The voice secret??

[Erik Ezrin]

During my holiday in England, I met a guy with a voice of about my range (I'd guess mid/high alto), but YET he sounded like a guy. There is also a Dutch known person who sings soprano on a professional level, and he's a guy as well. I have never thought he might be a transguy, and I'm pretty sure he isn't. But even though his voice is a lot higher than mine, he sounds more genuinely male (I wouldn't say masculine. But male, yes)

This has probably something to do with intonation, right?
Does anyone have an idea what the differences are, and how to learn them? I know some basic things, like women more often end a sentence on a high note, and have a more variable pitch when speaking, but is there more? And what are the best ways to change such a thing? I don't think about talking, it just happens, like breathing or walking, and changing the way I talk has been proven a difficult challenge. I also don't want to harm my vocal chords, obviously...

-Erik

[GnomeKid]

I think its a lot about where in your body you talk from.  For example, if you talk from up in your throat/head you sound higher and more nasally.  If you talk from more down in your chest you sound deeper and more manly... then again maybe not because there are nasally guys who sound like guys.  its probably just one of the many contributing factors along with, as you said, intonation and the like. 

Like you said... its not the kind of thing one really thinks about (and often when one starts to its pretty obvious to everyone else), but its something I've noticed.

Truth is there are also men who actually do sound like women (or at least the voices could be interchangeable without it seeming too particularly odd either way)

[spacerace]

I try to think about projecting confidence in my voice, like speaking to someone you are making a point to that you feel strongly about, but then toning it back one notch. As least for me, when I speak like that I subconsciously throw my voice down anyways with emphasis, and it does not sound forced.  I am still working on being able to do it in normal conversation, but it is a good place to start from.

[Nygeel]

There's a few things going on to make a voice sound high male, usually it's a falsetto voice. Some cis guys when going through puberty do what some trans guys do going through their second, which is they keep talking from the top of their throats, so the voice never sounds lower but this can be changed with vocal coaching.

Then you've got some really awesome counter-tenors and natural male sopranos like .

[Adam (birkin)]

I found a lot of it is how you say your s's as well. If you "hiss" them and stretch them out you can often sound female, if you don't draw them out and say them almost more like  a "z" (but not quite) it sounds more male. Also, monotone. As my voice changed on T, I naturally got more monotone because my chords didn't want to move around as much it seems. Lol. Now I only leave monotone if I'm really stressed out (according to Keaira I almost revert back to "her" when I am pissed off lolol).

My brother is a cis male and just yesterday, a woman on the phone got angry at him and said "this isn't T! You're calling on his behalf! That is not allowed! FINE! Tell me your health care number!" She was pretty rude. And the only way he got his business done was when he got really stern and said "Look, this is me, I've given you all the confirmation information so let's get this over with." He was angry. He used to like getting called ma'am at the drive through and stuff, but now it makes him angry because he's been denied service over the phone when people think he is a woman.

[Andy]

I apologize in advance. I am a spelling nerd.


"Chords" are what you play on a guitar.

Vocal "cords" are in your throat.

You may now return to your regularly scheduled thread. 

[Adam (birkin)]

Lol! No worries. I like to know how to spell stuff correctly, so thanks.

[D0LL]

I get the feeling T will make the most important changes in your voice, rather than breaking down and examining the way you speak. Either way, I think once you sound androgynous enough, as long as you look male, your voice will sound more male.

I can feel where my voice is coming from when I talk. When it's coming from the back of my throat, it sounds feminine and awful, and I just can't stand it. Unfortunately, I taught myself to speak that way a long time ago, so it's harder for me to speak normally from my chest anymore. :/ I'm usually more able to speak from my chest when I've been partying. Although it's really easy for me to drop my voice really low when I need to. My dog's hearing's gotten worse and that's the only way she's able to clearly understand what people are saying to her. Probably looks pretty strange seeing a petite girl yelling at her dog with that voice. =_=

[Simon]

I don't think there really is a "voice secret". Trying your best to be monotone is preferred but think about cis women you know that have really deep voices. They still don't sound male. Most transguys pre T are lucky if they have a raspy boy voice but even then depending on age/appearance it doesn't quite fit.

Not trying to be a downer, In my opinion a voice isn't something easily changed without hormones. There's only so much that can be done so don't stress yourself over it.

[Jack_M]

I don't think there really is a "voice secret". Trying your best to be monotone is preferred but think about cis women you know that have really deep voices. They still don't sound male. Most transguys pre T are lucky if they have a raspy boy voice but even then depending on age/appearance it doesn't quite fit.

Not trying to be a downer, In my opinion a voice isn't something easily changed without hormones. There's only so much that can be done so don't stress yourself over it.

This!  I pretty much had around the lowest voice you could get for a non-smoking female and it helped me pass only as a younger boy, which at 28 was starting to be odd.  In terms of vocal range, I would sing the legit tenor range, but it never sounded truly male.  But now, on T (only a little over a month, mind) my voice is not so much getting lower now as it is developing a deeper male resonance.  It's not something you can really fake.  I personally view a big difference between a voice lowering VS a voice deepening.  T will perhaps lower my voice more, but for me it was never about being able to fake a low voice, I had that without trying, it's that resonance and deeper sound that comes from your chest. The way I think of it is that T gives your voice more weight and that's what makes it more masculine.

It's very easy to tell when someone is lowering their voice as opposed to having it naturally.  There's been a couple of transguys I've either watched on YouTube or talked to and they obviously think it's working and in my opinion it's only making it more obvious.  Not all guys are Barry White!  And remember that what you hear is different to what others hear.  Sometimes it's worth asking someone you trust if they can tell or recording it and getting an idea that way from people who will be honest.  But my personal advice is that if you're not on T (either yet or ever) just own it.  Just be more monotone and care free with your words.  Kinda let your voice fade off with what your saying.  Affliction is a more feminine thing.