so odd, they were a single wave of sound. Women have less over tone to their voice because it's mostly generated in the head, a guys voice comes from their chest and has a lot of resonance. Pitch isn't the "tell" on gender, the resonance is.

[Stephe]

Another thing that is great practice. Find some sound clips of a woman's voice that you like and is around your target pitch. Short 2-3 word phrases are best. listen to the clip, then record your voice and listen back to both. Keep working on your recording until you sound like the clip. It's easy to compare where your inflection is wrong etc listening to back to back clips

[Kelly J. P.]

Please give me some feedback if you have a minute...thank you!

http://soundcloud.com/user443462524/voice-3

It's a bit low, in my opinion, and there's a little bit of extra resonance in it. If I heard you over the phone, I'd suspect you were trans, but possibly cis female. Monotony is a slight problem, too. I disagree on the inflection point a little bit, because I have met plenty of women who speak like men - their voices are beautiful, and you could never think they were guys, but they talk like guys because that's just who they are.

Once the basic sound of your voice is in line, nothing else matters. Monotony and inflection are excusable if your voice passes... though, it's true that they are not optimal. They add femininity, but the pitch and resonance are, exclusively, what decides how someone genders it.

My suggestion is to sing along with bands who have a really high usual pitch. You stretch your range by reaching beyond it. If you like melodic rock, Within Temptation has a lovely album called Silent Force. Take a listen if you like.

[Stephe]

I think voice is like many things about being trans, sure females can get away with "talking like a guy" and still sound female just like they could shave their head and still look female. Passing, be it your appearance or your voice, is all about stacking up enough clues to tip the scales one way or the other. The more things we can check off, the less likely they will be to question it and dissect  the details. Like you said, their voice is a bit low and a bit of resonance, if the inflection was more in the female range etc, it would tip the scales in the female direction. What first jumps out to me is they way they are talking, not "their voice".

Ad just curious too, why would we want to continue to "talk like men" when that clearly isn't who most of us strive to be? I guess it's the same reason I see so many MTF who stand,walk,sit etc like men? I never understood that either.