The "Does my voice pass?" thread

[Jennygirl]

My guess is you didn't get feedback because the z share website is kind of a pain to deal with (okay not really but it's a few steps more than necessary and phishing ads galore).

But I'm glad I downloaded your file and listened to it... you are sounding great! Your chest voice range sounds incredible... you were hitting that F#4 at the end like it was nothing! Impressive, very impressive

[BunnyBee]

How were you figuring out fundamental frequencies, Jenny?  Was it that link you posted a while back?  Cuz I went there and, idk it looked very engineerish and I was just mostly confuzzled and my head hurts now.  Not sure what I was even looking at tbh.

[BunnyBee]

Nvm I think I figured it out.  But, sheeeesh  !  i will mess with it some more when I get home

[Jennygirl]

yes I am using Praat

I've never posted a voice recording of my own in this thread so I figured I would get two birds with one stone and do a voice tutorial on how to use Praat. I'm assuming it's the same for windows/mac, but I am on a mac.

My voice is still in recovery from vocal chord shortening about a month ago, so keep that in mind when listening to my voice. It still gets a little strainy after an extended talking period... but it's actually good because I need to re-strengthen everything in there

I hope this helps and let me know how I sound!

http://vocaroo.com/i/s1a5GlYKwmDR

(and the link to download praat)
windows: http://www.fon.hum.uva.nl/praat/download_win.html
mac: http://www.fon.hum.uva.nl/praat/download_mac.html

[BunnyBee]

Wow you sound fab/amazing, Jenny !

Also thanks for the tutorial.  I don't see a view, so I was kind of lost from there, but it might be because I don't have a microphone on my computer and I was opening an mp3 into the program instead.  I did figure a different way to have it show me a mean fundamental frequency, and it does seem to work.  I think this prog (while being way to engineery and confusing lol) is a great tool for getting some quantitative feedback on your voice.  I am realizing that my pitch is a bit low, along with all the other problems I feel I have, but it is good to know that pitch at least one of my probs, cause I never can tell anything

[kyh]

Omg, Jenny - your voice is BEAUTIFUL. Kudos. Here is mine (sorry for the poor quality I used my phone recorder, and bad acoustics, my house has high ceilings and almost NO furniture XD):

My Voice

It definitely still needs a lot of work (my sister thinks I sound like our mom and I can sorta hear it, but our mother's voice is sorta husky, but very elegant and womanly). I have practiced it but it always comes out sounding pretty much the same whether I try or don't I am going to start watching videos about feminizing your voice and hopefully will be able to get some voice software so lets hope that helps XD

But seriously, Jenny, your voice is totally GIRL. Sooo amazing you are soo beautiful <3

You sound totally female!

[Jennygirl]

Omg, Jenny - your voice is BEAUTIFUL. Kudos. Here is mine (sorry for the poor quality I used my phone recorder, and bad acoustics, my house has high ceilings and almost NO furniture XD):

It definitely still needs a lot of work (although my sister thinks I sound like our mom and I can sorta hear it, but our mother's voice is sorta husky, but very elegant and womanly). I have practiced it but it always comes out sounding pretty much the same whether I try or don't I am going to start watching videos about feminizing your voice and hopefully will be able to get some voice software so lets hope that helps XD

But seriously, Jenny, your voice is totally GIRL. Sooo amazing you are soo beautiful <3

omg thank you so much Stefani!! You're very kind and your comments brought me a nugget of confidence that I appreciate very very much as I continue to recover

Your voice sounds tooootally female! You're doing great. Pitch & dynamic range, resonance, it's all there in that recording. I can't think of anything that would make you sound any more female. So, way-to-go-way-to-go keep it up. And thanks again for your comments, I'm very glad you like my voice!

Wow you sound fab/amazing, Jenny !

Also thanks for the tutorial.  I don't see a view, so I was kind of lost from there, but it might be because I don't have a microphone on my computer and I was opening an mp3 into the program instead.  I did figure a different way to have it show me a mean fundamental frequency, and it does seem to work.  I think this prog (while being way to engineery and confusing lol) is a great tool for getting some quantitative feedback on your voice.  I am realizing that my pitch is a bit low, along with all the other problems I feel I have, but it is good to know that pitch at least one of my probs, cause I never can tell anything

Thanks Jen! I'm still getting used to my new voice but it's exciting to hear that people are already liking the sound of it

Very glad that Praat is working for you. Also first of all it's okay if your average pitch isn't exactly within the 190-250hz range. A looot can be done with vocal inflection. A lot of my cis female friends actually have around a 180-185hz fundamental frequency. It's fun to test your friends, too

Secondly, make sure there are no low level background noises as Praat will pick those up, too. I.e. one time I had a fan running and it dropped the average pitch significantly and I was like what??! Scared me for a second!

[Jamie D]

Was anyone able to hear my recording of me singing

I could not get it to work.  But I am on a Windows 8 platform now, and nothing seems to work for me   

Maybe try soundcloud or vocaroo.

[Jamie D]

Omg, Jenny - your voice is BEAUTIFUL. Kudos. Here is mine (sorry for the poor quality I used my phone recorder, and bad acoustics, my house has high ceilings and almost NO furniture XD):

It definitely still needs a lot of work (my sister thinks I sound like our mom and I can sorta hear it, but our mother's voice is sorta husky, but very elegant and womanly). I have practiced it but it always comes out sounding pretty much the same whether I try or don't I am going to start watching videos about feminizing your voice and hopefully will be able to get some voice software so lets hope that helps XD

Stefani, my dear, 8 seconds does not give us a good sample to work with.  It's like trying to eat just one Lays potato chip ...

no es posible

[Stefani2]

@Kyh and Jenny,

Thank you both so much, that helps! And yeah, I meant every word, Jenny, your voice is very beautiful, and 110% female.

@Jaime,

LOL! Sorry, my phone wouldn't let me record more than 10 seconds for some reason :\

I will try and get something a little longer once I get a plug for my camera. I actually want to start maybe making focus videos like I know a lot of other transgirls do, but we will see.

[Jennygirl]

@Kyh and Jenny,

Thank you both so much, that helps! And yeah, I meant every word, Jenny, your voice is very beautiful, and 110% female.

Well it's nice to see that such a beauty like yourself has the voice to match. Simply amazing, you've got a great head start on things being just 18. Btw, your avatar = incredible. *shakes head* .. tooooo cute. I wish the best for you

[Sybil]

I just posted a recent version (today) of my voice a bit ago in another thread where I share what I've learned regarding voice. I'd also like to post it here because I get plenty of feedback from cis people, but I haven't heard from other trans people much, and I'm really interested in those opinions.

Would the rest of you care to share some of your thoughts with me?

Here's the link: https://soundcloud.com/sound-sybil/voicesample

[Stefani2]

Well it's nice to see that such a beauty like yourself has the voice to match. Simply amazing, you've got a great head start on things being just 18. Btw, your avatar = incredible. *shakes head* .. tooooo cute. I wish the best for you

Wow, you are incredibly kind, thank you so, so much XD Everyone on here is so sweet, you have ALL really helped me soo much in my journey, thus far <3 <3

[Sybil]

Wow, you are incredibly kind, thank you so, so much XD Everyone on here is so sweet, you have ALL really helped me soo much in my journey, thus far <3 <3

Your voice is really awesome. I'm very happy for you!

[Stefani2]

Your voice is really awesome. I'm very happy for you!

Thank you, and OMG, your voice is fantastic! You sound totally and completely female <3

[Seras]

Seras,

You're right. I think your resonance needs work. I'm pretty certain I can hear from the way that you're inhaling that your throat is very open; in order to constrict resonance, you need to pull your "adam's apple" (really, it's just that area, I don't think the actual thing itself) up and back a little bit. It's tough at first, but becomes easier and pretty natural eventually.

Thanks for the feedback. I am sure it will be really helpful since now I know for sure I need to fix my technique

I sometimes get odd sentences or words in a recording that sound just right so I will try and figure that out.

[Jennygirl]

Jen it sounds like you may be straining a little bit. I could only hear it when you made the "ahhh" or "uhh" sound once in each of the 195 and 206 recordings. The wavering is called a vocal tremor and it's a sign that you're overworking the vocal cords a little bit. Careful careful! I had the same thing. Number one most important is take a break if you feel any pain in your throat or hear hoarseness or wavering pitch, don't push it. Make sure you drink plenty of water and be careful not to harm your vocal cords! I almost learned this the hard way too!

Other than that I think especially the 206 recording sounds really good even though it's kind of hard to hear with the low volume. Just make sure you're not straining and give yourself time

[BunnyBee]

Thanks Jenny, you are always so diplomatic yet honest with your analysis, oh and also right .  Sorry about the volume on the second recording, I didn't know how to fix.  I was definitely out of my comfort zone on the 206hz one.

I was actually just about to delete that post cause I felt the natural voice on was too short to tell anything.  It's a little disturbing if there was audible strain in that one D:   Hopefully I just had something in my throat or something.

[Jamie D]

I just posted a recent version (today) of my voice a bit ago in another thread where I share what I've learned regarding voice. I'd also like to post it here because I get plenty of feedback from cis people, but I haven't heard from other trans people much, and I'm really interested in those opinions.

Would the rest of you care to share some of your thoughts with me?

Here's the link: https://soundcloud.com/sound-sybil/voicesample

To my ear, Sybil, you sound very convincing.  I would be ectatic to have your voice.

[BunnyBee]

So I have been kind of freaking out about my voice since I found out my avg fundamental pitch was substantially lower than I thought it should be.  So for the past two days I've been trying to raise it up higher without having it sound strained and without damaging anything, etc., and I mean, it's just been, epic fail, that's all.

So, tonight I was feeling worn out, not even caring anymore, and I just talked into the recorder with my regular talking voice.  No worrying about techniques, or pitch, or resonance, or mumbo jumbo of any sort and, idk... even though the pitch is lower, rough sounding, and just not good, it's the first recording I've made that didn't sound like a total mess to me.  So, I don't even know what that means.  Maybe I just need to be okay with my voice being a smidge low.  Sorry for sounding so bleh in the recording.  I'm still freaking out and hating everything lol.

https://soundcloud.com/user552616740/6-19-2013-9-11-pm