Harder to keep voice now after 15 years - pondering VFS

[Denjin]

Hello and thanks for taking the time to read (and perhaps listen) my ramblings here.

I've been transitioned for 15 years or so, but for the past couple of years I feel like I have to clear my throat a lot (very phlegmy) and it's just generally a bit harder to sound good.  I never get clocked or anything, but my job is a fairly public-facing one and I have lots of meetings, etc.  One problem is that I sometimes have to speak quite loudly in a large room and it is difficult to keep my voice for too long in such instances. Also, and this probably normal, I get very lazy once I'm used to people and comfortable with them and I'm sure my voice drops then  Coworkers actually sort of chuckle when I talk to other people on the phone since I have a 'phone voice' and apparently sound nicer then.  I assume VFS could help with the latter (have been thinking about Yeson for a year or so now)?

Here is a sample of my voice currently, but I get lazy a lot and my pitch does get lower then, which probably means 165Hz or so in those cases. The sample below, according to my partner, is more like my phone voice and not my lazy one.
http://vocaroo.com/i/s1Erp4NKJ4XV

Had a trach shave over ten years ago, but it didn't hurt my voice a all, and I have a mild speech impediment and had speech therapy as a child, mainly due to a lisp.  You can tell in my recording above (always feel like my tongue is in the way). Actually thinking of going to a speech therapist again to try and see if I can make this bit better as I often have to repeat myself more than once for people to understand me (also not living in my birth country now).

TIA
Den

[Dena]

The recorded voice is feminine is all respects. The pitch is adult female, the inflection sounds good and there aren't any bad habits I could detect. For that matter, I am not sure I could say what you said without getting tongue tied just trying to say that.

The only thing voice surgery will do is push your range up. The limit is about 80Hz off your base voice so some people don't need that much push. Others like me start with a voice so low that I needed surgery and a trained voice to hit the lower end of the feminine range. It's best to understand you untrained and trained voice before deciding on surgery so you know exactly what the end result will be. In my case, I knew all the doctor could do was push my trained voice from the masculine range to the feminine range. Others find they don't need a trained voice after surgery. If you are unsure how to gather the information you need, let us know and we will tell you what to do

[kwala]

Hi, Den.  Based on your recording you certainly don't *need* surgery but if you want it, you may find it helpful.  I was in a similar situation where I had a usable trained voice but was tired of the constant effort and things like fatigue or colds getting in the way.  Personally, I'm starting to regret my decision because I'm close to two months and still can't communicate in public because my voice is so weak- despite following the after care instructions.  I seem to be the exception rather than the rule, though, so I would do some research and make the decision for yourself.   If the results turn out, you'll have a wonderful voice without having to work very much, or at all.

[Denjin]

Thanks for the kind responses. I hope it's just a matter of time for things to improve, Kwala!

Unfortunately, I know I get lazy etc and it dips.  Just did a test in Praat and I think my totally untrained voice is 130-135Hz.  It scares me to think I drop to that sometimes.  I think my more normal voice is probably 160-165Hz (once I get tired of speaking all day). Explains why my coworkers giggle about how nice i sound on the phone. LOL.  I'm also sure I talk too quietly very often, even if the volume seems OK in my head. As with other cases I read here, I have this anxiety about using my better trained voice in public (not on phone)... so odd!

I'm 5'10 and pretty thin; my phone voice sounds very close to my mother (who is about the same height and build).  So, if I manage that 190-200Hz ends up being fairly effortless I think I'll be very happy. 

Choosing a surgeon seems fairly difficult, and I'm in western Europe.  I'm leaning towards Yeson just because I think i may have some problems due to stressing my voice a bit for over 10 years and he seems to have a bit more experience in dealing with that sort of thing. The NHS seems to not want to refer me to check out my throat and literally all they ever say is they think I have allergies?  I saw a thread by Anjaq and she sounded similar in situation to me before her op.

[Dena]

Dr Haben and Yeson both are able to handle your issues as your natural voice should be able to reach the feminine range with surgery. There may be local doctors who could handle it as well but I am not familiar with their work so I couldn't recommend one.

I know that Dr Haben does other voice surgery as well and has been doing feminization for 10 years. People come from all over the world to see him and not just for feminization surgery.

I am not commenting on the other skills that Yeson has because I am not aware of them but possibly somebody else can discuss the other work that Yeson does.

[anjaq]

I saw a thread by Anjaq and she sounded similar in situation to me before her op.

Hi Denjin.

Indeed your situation sounds almost like a mirror image of mine, wow. Including your self-measured pitches (I was going down to 120-130 occasionally, ususally speaking at 150 and if I was on the phone or really watching it I could go to 180, which is about what you do in the recording. Your voice in the rcording sounds fine, not strained, you can say things there I would stumble over for sure! Also you are sometimes using your voice to have speeches with audience, what I do too, and you tranistioned also 15 years ago - thats all VERY familiar to me.

I was told as well that my voice sounds female before the surgery, but I went ahead with it anyways for several reasons. One as that it just took me effort and eventually strained my voice to be in the "phone voice" for a longer time. I overused my voice and actually had voice issues eventually (incomplete closure of the vocal folds). Eventually my voice went lower and lower and I used my phone voice only for the first minute on the phone to give a good first impression and then dropped once people had my gender right. So I wanted to get rid of this constant awareness of my voice and always watching it and taking care it does not drop below 140 Hz at least, which is where the perception flips to "male" even with all the resonance and prosody being right.
The other reason was a personal one - I just could not identify with my voice. If I spoke, I heard my own voice in my head and it was not my own (its like how I experienced other body issues as well, like genitalia or breasts,...). I wanted this to change most of it all.

For me, both expectations have been fulfilled, My voice now is in the 180 Hz range usually without much effort, it can drop occasionally to 150 Hz for some parts or words. Thats fine, the average is 180 usually. So I have my good pre op trained voice, my "phone voice" as my normal voice. I can drop lower, like 160 on average, if I relax more, but this equals the state I would be at 120 Hz before. So my pitch increase was about 40 Hz , my timbre also changed, which makes it even sound female if I have a cold like now, where my pitch drops lower. I was able to give a presentation after about 3-4 months in front of 30 people, but to be honest, even now I would not want to talk for an hour in front of 100 people without microphone since I did loose a bit of volume... but for the talks I usually do, it is ok and with speech therapy it will get better. In a way its a common problem for women to not have a voice that is loud enough for a large room, so I assume it has in part just to do with my vocal chords now being female size.

As you know I picked Yeson because I did not feel the local German alternatives were really up to the task. I heard about Prof Remarcle in Belgium who seems to do good surgery, there are very few examples going around here, the advantage of him is probably less travel time, less costs, possible coverage by NHS since it is in Europe. So if those ar points for you, maybe you should try and check him out, otherwise I think Yeson is a good choice because they do surgeries on the voice all the time - basically thats all they do, just not always feminizing surgeries. they also did surgery on singers and speakers, which was a big plus in my checklist for them.

[Denjin]

Thanks for the reply, Anjaq.  How odd that it all seems so similar!   It's truly a small world...

Yes, I have to do speeches from time to time, and as I get more 'senior' positions it seems like my need to speak to larger groups is increasing.  As my voice is really the only thing that makes me worry irrationally and I'm getting worried about abusing it due to the years, it seems that VFS is my only option.  I pretty much went the route of FFS and then SRS and now voice, and that worked for me.

I am going to try again and get my GP to refer me to a ENT so I can have someone double check that I have no problems.  Still seems odd that I have had the phlegm and sore throat for almost two years though.

My reasons for considering Yeson the most are similar to yours, too.  I just can't find enough samples or opinions on the other surgeons even if it would be so much more convenient to stay in Europe, or even just go to America.  I emailed Yeson and they have asked for the usual voice samples which I'll send shortly.  I'll also maybe do the same with the American surgeon as I have nothing to lose my doing so.

Did some more tests of my voice in Praat and ~160Hz seems to be very easy and is almost always the range I get in recordings, even while not trying.  The lower ones are if I just get insanely lazy and are almost fake to me.

[anjaq]

Hi Denjin

Indeed this is kind of funny. Also 15 years... I know several people now who were at te same stage - 15 years post transition and who did FFs or VFS or both at that time to finally settle that whole body dysphoria thing.

As my voice is really the only thing that makes me worry irrationally and I'm getting worried about abusing it due to the years, it seems that VFS is my only option.  I pretty much went the route of FFS and then SRS and now voice, and that worked for me.

Yes - the voice was my main concern for years. I considered also getting FFS, but its similar to VFS in that it seems to work of as it is now, but it gives me a bit of an unrest to not have done this and see what I expect to see. So you did FFS first and then GRS and now think about VFS? so you did FFS and GRS many years in the past?

I am going to try again and get my GP to refer me to a ENT so I can have someone double check that I have no problems.  Still seems odd that I have had the phlegm and sore throat for almost two years though.

Again, this sounds like my experience. One of the reasons I really got interested in VFS was that my voice started to degrade. Apparently from 15 years of using it in a changed way, it suffered and I began to be less able to keep up pitch, dropped lower, became breathy a lot, had lots of phlegm and strain. It turned out I had distorted my vocal chords to an hourglass shape, visible in the ENT endoscope camera. That way only 1/2 of the vocal chords actually touched to make a sound, which then sounded more feminine but was not a great thing, actually Dr Kim suggested I get this fixed with voice therapy first before I get the surgery , otherwise the recovery time would be longer. Apparently even though I tried to fix it for 12 months, my recovery time still is longer because I stell do some of these voice distortions involuntarily.
So it makes sense that you get this checked out first to see what is going on there and if you may need to fix somethings independently from having surgery. You can also send your endoscopic video to Dr Kim, if you can manage to convince your ENT to give you a copy.

I'll also maybe do the same with the American surgeon as I have nothing to lose my doing so.

Sure, why not. You could also ask Prof Remarcle, this would be the shortest trip yor you then and he seems to do the same as Dr Haben, just without the CTA? He also uses additional laser pitch increase in case the glottoplasty alone does not rais epitch enough

Did some more tests of my voice in Praat and ~160Hz seems to be very easy and is almost always the range I get in recordings, even while not trying.  The lower ones are if I just get insanely lazy and are almost fake to me.

Hehe, yeah - I actually learned to allow myself to use lower pitches again in voice therapy as a matter of getting rid of that hourglass shape of the vocal folds. Otherwise I would usually push my voice to 140 or 160 Hz constantly, and sometimes go up to 180.

so if you have any questions, you can also PM me

[Denjin]

Hi Denjin

Indeed this is kind of funny. Also 15 years... I know several people now who were at te same stage - 15 years post transition and who did FFs or VFS or both at that time to finally settle that whole body dysphoria thing.
Yes - the voice was my main concern for years. I considered also getting FFS, but its similar to VFS in that it seems to work of as it is now, but it gives me a bit of an unrest to not have done this and see what I expect to see. So you did FFS first and then GRS and now think about VFS? so you did FFS and GRS many years in the past?

Yes, I did FFS and then GRS - FFS was pretty much right at the start and then GRS five years later.  I have a job that image is unfortunately important for (client-facing) so I felt it was smart to make sure clients would not be 'weirded out' at all...  I know it sounds terrible, but it's unfortunately true.  It's sort of the same reason I want VFS now.  I just can't keep my voice up long enough and I'm finding the voice is even more important than it was when I first started.

Again, this sounds like my experience. One of the reasons I really got interested in VFS was that my voice started to degrade. Apparently from 15 years of using it in a changed way, it suffered and I began to be less able to keep up pitch, dropped lower, became breathy a lot, had lots of phlegm and strain. It turned out I had distorted my vocal chords to an hourglass shape, visible in the ENT endoscope camera. That way only 1/2 of the vocal chords actually touched to make a sound, which then sounded more feminine but was not a great thing, actually Dr Kim suggested I get this fixed with voice therapy first before I get the surgery , otherwise the recovery time would be longer. Apparently even though I tried to fix it for 12 months, my recovery time still is longer because I stell do some of these voice distortions involuntarily.
So it makes sense that you get this checked out first to see what is going on there and if you may need to fix somethings independently from having surgery. You can also send your endoscopic video to Dr Kim, if you can manage to convince your ENT to give you a copy.

I see my doctor on Monday, but it's hard to convince them to refer you unless they think there is actually a problem, especially with the budget cuts lately. Hopefully the recording I was asked to send to Dr. Kim can also help reveal any potential problems.

Sure, why not. You could also ask Prof Remarcle, this would be the shortest trip yor you then and he seems to do the same as Dr Haben, just without the CTA? He also uses additional laser pitch increase in case the glottoplasty alone does not rais epitch enough

Well, Dr. Kim's office was the only one to reply so far (just did Haben via the web form...).  I can se if Remacle's office is also as good at responding (is this the right way to contact? http://facialfeminization.eu/body-voice-procedures/wendler-glottoplasty-for-voice-feminization/).  I won't be doing anything but glottoplasty as I just don't need it and I do not want a scar, either.

Hehe, yeah - I actually learned to allow myself to use lower pitches again in voice therapy as a matter of getting rid of that hourglass shape of the vocal folds. Otherwise I would usually push my voice to 140 or 160 Hz constantly, and sometimes go up to 180.

We'll see if I need to.  I'm using 180Hz a lot lately I think, but then at a recent event in a noisy room I couldn't keep it up and I'm sure it plummeted...

so if you have any questions, you can also PM me

Thanks!

[anjaq]

Yes, I did FFS and then GRS - FFS was pretty much right at the start and then GRS five years later.  I have a job that image is unfortunately important for (client-facing) so I felt it was smart to make sure clients would not be 'weirded out' at all...

Wow, so you have been to Dr O for FFS then? AFAIK he was almost the only one who did this back then...
Nowadays its more common to do FFS, also to do FFS before GRS. Back then everyone seemed to talk about GRS and maybe breast augmentation, but FFS was exotic and VFS was considered to be unsafe and weird.

I see my doctor on Monday, but it's hard to convince them to refer you unless they think there is actually a problem, especially with the budget cuts lately. Hopefully the recording I was asked to send to Dr. Kim can also help reveal any potential problems.

Well if you have throat pain, phlegm, need to clear your throar constantly, sound rough and have a low pitch (I am sure you can provice that ), a doctor should give a referral for examination, right? Where are you located? UK? I heard, UK is having a big decline in quality of healthcare by NHS

We'll see if I need to.  I'm using 180Hz a lot lately I think, but then at a recent event in a noisy room I couldn't keep it up and I'm sure it plummeted...

Yeah - Interestingly for me, when it was noisy, I went up in pitch, causing more strain of course, but it was and is the only way I get heard better. My voice examinations always showed that I can produce more volume at higher pitches. I lost some volume overall with VFS though, but the trend is the same - it is easier for me and less straining now to use a middle range (180-350 Hz) and it sounds more natural to me. The lower pitches have lost a lot of volume and are not useable really, the very high pitches are causing me to strain more...
Oh and I found that I get a lot more hoarseness when I get a cold now - I caught one last week and I am more hoarse then I would have been before the surgery. I guess it still is not totally healed after 9 months and still susceptible to such things.

[Debra]

Interesting thought. When I came out, VFS was crazy risky but from what I've been seeing it seems much more prominent and successful nowadays maybe?

I changed my voice over the first 6 months of transition and it's amazing how much of a difference for passing it made. That being said, nowadays (6 years later) I notice it dips a lot, especially when I get upset about something or I am trying to explain a conversation and pretending 'someone else's voice' and such.

On the phone it's great and when I'm thinking about it, it's pretty darn good and I don't get called out on it at all but still.

My cough and clearing throat are horribly male though....never did learn to do those right.

My hubs and I have also wondered if me hanging around him and hearing his low voice all the time has brought my voice down some as well? Kinda weird but maybe part of it.

[anjaq]

Definitely hanging out around guys affected my voice. At the workplace I am presently in a number of predominantly male meetings and I tend to drop the voice a bit. This is ok now, but pre-VFS it was sometimes quite low. Also it dropped among friends when I relaxed or when I was drunk. I was called a guy on the phone quite frequently and a few times I was asked if I was trans, a man or why I have a male voice in person - not looking male at all. That did it, I wanted VFS at that time very badly . I just hated to have to think about and control my voice all the time, even if I am relaxed.

My voice was not bad before the surgery. I changed it very quickly with Melanie Phillips lessons back then, but it was only good for like 95% of the people.

[Denjin]

Wow, so you have been to Dr O for FFS then? AFAIK he was almost the only one who did this back then...
Nowadays its more common to do FFS, also to do FFS before GRS. Back then everyone seemed to talk about GRS and maybe breast augmentation, but FFS was exotic and VFS was considered to be unsafe and weird.

Yeah, I saw Dr. O way way back in the day.  I think he did a good job, too, although it certainly set me back in terms of money for a while!  At the time VFS mostly seemed to just be CTA and I didn't want that.  How things have changed!

Well if you have throat pain, phlegm, need to clear your throar constantly, sound rough and have a low pitch (I am sure you can provice that ), a doctor should give a referral for examination, right? Where are you located? UK? I heard, UK is having a big decline in quality of healthcare by NHS

It seems to have gotten worse lately, but I'll try to convince my GP to refer me to a ENT next week. On the upside, Dr. Kim's office already got back to me on the recording I sent them and simply said that I'm 'eligible for VFS surgery'. Not much info but better than a negative.

No response to my initial query from Haben yet (in the same time that I had three responses from Dr. Kim's office), and no idea how to even contact the Luxembourg guy.

Hope you keep healing up nicely, Anjaq!

Re: both Anjaq and Debra.  I have the same issue about pitch changes depending on who I'm around.  It's just that it does take some effort to talk in a higher pitch, so if I am comfortable with anyone I guess I drop the pitch.  But, I bet we also emulate those around us a bit.  I know I do this for my accent anyway.

[anjaq]

Yeah, I saw Dr. O way way back in the day.  I think he did a good job, too, although it certainly set me back in terms of money for a while!  At the time VFS mostly seemed to just be CTA and I didn't want that.

Here they had glottoplasty as well, but it was often damaging to the voice and could potentially leave you mute...
Dr O must have been great back then. It was exotic for people here though to go there. Only the most severe cases were considering it. Most just tried to live with their face as it was.
So did I, although I guess I was lucky and did not really need it that much. I was considering voice changes but was way too afraid of it back then.
I still consider getting FFS now tha tit has become a very common thing, but am undecided. I guess I still do not really need it , but I have seen other results and they are stunning indeed.

Dr. Kim's office already got back to me on the recording I sent them and simply said that I'm 'eligible for VFS surgery'. Not much info but better than a negative.

Thats true. But with just audio recording, they can say only so much. There are only very few cases where they raised concerns or even denied surgery. In my case only after i sent them the ENT video files, they said that I am still able to get VFS, but that they warn me about longer healing time and other issues.

Re: both Anjaq and Debra.  I have the same issue about pitch changes depending on who I'm around.  It's just that it does take some effort to talk in a higher pitch, so if I am comfortable with anyone I guess I drop the pitch.  But, I bet we also emulate those around us a bit.  I know I do this for my accent anyway.

Yeah - I often imitate accents as well, so I guess I also mimick pitch a bit - or prosody... I should be around women more often to get into the right mindset more often

[Denjin]

Here they had glottoplasty as well, but it was often damaging to the voice and could potentially leave you mute...
Dr O must have been great back then. It was exotic for people here though to go there. Only the most severe cases were considering it. Most just tried to live with their face as it was.
So did I, although I guess I was lucky and did not really need it that much. I was considering voice changes but was way too afraid of it back then.
I still consider getting FFS now tha tit has become a very common thing, but am undecided. I guess I still do not really need it , but I have seen other results and they are stunning indeed.

Well, I definitely needed the FFS!  Having it was totally life-changing... Although I have to say, having met a few Ousterhout girls, that we look similar in some respects.  The nose definitely, but perhaps other aspects as well.

Thats true. But with just audio recording, they can say only so much. There are only very few cases where they raised concerns or even denied surgery. In my case only after i sent them the ENT video files, they said that I am still able to get VFS, but that they warn me about longer healing time and other issues.
Yeah - I often imitate accents as well, so I guess I also mimick pitch a bit - or prosody... I should be around women more often to get into the right mindset more often

True, I suppose.   It's something I will find out when I'm there! I think I'll decide on my surgery date in the next two-three weeks, but I'm leaning towards sometime in March or maybe even the 1st week in April.  I loved Japan in the spring and Seoul also has cherry blossoms so I could see them again if I went in early April. Wish I could justify spending even more money as I'm sort of 'homesick' (懐かしい) for Japan and would love to visit there, too.

Unfortunately I very rarely work with women due to my profession (most are just in administration or sometimes project management). When you're around men all day long it's unfortunately normal to modulate your voice to a degree if you are comfortable with the group (I think?).  I noticed that I do the complete opposite if I go out with men that aren't that familiar with me anyway.

On a separate note, how can you find out your pre-trained voice Hz, as well as lowest and highest? If I try to do a lower voice it sounds weird to me, so I don't know what my untrained one is.  As for highest and lowest, is that literally using Praat and talking as low as possible (no matter how fake) and then as high as possible (which is in falsetto I assume)?

[Dena]

You have 4 ranges. Chest voice with your neck muscles relaxed, Trained/head/mouth voice with just your neck muscles tensed up. Falsetto where you use light breath and light cord tension and whistler were the cords are a bit more tense.

In each voice you wish measure, find the normal speaking voice, the low and high pitch without forcing the voice to the point of discomfort as you are interested in usable range. You only need to worry about the two lower voices as the higher voices aren't commonly used.

[anjaq]

Well, I definitely needed the FFS!  Having it was totally life-changing...

I can imagine. Lots of people say that. It is a great procedure. Back then, here basically there was just "talk" about some surgeon in the USA doing facial surgery to feminize faces. But no one really went there, it was almost a mythological thing

I loved Japan in the spring and Seoul also has cherry blossoms so I could see them again if I went in early April.

That sounds great. I was there in early MArch and that was rather grey and dull, sadly.

Unfortunately I very rarely work with women due to my profession (most are just in administration or sometimes project management). When you're around men all day long it's unfortunately normal to modulate your voice to a degree if you are comfortable with the group (I think?).  I noticed that I do the complete opposite if I go out with men that aren't that familiar with me anyway.

Yeah - the voice always changes depending on the people around.

On a separate note, how can you find out your pre-trained voice Hz, as well as lowest and highest? If I try to do a lower voice it sounds weird to me, so I don't know what my untrained one is.  As for highest and lowest, is that literally using Praat and talking as low as possible (no matter how fake) and then as high as possible (which is in falsetto I assume)?

Well, not sure what you want to find out. I only did a pure vocal range test - singing "a" or "u" rather softly and then going as low as I can and then as high as I can - basically singing scales. And then do the same with more loudness. I reached 82-880 Hz pre OP and 100-760 post OP. I think finding the voice break also is an intersting thing - IMO it plays a role in respect to how good a pitch increase with surgery will work. Mine is at C4, 260 Hz. Its where the voice goes from chest voice into falsetto.

[Denjin]

Thanks for the replies.

I was just curious what my fundamental frequency is, in my old voice or whatever? 

Plus what my current vocal range is... For the latter if you just say an 'ahh' sound as low and as high as possible I suppose that is accurate?

[anjaq]

For the average fundamental frequency, you just read a text in the pitch you want to analyze (relaxed, simulated pretransition voice, elevated voice, ...whatever) and put it in praat - make sure to set it to recognize pitches from 70 to 500 Hz to really get reasonable values and only mark the part when you are speaking to avoid artefacts.

For the max and min pitch, start with aaa or better uuuu or oooo sounds at your comfortable pitch and then sing scales going up and then sing scales going down and see how far up and down you can get. Its better than trying to dorectly hit the highest and lowest note "cold". You need a pitch detector (tuning app or device) for that, or you can also record it and put it in praat, but then you may need to adjust the pitch settings to recognize 50-1000 Hz and mark only the single notes. It is possibl inaccurate though because of artefacts in the recording device.

[Denjin]

For the average fundamental frequency, you just read a text in the pitch you want to analyze (relaxed, simulated pretransition voice, elevated voice, ...whatever) and put it in praat - make sure to set it to recognize pitches from 70 to 500 Hz to really get reasonable values and only mark the part when you are speaking to avoid artefacts.

Thanks, Anja.  This is very hard to do!  It just sounds forced if I do a recording lower than 160Hz average, at least in the rainbow passage.  I think that reading makes you be more melodic somehow, though.  I think forcing it a tiny bit low made it go to 148 average.  Guess I could try and get my mum to remember what is an accurate past representation, although maybe she doesn't even know now after so many years.

As for why I was curious, I guess it's just in relation to potential increases after surgery, etc.

For the max and min pitch, start with aaa or better uuuu or oooo sounds at your comfortable pitch and then sing scales going up and then sing scales going down and see how far up and down you can get. Its better than trying to dorectly hit the highest and lowest note "cold". You need a pitch detector (tuning app or device) for that, or you can also record it and put it in praat, but then you may need to adjust the pitch settings to recognize 50-1000 Hz and mark only the single notes. It is possibl inaccurate though because of artefacts in the recording device.

Hmm, I guess I can wait to find out from Dr. Kim on this.  It seems all over the place, etc.