Voice change

[Kestheba]

I occasionally watch videos of ftms on youtube or whatever, and have noticed that a lot of the time their voices aren't very deep.  I'm not talking about guys still transitioning, but those that are already done and their voice has changed as much as its going to.  Not all ftms I've heard have this high voice but it seems like an awful lot of them do.  Is there any way to ensure your voice deepens properly during transition?

[Lachlann]

I don't think there's any way for you to tell pre-T, what's going to happen to your voice. Some guys, even bio-guys, just have light voices. The best you can do is to see how low your dad's voice is.

There are exercises that newscasters do to make their voices deeper, and it may work for someone on T, but I don't think there's a way to ensure that it deepens 'properly'. Your vocal chords getting thicker does it, I don't think you can control that aside from what you inject.

[Nero]

I've heard a few like that. I really don't think there's anything you can do about it. What you get, you get. I've heard rumors about it staying in a squeaky type range if it changes too fast, but I dunno. All I know is my voice is going down rapidly and it hasn't even been all that long. I'm actually a little concerned about it going down too low.

[JonasCarminis]

i have a "proper" deep voice and my voice was completely male sounding just after 2 weeks.  thats about the fastest ive seen/heard, so im not so sure its related to the voice dropping too fast and making it squeaky.  i could have just been weird though.

[shanetastic]

not to intrude on the guy thread hehe,

But I presume that if you don't get a good sounding voice on T that your satisfied with that you can just learn how to talk more from your chest and lower throat to make your voice deeper.  It'll be more work yeah, but then I think you could mold your voice a little more and I'm sure it might help.

[Myself]

I remember reading an articles about guys having a high voice and being ashamed of it.
A speech therapist (I think) said it's not about the anatomy, it's about the using.

When testosterone makes the vocal folds grow, the person is still not used to the new size and muscles, they automatically try to speak as they used to before, but their vocal folds is different, resulting in the breaking of the voice.

In their therapy, they helped them use their chest register and reach quite deep voices.

Usually, in puberty, boys probably just unconsciously learn to adjust to their new vocal folds and stabilize their voice, slowly learning how not to sound squeaky.

[Jay]

I guess it depends on there T and how much of it they take??! I have heard some ftm's sound abit different. But like Nero said you get what you get! We are all in the admist of puberty when we start T so we can't expect everything to happen at once, it will be about 2 years to see that full results I am told.

Jay

[Miniar]

It's not just the actual notes that the voice hits, but the manner of speaking (softness, toughness, pattern of speech).
I naturally have a rather deep voice and yet, as soon as I open my mouth, I get clocked, even in the extremely rare occasion I pass before I do. In part this is because my "pattern of speech" and the softness of voice is something I have a really hard time fixing.
As a kid I was loud, boisterous, etc, and so it was hammered into me to "talk softly" and it's a really hard habit to break.

T alone works wonders of the actual notes the voice hits.. but "tone" is something we gotta work on.

[Lachlann]

It's not just the actual notes that the voice hits, but the manner of speaking (softness, toughness, pattern of speech).
I naturally have a rather deep voice and yet, as soon as I open my mouth, I get clocked, even in the extremely rare occasion I pass before I do. In part this is because my "pattern of speech" and the softness of voice is something I have a really hard time fixing.
As a kid I was loud, boisterous, etc, and so it was hammered into me to "talk softly" and it's a really hard habit to break.

T alone works wonders of the actual notes the voice hits.. but "tone" is something we gotta work on.

I agree completely.

I can get my voice pretty deep if I want to, but it's the mannerism that I need to work on.

[Miniar]

I agree completely.

I can get my voice pretty deep if I want to, but it's the mannerism that I need to work on.

I come from a family that tends to goof off in front of the telly and mimic voices of cartoon characters and people who "sound funny". I'm continuing that proud tradition.. but by copying the sound patterns of characters in movies I'd "like" to sound like.
I've slacked off a bit lately, but as T starts to set in, I'm gonna do it with audacity as well and so record and listen to myself over and over until I get it "right".... or at least, close enough.

[Alex_C]

Yeah imitating characters on TV rules!

Anyone remember the old Columbia School of Broadcasting commercial? I could send my younger sis into a fit of giggles by imitating the guy saying in a low voice, "I'm very proud of this award".

[Miniar]

Just don't practice.. off of... Obama... or... people will think... you're... joking around... at best.

[JonasCarminis]

Just don't practice.. off of... Obama... or... people will think... you're... joking around... at best.

LMFAOOOO

you have to admit that hes better than george dubya bush though.

[Luc]

Yo... it's all dependent upon genetics. If you have male relatives with tenor voices, you'll likely end up with a tenor voice. If they're all bass, well... you get the picture. Some transguys, however, I've noticed use inflections that I assume are carried over from their upbringing as chicks; this can cause them to sound quite a bit less masculine. Last night, for example, I watched a youtube vid from a dude who I was certain was gay, simply due to the effeminate nature of his voice... until he started talking about his girlfriend. There's no way to ensure that your voice will get sufficiently low strictly as an effect of T, but you can make sure you don't sound like a pansy when it does get to its maximum low point.

We don't all have high, squeaky voices, though. Check out my youtube page... I'm one of the dudes whose heredity dictated a pretty low voice.

http://www.youtube.com/user/daywhitesnightpale

SD

[JonasCarminis]

Yo... it's all dependent upon genetics. If you have male relatives with tenor voices, you'll likely end up with a tenor voice. If they're all bass, well... you get the picture....

i dont think its all genetics.  we were born in female bodies, so we may not end up physiologically the same as we would had we been born male.

[Alex_C]

Interesting points being made about voice training.

There was a movie done about Johnny Cash recently* and the actor who played him** did voice training, Lo and behold the guy got a whole lower register during the training, just in time to shoot scenes with him singin' Johnny Cash!

*Recently for me, in movies, is within the last 30 years. But I think this one was within the last 10

**I'm terrible at remembering movie actors' names, because I don't think they're actually anything special. I actually think when they go to film a movie, they go around riding on the bus and when they see a person who fits one of the roles, they ask 'em to play in the movie just being themselves.

[Lachlann]

i dont think its all genetics.  we were born in female bodies, so we may not end up physiologically the same as we would had we been born male.

Going to have to agree again.

It's more likely that you're going to sound like your dad or the males in your family, but there are other factors that run into this. Not to mention, even in families things can get incredibly varied, especially if your family is big. My brothers don't all have the same vocal range. Some have lighter voices, some have deeper, it just depends.

But looking at the males in your family is a good estimate.

[Alex_C]

The males in my family have deep voices even my Uncle 

[Luc]

Well... my voice sounds just like my brother's, but slightly lower. I still maintain genetics is a very good indicator. Of course, you'll still have the inflections and whatnot you had prior to T, unless you work on them.

[DamagedChris]

I'm a bit worried about the asthetic effects T will have on me as I have no living male relatives to compare to (other than my birth-father, who I've never met or seen). So there's a chance I could go bald/thin...or a chance I could sound like a deranged chipmunk...or a chance I could come out looking like a midget yeti.

I'm terrified of my voice just staying in the "unpassable" spot for the rest of my life.