The "Does my voice pass?" thread

[Angélique LaCava]

Here's another recording. I've been practicing n tried doing wat y'all said so tell me wat y'all think.

http://soundcloud.com/ang-lique-lacava/sounds-from-tuesday-morning/s-Cn7yb

[Jamie D]

Sorry about the issues with the previous recording... Not sure exactly what happened.

Here's another sample: https://soundcloud.com/samc79/voice3

I'm about 2 weeks into this voice, and it doesn't really sound very feminine to me, but judge for yourself.

Samantha, I was able to hear three recordinds, and I can readily recognize the improvement.

Your latest two recording sound a bit ... forced ... but show where you are headed.  Keep working on it.  And while you are at it, listen as often as possible to how ciswomen speak.  They often end their sentences raising their pitch.

[Jamie D]

Here's another recording. I've been practicing n tried doing wat y'all said so tell me wat talk think.

http://soundcloud.com/ang-lique-lacava/sounds-from-tuesday-morning/s-Cn7yb

Angelique, I do hear a difference between your first "girl" voice recording, and your new one.  And that is just a couple of days.  Keep it up! (Sorry for the dreadful pun.)

[Jamie D]

Hi again.

So I have been trying to practice speaking without using the Harvard sentences since I have my next gender appointment very soon and need to be able to say stuff that I am not reading. To this end I have uploaded another sound clip. Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated. I think some bits of this sound alright, however I think I am speaking too fast. As told before I think I need to speak more clearly and carefully, course that did not come through in this recording

https://soundcloud.com/olivia1988-1/freestyle3

Took me a couple attempts before this to get pitch up but other than that this was no warm up exercises or anything. Just straight into speaking.

Interestingly though when speaking freely I have a much less rigid speaking style. Sounds more like my regular accent which I think is good.

Thanks again for any feedback, I find it really hard to judge myself 

Check your public/private settings, dear.  I got the same error on got on Sam's earlier effort.

I even logged into my own soundcloud account, without being able to access your audio file.

[sam79]

Samantha, I was able to hear three recordinds, and I can readily recognize the improvement.

Your latest two recording sound a bit ... forced ... but show where you are headed.  Keep working on it.  And while you are at it, listen as often as possible to how ciswomen speak.  They often end their sentences raising their pitch.

Thank you for the feedback and comments. My voice is certainly a little forced right now     I've just organised some time to call a cis female friend on a regular basis to work on the conversational aspect, and I'll be trying to learn from her too.

[Seras]

Check your public/private settings, dear.  I got the same error on got on Sam's earlier effort.

I even logged into my own soundcloud account, without being able to access your audio file.

https://soundcloud.com/olivia1988-1/freestyle3/s-xB5k7

I think this link works.

Still private but this link should allow access. It is how I had my last 2.

[Jamie D]

https://soundcloud.com/olivia1988-1/freestyle3/s-xB5k7

I think this link works.

Still private but this link should allow access. It is how I had my last 2.

Yes, that works!  And you do not sound like you have "stick up [your] ass" at all! 

Improvement happens slowly, though.

[Jamie D]

Thank you for the feedback and comments. My voice is certainly a little forced right now     I've just organised some time to call a cis female friend on a regular basis to work on the conversational aspect, and I'll be trying to learn from her too.

That's a great idea!

[Stranger]

Well, here's my best attempt nowadays. The good news: no more Harvard Sentences! This is proving incredibly difficult for me, and I'm obviously still a long way off, so any comments will be gratefully absorbed

https://soundcloud.com/user90683091/voice

what I'm working on nowadays: keeping my voicebox up "high and back", and not going too high in my pitch (because when I push up and high I have a habit of pushing my voice up to go with it...)

[Sybil]

Paige,

I think the pitch is only slightly low and that there is still a bit too much resonance, but it's getting pretty close! I think you could pass on that pitch just fine if you eliminated the extra resonance (a small amount of resonance is still good; all women have it -- it's how a voice carries and has a discernible shape when speaking).

I may be wrong, and I am sorry if I am, but it sounds to me like it takes a lot of effort for you to maintain that voice. If this is the case, then I would recommend that you continue to try and keep speaking in it until it's comfortable for you. The elasticity of your voice will expand naturally as a result.

Stranger,

I think your voice might need a higher pitch and to spend less time brushing up against your nose. Have you tried resonating in the front of your chin while speaking from the high back side of your throat? It might make your pitch control easier.

Seras,

I think your resonance needs the most work. I get the impression that your voice is still spending a lot of time in your chest; have you tried to really squeeze the entirety of your voice into your head? I think a higher pitch with your voice in particular may also help hide some of your extra resonance, too.

Angélique,

I think your voice sounds really good! I would consider lowering it ever-so-slightly, though. The more you use your voice, the more you'll become comfortable with it and shaping it how you prefer. I really think you're on the right track and have a good grasp on what to do, and that the kinks will work themselves out over time.

Sam,

I think resonance is likely your largest obstacle. It sounds like your voice spends a lot of time in your throat (particularly the front) and bounces around in your mouth a bit. I'd like to suggest trying to make it feel as though your voice emanates from the top of your throat and funnels only through the middle of your mouth (over the center of your tongue), towards the front of your teeth.


I'm sorry if anything I said to anyone was off-putting or seemed too harsh, my only intent is to be helpful and I did try to phrase my insight as gently as possible. I'm also only speaking from my own experiences and experimentation with sounds, so hopefully what I've suggested is something that travels well between individuals. Good luck to all of you!

[Seras]

Thanks Sybil. I figured that out and been trying to work on that but it helps to have someone else agree that I am working on the correct aspect right now.

You are right about higher pitch hiding the bad resonance too. If I push up the pitch just to where it is on the edge of uncomfortable it is approaching passable, I think. However If I drop it down just to even 160-170hz I sound very much like a man.

---

I figured out a good technique though which seems to help. So I have been practicing with that today. Hopefully I will have some good progress soon!

[Stranger]

Stranger,

I think your voice might need a higher pitch and to spend less time brushing up against your nose. Have you tried resonating in the front of your chin while speaking from the high back side of your throat? It might make your pitch control easier.

Thanks so much (again!) for your feedback. Is it possible that some of the nasal quality you're referring to is from my Australian accent, which (unfortunately) has a habit of broadening and "noseifying" my vowels? (you should hear me say the word 'water'... waaaah-tah. gross.)

The best pitch level is tough for me to figure out. I haven't much trouble going higher and lower on the spectrograph, but recordings I did around A3/220mhz I was told here were 'way way too high', and I could see their point. I tend to focus on speaking just below A3 (~200) for fear that my higher-pitched sound is ridiculous. I'll do another recording today at several pitches, experimenting with your resonating tip too, and maybe you can let me know what you think

[sam79]

Hi Sybil. Thank you for the comments and feedback.  :-)

I've started to put in further effort. I find that singing along to some Adele songs where I can match the pitch is really helping to loosen up, and warm up my voice. After.that, it sounds alot less forced, and there's more range while speaking. Listening back to recordings from the last few days really shows a huge difference, sounds much more feminine.

So I'll keep that up for another week and then upload a new sample.

[Stranger]

As promised: pitch up!

https://soundcloud.com/user90683091/voiceup

One of these days I'll get the hang of this, I swear...

[BunnyBee]

So lately I've been super self-conscious about my voice because I just feel like I can't judge myself, like at all, and I just feel really worried that I have been making an absolute fool of myself when I talk to people.  I don't know anything else to do than let y'all give me the business, I mean truth.

Oh, um ADD takes over toward the end of this thing because I kept getting distracted by flaws that I was hearing, so sorry about that .

https://soundcloud.com/user552616740/blah

[Ms. OBrien CVT]

Jen, you sound fine.  Like many other cis-girls I have heard.

Stranger, to me a wee bit high on the high ends  But otherwise very good.

[BunnyBee]

Thanks Janet.  Too high huh?  I always think it's way too low.  This is my problem, I'm just so clueless.

[Seras]

Not to be a smartass or anything but just so you do not get the wrong idea Jen, I think Ms OBrien was saying Stranger's voice was too high, not yours.

Anyway I listened too and you sound good to me!

[BunnyBee]

Oh lol.  I did say I was clueless didn't I? ha  I was like why is she calling me a stranger???

[Ms. OBrien CVT]

Oh lol.  I did say I was clueless didn't I? ha  I was like why is she calling me a stranger???

Not you silly.