The "Does my voice pass?" thread

[Jamie D]

Been meaning to record and expose myself to critique for a few days now. Please be kind but truthful and critical.

My first attempt for review and advice.

For a first attempt that is actually pretty good.  It sounded a bit unnatural, because you were reading.  It would be nice to hear you just conversing, so we can hear how your voice changes tone and inflection.

I know that voice teachers often have student read things aloud, but I don't think that is necessarily a good thing.

Ok, so I've been playing around today, practising altering different muscles. I've successfully been able to tighten the muscles on the top of my voice box, and this removes just about all resonance. It's actually kinda funny talking like that in my male voice, sounds like I sucked on a deeper-pitch helium balloon .

Anyway, after minimal practice, here's a new sample:

http://soundcloud.com/samc79/voice4

I think the pitch is too high, but I can fiddle around with that later.

I listened to all three, and hear steady improvement.

[kae m]

I don't consider my voice to be particularly good, but I've become pretty confident in it and seem to pass most of the time. Having said that, I'm still looking to improve it because I tend to get misgendered on the phone more than I'd like to, and I think my voice is what gets me read more often than anything else at this point.

What actually prompted me to post this was stumbling across an old set of recordings I made when I was just starting out on my voice. Listening to where I started compared to where I am now blew me away and I wanted to share. If anyone has feedback other than that I say "um" entirely too much, I would love to hear

https://soundcloud.com/kmtests/voice-progress

[BunnyBee]

Been meaning to record and expose myself to critique for a few days now. Please be kind but truthful and critical.

My first attempt for review and advice.

I'm not an expert at all, but I feel like you're on the right track. I felt where the pitch dropped a little, like near the 41-45 second mark, it sounded more natural to me.  Maybe you could experiment with using that pitch a little bit and see how it sounds?

[Aleah]

I did 2 "ranges" just following Candi's method best I could and tried to talk a bit in what I felt was natural..

https://soundcloud.com/alyssa-mu/voicing-training-take-1
https://soundcloud.com/alyssa-mu/ts-voice-training-second-take

It's my first serious attempt at getting it right and not just something I put on quickly, so I really just want to know if I'm on the right track..

And if there is a specific time index that sounded good so I can aim for that as a target?

Hard to tell even from my own recordings..

Thanks!

[Elspeth]

I did 2 "ranges" just following Candi's method best I could and tried to talk a bit in what I felt was natural..

https://soundcloud.com/alyssa-mu/voicing-training-take-1
https://soundcloud.com/alyssa-mu/ts-voice-training-second-take

Around 1:20 on the second take you seem to be getting into a space where less of the male resonance is present.  I would focus, in general, on getting rid of the resonance, rather than focusing on a particular pitch range, in part because everyone's voice box is different. Also, it's really the resonance that sends the wrong message... "normal feminine" voices can span a pretty wide range of pitches... I really don't quite understand the emphasis on specific pitches, except as a confirmation that you're in the right general range.

Getting rid of that resonance is a tough thing to do... I still am finding myself slipping into it. As you say during the recording, it is hard to hold in that range until you've practiced a lot, and that's probably why most people suggest working on this for a long, long time, to get to a point where practice makes it easier to stay there without straining or damaging things.

I visualize placing the voice further back, towards the inside (or back) of my throat, once I've found the right spot.  The further back and away from the front the voice "feels" the better the recordings tend to sound and the more they seem to resemble what I am hoping to achieve over time.

[muffinpants]

Wow, that's amazing. I love your new voice... I think it's really cute and pretty sexy too. Sounds completely natural.

[Seras]

Here is a tip Aleah, move your mic away from your mouth
There was a lot of interference.

However this is something I am also guilty of though hopefully not in these recordings:

https://soundcloud.com/olivia1988-1/da19recording4/s-ABR28
https://soundcloud.com/olivia1988-1/day19attempt8freechat9/s-vxF8v

If anyone could give me any feedback on how I sound in these or how I have progressed (or not) since previous recordings it would be great.

I think I still just need to improve the timbre/resonance stuff. Then work on speech patterns and things like that, but I see little point in that until I have fixed how it sounds. What do you think?

[Jamie D]

I don't consider my voice to be particularly good, but I've become pretty confident in it and seem to pass most of the time. Having said that, I'm still looking to improve it because I tend to get misgendered on the phone more than I'd like to, and I think my voice is what gets me read more often than anything else at this point.

What actually prompted me to post this was stumbling across an old set of recordings I made when I was just starting out on my voice. Listening to where I started compared to where I am now blew me away and I wanted to share. If anyone has feedback other than that I say "um" entirely too much, I would love to hear

https://soundcloud.com/kmtests/voice-progress

My feed back is that you have made a tremendous change.  The is no way in the world I would read your current voice as male.

[kae m]

Wow, that's amazing. I love your new voice... I think it's really cute and pretty sexy too. Sounds completely natural.

My feed bact is that you have made a tremendous change.  The is no way in the world I would read your current voice as male.

Thank you both...it makes me feel a little better to know it's not completely in my head. I never did any actual therapy, so all I've picked up is that my chest doesn't vibrate when I speak and my pitch seems to be mostly in the right range if I put the recording through wavesurfer.

I just wish I knew why the phone gives me such a hard time, it honestly feels like half the time I'll get "sir" or "Mr <last name>" or whatever if I have to call someone who doesn't know me and I don't know what to work on to change that.

[sylvannus]

Trying to relax my voice...

This is 2 clips recorded individually and put together.

The first 7 seconds was in Chinese, in fact it was a part of a telephone recording during a skype conversation. When I heard a loud noise of glass bottle being dropped on the ground from the other side, I asked what was happening.

The rest was a piece on an English text book.

https://soundcloud.com/sylvannus/2013-01-26

[sylvannus]

@sylvannus

Good job sylvannus your female voice is exellent and 100% natural to my ears.

Here is my clip I just recorded hope to get some feedback?

https://soundcloud.com/lan-feng/me

It's a bit long, 4 minutes. Feel free to just listen for a little bit haha. Any constructive criticism is appreciated. I start speaking in Mandarin at about 2:30 btw. Maybe some of you will understand. I know sylvannus will

You did a very good job! If I hear you on the street, I will never think of a man.  The only thing that I can suggest id that you seem to lower your larynx when you pronounce using the soft palate (k, g, m, n). I have the same problem, and I think if we keep a mind on that we can do it better.

[kyh]

You did a very good job! If I hear you on the street, I will never think of a man.  The only thing that I can suggest id that you seem to lower your larynx when you pronounce using the soft palate (k, g, m, n). I have the same problem, and I think if we keep a mind on that we can do it better.

Thanks so much! I'll keep your advice in mind :3 hehe

I think you already sound 100% natural though ^_^

[Sybil]

kaellexi,

You really get misgendered on the phone with that voice?! That totally blows me away! I never get misgendered on the phone or voice chat, ever, and I don't think my voice is particularly any more feminine than yours.

What does happen to me some times is I let my voice relax more than I should and end up speaking from the wrong place for half a word or so, if I haven't been speaking for a while or I just got up in the morning. This only really happens to me around my mother, though, for the most part. Maybe something like that happens to you and you don't realize it?

I honestly don't know what else it could be for you. If you haven't changed your legal name and people have paperwork in front of them on the other end of the phone, maybe that's it? I genuinely, strongly believe your second voice in that clip sounds totally female. There should be no reason people are misgendering you.

[kae m]

kaellexi,

You really get misgendered on the phone with that voice?! That totally blows me away! I never get misgendered on the phone or voice chat, ever, and I don't think my voice is particularly any more feminine than yours.

What does happen to me some times is I let my voice relax more than I should and end up speaking from the wrong place for half a word or so, if I haven't been speaking for a while or I just got up in the morning. This only really happens to me around my mother, though, for the most part. Maybe something like that happens to you and you don't realize it?

I honestly don't know what else it could be for you. If you haven't changed your legal name and people have paperwork in front of them on the other end of the phone, maybe that's it? I genuinely, strongly believe your second voice in that clip sounds totally female. There should be no reason people are misgendering you.

I do think some of it could be my voice briefly relaxing into a lower state subconsciously, but I was starting to wonder if something with my resonance is off because it seems to happen so frequently. My name is legally changed, although it is somewhat unisex which I guess could cause some problems with some people. I'm my own worst critic by far, but even I don't think my voice sounds male, I just think it could be better.

It's interesting that you mentioned voice chat though. Now that I think about it, I don't get misgendered through voice chat in online games. I do have a bit of phone anxiety that I somehow don't have for online voice chat, so maybe that's really where my problem is. I don't know, I feel like I'm really reaching at this point but it's just so frustrating.

[katiew88]

Hi everyone, I did some more practice with my voice yesterday.  I think it sounds better... but I can't really trust myself lol. 

https://soundcloud.com/user831092101/4th-attempt-at-female-voice

[Jamie D]

Trying to relax my voice...

This is 2 clips recorded individually and put together.

The first 7 seconds was in Chinese, in fact it was a part of a telephone recording during a skype conversation. When I heard a loud noise of glass bottle being dropped on the ground from the other side, I asked what was happening.

The rest was a piece on an English text book.

https://soundcloud.com/sylvannus/2013-01-26

Your have a very cute voice, sylvannus. 

[kira21 ♡♡♡]

http://vocaroo.com/i/s01NEjAeiFv2

Criticism please!

I am no expert but I would say look at achieving a higher pitch and adding more cadence. :-) x

[Jamie D]

http://vocaroo.com/i/s01NEjAeiFv2

Criticism please!

Not bad!  That little throat clearing is a tell, though.  In the future, just talk naturally, like you are having a conversation is discussion.

[Jamie D]

https://soundcloud.com/lan-feng/me-again

Do I sound less or more female this way? I can't tell :S

Any constructive criticism? Thanks in advance

If anything I feel like I sound like a feminine gay guy :S

No, you don't sound like a fem gay guy.  You sound like my teenaged daughter. 

[Seras]

Have not handed a clip over to guys and gotten feedback for a while so will be useful if someone can let me know how this sounds.

https://soundcloud.com/olivia1988-1/day23-or-something/s-fE4o7

Some bits of it sound a bit "nosey" to me. If ya know what I mean. What do you think?
I did not do any warm up or anything this was just my second recording. Made a different recording a couple days back but I was a bit under the weather and sounded bad all stuffed up D:
All I have focused on practicing recently is my resonance.