The "Does my voice pass?" thread

[kelly_aus]

Maybe it's time to see a speech therapist so I can stop focusing on it so much.

I've been seeing one.. And it has been both interesting and useful. For a typical Australian woman of my age, apparently my voice is a lot closer to the mark than I thought.. My main issue is too greater pitch range - I thought I wasn't high enough and apparently I actually go way above where I need to be..

[Leslley Scotte]

Jenni that's exactly what I was looking for, thank you! I just posted a video of me talking about my voice on youtube and guess who's 5 month video popped up on the side bar for me to watch!!! YOU! You are loving HRT and finally being who you are and we can tell!! You're beautiful!

[Jennygirl]

I've been seeing one.. And it has been both interesting and useful. For a typical Australian woman of my age, apparently my voice is a lot closer to the mark than I thought.. My main issue is too greater pitch range - I thought I wasn't high enough and apparently I actually go way above where I need to be..

Haha, time to chill that voice out! That sounds a lot easier than the other way around

Jenni that's exactly what I was looking for, thank you! I just posted a video of me talking about my voice on youtube and guess who's 5 month video popped up on the side bar for me to watch!!! YOU! You are loving HRT and finally being who you are and we can tell!! You're beautiful!

Thanks so much and so glad I could help!

[Ataraxia]

Here's a clip of my voice...my attempt to sound female sounds really bad and embarrassing, so I just posted a clip of my natural voice. I'm hoping there's some odd chance that it actually sounds decent. What do you think?

https://soundcloud.com/cutiecat/myvoicetest

[Alaia]

Here's a clip of my voice...my attempt to sound female sounds really bad and embarrassing, so I just posted a clip of my natural voice. I'm hoping there's some odd chance that it actually sounds decent. What do you think?

https://soundcloud.com/cutiecat/myvoicetest

You say that your femme voice attempts have all failed. I'd say to keep at it, learn from what you are doing wrong. If you don't know what you are doing wrong then post them up here. No need to be embarrassed about it. Remember the road to success is paved with failure.

[Ataraxia]

Here's a clip of my attempt to make my voice sound female...is it good?
https://soundcloud.com/cutiecat/myattempt1

Compared to my natural voice:
https://soundcloud.com/cutiecat/myvoicetest

[Alaia]

Here's a clip of my attempt to make my voice sound female...is it good?
https://soundcloud.com/cutiecat/myattempt1

Compared to my natural voice:
https://soundcloud.com/cutiecat/myvoicetest

Your average frequency for that sample is ~161 Hz. This is right around the MTF crossover pitch (165 Hz), so it isn't too bad. However, I would aim for the typical female voice, which averages around 220 Hz (A3 on the chromatic scale). To do this, I suggest practicing hitting that note by singing it or humming it for a bit, and then speaking a sentence trying to keep the average around that frequency. Jennygirl already suggested this above to another user:

This is the average female frequency. A3 or 220hz


If you want to easily speak in a specific range, first try to hum the tone. Then, try to speak a sentence in monotone using nothing but that tone, almost like you are singing the sentence. Then try to speak the same sentence closely to that tone, varying your pitch above and below it.

This is a technique I learned from one of DeepStealth's youtube videos on voice feminization. It has helped me a whole bunch! Also Kathe Perez has a similar exercise within her mp3 tutoring stuff.

It would be good to get a program to help you analyze your recordings. I use Praat which you can download here:
windows: http://www.fon.hum.uva.nl/praat/download_win.html
mac: http://www.fon.hum.uva.nl/praat/download_mac.html

I think there are tutorials on how to use it somewhere on these boards. Here's all I do:

• In the Praat Objects window select 'New > Record Mono Sound...'
• Click the Record button and say something, then click stop when finished.
• Provide a name for your sound object and then click 'Save to List & Close'
• Back in the Praat Objects window, select your newly recorded sound and hit 'View and Edit'
• Go to 'View > Show Analyses'. In the Show Analyses window, set the longest analyses to a length that you'd prefer.
  It takes more time to do longer analyses, but you are then able to analyze larger chunks of your voice sample at a time.
  I have mine set at 65 sec since one of my samples was around that long.
• Now back to the analysis window. If your longest analyses setting is equal to or greater than your sample then it will
  analyze the whole thing. Otherwise you need to zoom in. On the right you should notice 3 blue numbers. The one in the
  middle should be the average pitch. You can also highlight individual sections to get the average for that area.

With that analysis you should be able to better understand where you are at.

Hope this helps!

[suzifrommd]

I need to decide whether to renew for another few hundred dollars worth of speech therapy or whether I pass as is.

https://soundcloud.com/suzifrommd/suzi-13-07-18-2

[mariondaly]

How about this one?

I sort of lost it with "speaking this way"

But overall does it pass?

[Jamie D]

Sounds good to me, Marion! 

I need to decide whether to renew for another few hundred dollars worth of speech therapy or whether I pass as is.

https://soundcloud.com/suzifrommd/suzi-13-07-18-2

Oh wow!  Great improvement

[Anna++]

This is the voice that my friends like the best (or at least as close as I can get while focusing on what I'm doing for the recording).  Thoughts?

http://vocaroo.com/i/s0HkHyo0abHo

Here is a second take, this time without a script:

http://vocaroo.com/i/s0IjoEHOjseY

[Jane's Sweet Refrain]

Hi,

I've been full-time now for a couple of months and thought I would record a sample of the voice that I'm using every day. I made sure to do this recording cold and without preparation so that it would more closely resemble the voice I have to use in the varying and impromptu situations of real life. I would appreciate all feedback. Thanks!

http://soundcloud.com/jgeneris/audio-recording-on-sunday

[Sybil]

Jane,

I think your voice sounds great. If you're in your 20s or 30s, you may want to try raising your pitch just a little bit. Otherwise, I think you sound very natural, articulate, and honestly very friendly.

I sympathize with struggling on initial words while speaking in impromptu situations. I often refer to this as "booting up" my voice, and it causes a great deal of frustration for me as well. I wish I could help you there, but I haven't quite figured it out yet myself -- other than that friends tell me this period of speech sounds far worse to me than it does to anyone else. If I catch on to something, I will be sure to share it with you. In the meantime, good luck! I think you're doing really well so far.

[Jane's Sweet Refrain]

Thanks Sybil! "Booting up" is a great way to classify it. I'm often wondering if there's a bit of performance anxiety behind the experience that makes the voice just not come out as naturally or at least to us sounding as natural as we might like it to sound. I appreciate the compliment too. One of the things I worry is missing from my voice is that warmth. So it's nice to hear I sound friendly.

I'm actually in my forties, but my friends all swear I look much younger. Awww, friends. I too was struck that my pitch was a little lower that I wished it to be. I can comfortably raise it a bit. I have no trouble using A3 as my base, but I might be a little lower here.

On a completely unrelated note, my children want me to put in their favorite emoticons 

[SaveMeJeebus]

This is the voice that my friends like the best (or at least as close as I can get while focusing on what I'm doing for the recording).  Thoughts?

http://vocaroo.com/i/s0HkHyo0abHo

Here is a second take, this time without a script:

http://vocaroo.com/i/s0IjoEHOjseY

I stumbled across this topic, and i noticed no one had responded to you, so i thought i would check out your voice recordings.  , your script was amusing. I don't think i have heard of The Housemartins, but i just listened to Happy Hour which was pretty sweet. Anyway, you sound identical in both voice recordings :]

(For amusement, here's me singing the Starburst advert song - my old forum signature, http://vocaroo.com/i/s1PMjLof3cdL)

[Sybil]

Jane,

I think performance anxiety is part of it, but I also think it has something to do with warming up muscles and an eventual reliance on intuition. I've been speaking female for so long that I don't generally concentrate on the mechanics of it anymore, unless I dedicate time to trying to improve it. Following a bit of speaking in a given day, it just seems to click with me. After writing my reply to you earlier and thinking a bit more about it since, there is some stuff I've noticed a voice relationship with:

- Mouth/throat dryness. I some times sleep with my mouth open, and though I don't snore, my throat still becomes incredibly dry. It really gets in the way of my voice some days.
- Having to swap between male and female. I only use my male voice at work, but coming home afterwards always makes it a little difficult to reach the comfort zone of my voice -- as an aside, I am really anxious not to have to deal with this anymore.
- Projection. I seem to have a little more trouble speaking to people with my voice as opposed to using the phone or a headset, and I think that's because having a person in front of me naturally makes me try to project my voice even when it isn't necessary. I've been keeping that in mind and it's gotten a bit better.
- Airflow. I some times neglect to use natural breathing while talking if I'm spontaneously using my voice; I think this is essentially performance anxiety, as you suggested.

I still feel that your pitch is just fine for being in your forties, but I do understand that it's all about how much you like your own voice. If your pitch was higher, I think you'd come off to others as friendly, excitable, energetic -- as opposed to warm, congenial, amiable (your current pitch). Also, your kids wanting to add their favorite emoticons is really cute.

[Jane's Sweet Refrain]

I stumbled across this topic, and i noticed no one had responded to you, so i thought i would check out your voice recordings.  , your script was amusing. I don't think i have heard of The Housemartins, but i just listened to Happy Hour which was pretty sweet. Anyway, you sound identical in both voice recordings :]

(For amusement, here's me singing the Starburst advert song - my old forum signature, http://vocaroo.com/i/s1PMjLof3cdL)

I used to be (and I guess still am) a huge Housemartins' fan. I haven't thought of them in years, so thanks for the trip back to my college radio DJin' days.

[Jane's Sweet Refrain]

Jane,

I think performance anxiety is part of it, but I also think it has something to do with warming up muscles and an eventual reliance on intuition. I've been speaking female for so long that I don't generally concentrate on the mechanics of it anymore, unless I dedicate time to trying to improve it. Following a bit of speaking in a given day, it just seems to click with me. After writing my reply to you earlier and thinking a bit more about it since, there is some stuff I've noticed a voice relationship with:

- Mouth/throat dryness. I some times sleep with my mouth open, and though I don't snore, my throat still becomes incredibly dry. It really gets in the way of my voice some days.
- Having to swap between male and female. I only use my male voice at work, but coming home afterwards always makes it a little difficult to reach the comfort zone of my voice -- as an aside, I am really anxious not to have to deal with this anymore.
- Projection. I seem to have a little more trouble speaking to people with my voice as opposed to using the phone or a headset, and I think that's because having a person in front of me naturally makes me try to project my voice even when it isn't necessary. I've been keeping that in mind and it's gotten a bit better.
- Airflow. I some times neglect to use natural breathing while talking if I'm spontaneously using my voice; I think this is essentially performance anxiety, as you suggested.

I still feel that your pitch is just fine for being in your forties, but I do understand that it's all about how much you like your own voice. If your pitch was higher, I think you'd come off to others as friendly, excitable, energetic -- as opposed to warm, congenial, amiable (your current pitch). Also, your kids wanting to add their favorite emoticons is really cute.

That's great advice, Sybil. I enjoyed it so much. I was out shopping today (for a swimsuit, eek) and knew I had not drunk enough water. My voice was much harder to get access to. I am still working on pitch just a little. At the same time, my job as a college professor means that I am probably better served sounding my age than sounding much younger. Plus, I think I've had better success concealing my having been born with XY chromosomes than I would be hiding the fact that I'm an academic. Some things you just can't change. As a college professor, I worry a great deal about projecting and sustaining my voice. I teach four classes MWF and will use my voice almost the whole time. I read and sing out loud for hours every day in preparation to start back this fall. But I have a feeling I'll still have to adjust the way I teach so that students bear a bit more of the burden of discussion.

And my kids are cute. Except, if it weren't for them, I'd feel no need to buy a swimsuit at this point in the transition. Oh, well. Down the hatch, as they say.

Jane

[Sybil]

That's great advice, Sybil. I enjoyed it so much. I was out shopping today (for a swimsuit, eek) and knew I had not drunk enough water. My voice was much harder to get access to. I am still working on pitch just a little. At the same time, my job as a college professor means that I am probably better served sounding my age than sounding much younger. Plus, I think I've had better success concealing my having been born with XY chromosomes than I would be hiding the fact that I'm an academic. Some things you just can't change. As a college professor, I worry a great deal about projecting and sustaining my voice. I teach four classes MWF and will use my voice almost the whole time. I read and sing out loud for hours every day in preparation to start back this fall. But I have a feeling I'll still have to adjust the way I teach so that students bear a bit more of the burden of discussion.

And my kids are cute. Except, if it weren't for them, I'd feel no need to buy a swimsuit at this point in the transition. Oh, well. Down the hatch, as they say.

Jane

I'm glad you enjoyed what I had to say. I'm not an academic, but I have a natural inclination for my sometimes unconventional choice of language; I used to try and change this to be more approachable (as women are generally pressured to be), but frankly, I have cared a lot less lately. I felt it was insulting to women in general that I would try to consciously simplify my speech just to avoid being eccentric. I feel like the aggressive and compulsory communication typical of males is lacking in me, anyway, so I'm not terribly disturbed by how I come across. I think what I'm trying to say by this is that I understand some things are difficult to hide, but in your case I feel that it's a good thing and something that the female populace could use more of.

I also wanted to avoid getting technical about voice, because I don't think I often explain it well, but here goes:
The largest hurdle for me with female projection is avoiding a hammy or nasally voice. I find projection to be easier by channeling (or aiming) my voice through the front of my mouth (somewhere between the front teeth and the bottom of the nose). I also find it helpful to balance my voice "above" my vocal cords, and particularly to try and avoid resonating my voice in the area in front of and beneath them. My projection, or "loud voice," ultimately resides in the back of my throat and travels through the middle and top of my mouth.

I hope that made sense and was helpful. I really do have a difficult time expressing voice specifics to others. As for your swimsuit, I wish you the very best of luck and find you very brave -- I plan on remaining terrified of that prospect for several years to come.

[Jennygirl]

Jane, your voice sounds great!

The resonance is so good that pitch doesn't really sound like much of an issue to me. If you included a few more up/down slides or dynamics during the middle of sentences it would really sell it. You are already well out of the male range

I like your voice a lot!