The "Does my voice pass?" thread

[Noah]

That last bit seems like a discussion for another thread, but it certainly is a good one - and I have plenty to say on it.

As far as My voice goes - thanks for all the input. I feel confused now about what to work on. Is my voice TOO low to pass female? What is more important, working on my pitch AND resonance, or just resonance? Or are both acceptable and I need to focus on inflection...or everything. Haha, sorry - it just seems a little subjective after seeing varied opinion. I guess thats the point, its about finding the balance so that even subjectively my voice always passes female? Oh bother..

[Ave]

That last bit seems like a discussion for another thread, but it certainly is a good one - and I have plenty to say on it.

As far as My voice goes - thanks for all the input. I feel confused now about what to work on. Is my voice TOO low to pass female? What is more important, working on my pitch AND resonance, or just resonance? Or are both acceptable and I need to focus on inflection...or everything. Haha, sorry - it just seems a little subjective after seeing varied opinion. I guess thats the point, its about finding the balance so that even subjectively my voice always passes female? Oh bother..

honestly, it would sound better with a higher pitch. And this doesn't even take a lot of work...

[Stephe]

As far as My voice goes - thanks for all the input. I feel confused now about what to work on. Is my voice TOO low to pass female?

My honest knee jerk wasn't that the resonance/pitch "was male" but the speech pattern is. That is what jumped out at me. A slightly higher pitch wouldn't hurt if it doesn't end up sounding strained + you need to leave some headroom for your pitch to rise and fall some. So you either would have to work for "perfect" pitch and resonance and stay monotone, or else fine tune the pitch and resonance slightly and adopt a more female speech pattern. The best advice I can give is spend some time listening to like TV news women with your eyes closed and study how their speech flows.

I'm sure a speech therapist could listen to you in real time and help guide you but if you are doing this on your own, you will have to study these patterns for yourself. There is a lot to how consonants are produced in our mouths etc that are different between the genders. It's these details IMHO that gender voice, not so much the pitch. The resonance does have to be reined in,  mainly by raising your voice box/adams apple when you speak plus using a "face voice" not a chest voice. You can feel this when it's right, like your face buzzes when you speak instead of your chest.

[Isabelle]

JJ, I agree. My voice isn't that high in pitch, I put my effort into resonance and using the so called "head voice" someone told me recently I sound like Ladi6 (she's an rnb artist) she has a deep but velvety voice. I took it as a compliment if only I could sing like her lol

[sandrauk]

Noah, if I want to make my voice sound like yours, the tongue is flattened and pressed against the teeth at the back also the lips are widened . This moves the resonance to the top of the throat. This may be your natural position and you may be doing it without knowing. Try speaking with your tongue longer and thinner and at the bottom of your mouth to leave room at the top of the mouth for resonancee

[Sybil]

Noah, if I want to make my voice sound like yours, the tongue is flattened and pressed against the teeth at the back also the lips are widened . This moves the resonance to the top of the throat. This may be your natural position and you may be doing it without knowing. Try speaking with your tongue longer and thinner and at the bottom of your mouth to leave room at the top of the mouth for resonancee

This was an awesome tip. My voice is already very passable and I'm improving it all the time, but I never realized I was even doing that with my tongue (keeping it lower in the mouth). That'll definitely help me with control to know, thank you.

[Ms. OBrien CVT]

Alright boys and girls.  My turn.  Be kind.

http://soundcloud.com/janet-obrien/janet-susans

And it is my normal voice.

[Sybil]

Ms. OBrien,

Interesting choice for a reading piece! I really had to turn up the volume to hear you. Your voice sounds very androgynous to me. If I had no preconception of it belonging to a trans person, I would have thought it was a slightly older middle-aged woman's voice -- I think this is due in large part to your voice coming off to me as very kind or gentle.

Oh, and for what it's worth, I find your reading skills to be very pleasant!

[Ms. OBrien CVT]

I am using my web cam microphone.

And now for comparison.

The voice of doom.

http://soundcloud.com/janet-obrien/audio-recording-on-wednesday

Ouch that hurt!

[MadelineB]

I am using my web cam microphone.

And now for comparison.

The voice of doom.

http://soundcloud.com/janet-obrien/audio-recording-on-wednesday

Ouch that hurt!

I enjoyed both recordings. The first recording sounded like my friend Janet - I always like listening to you. You have a pleasant woman's voice. The second recording sounded like my friend Janet if she was trying to sound like her brother Burt. My sisters sound like that when they are trying to sound like a man.

That reminds me, this week I had to talk with my landlord on the phone. He is a very curmudgeonly traditionalist vietnamese patriarch. My wife has always made me deal with him because he is so naturally sexist, he bullies and charies any woman he is talking to, but is respectful and cooperative with men. He doesn't know about my transition. I had a devil of a time trying to stay in some semblance of my "male" voice when I was talking with him.

[Jamie D]

Alright boys and girls.  My turn.  Be kind.

http://soundcloud.com/janet-obrien/janet-susans

And it is my normal voice.

I think the volume is a bit low, probably when recording, but I love it!

[PaigeMtl]

And now for comparison.

Impressive, I really like your female voice.

[alice10]

So I have been working on my voice a lot more recently and im hoping its starting to go in the right direction and less falsetto.

Female
http://soundcloud.com/user569717311/bfvsf

Male
http://soundcloud.com/user569717311/sets/m-f/

[Isabelle]

Alice, you're getting there still a bit too high though I think. Maybe try lowering your pitch by about 3 or 4 notes?

[alice10]

I have lowered my voice. How is this?

http://soundcloud.com/user569717311/voice-165-3gp

[Stephe]

I have lowered my voice. How is this?

http://soundcloud.com/user569717311/voice-165-3gp

MUCH better than the falsetto voice! Now you need to work at removing some of the resonance but you are on the right track now.

[alice10]

Yay lol. I am having so much trouble finding the right spot with less resonance. I can easily talk with my adams apple pulled up and my pitch all over the place. Gah I feel like I am so close I just can't figure it out lol

[Ms. OBrien CVT]

Yes very close.  Sounds very good.

[Stephe]

Try slides, like say ah and go from a middle pitch as high as you can without "cracking" into falsetto. That will give you and idea of how high you can go without the zero resonance/falsetto mickey mouse voice.

[Isabelle]

Alice, that's awesome such a massive improvement I heard that as a female voice, possibly a touch too deep but honestly it's fine, my voice is around that same pitch as yours and I get on fine keep practicing you're doing great