Quote from: Kes on October 14, 2009, 06:25:53 PM
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?
Ask any singer -- voices tend to deeper, even women's voices, with age. Testosterone tends to drop the pitch considerably to a more "masculine" one (either via puberty or HRT), but one really shouldn't expect to stop sounding like he's fifteen after two years of HRT that began at the age of twenty-five.
So, yes, all voices are different and sometimes testosterone alone will make a *huge* difference in what your voice sounds like, but age (and length of time on testosterone) will make a difference as well.
If you want an example of how this works with natal men, go rent one of Johnny Depp's
earliest films -- I'm talking
Nightmare on Elmstreet or something. Now go watch some promo materials (interviews, TV spots, etc...) for the latest
Pirates of the Caribbean film. There's a MAJOR difference in the pitch of his voice. Watching interview clips of David Bowie from 1968 through to now will also reveal that he had a
huge pitch shift through the years (my room-mate and I joke that "
Young Americans is the album where Bowie's testicles finally descended") -- but it was gradual, over forty years.
So, yeah, you're not going to be guaranteed some awesome-deep George Clooney voice (and he's had comparitively little change to how deep his voice has gotten over twenty-plus years as an actor) -- but if that happens, don't complain! -- but chances are still doubtful that having however-many
fewer years of testosterone-induced gradual vocal deepening, that there's going to be a huge change.
Also:
Something else you can ask a singer, you can still make your voice seem deeper by speaking from a different "area". Basically, "feel" where the voice is coming from. It's easier to acheive lower pitches from the chest, higher ones usually come from the head/sinus/etc.... Women typically speak from their "high voice" (even if they don't realise they're doing it -- after all "higher voice = more feminine" [eyeroll]); men typically speak from their "low voice" (anagin, even if they don't realise they're doing it). You don't have to tuck your chin or contort your face to speak in a lower register, you just have to remind yourself where you're speaking from.
Again, the results aren't going to be "perfect", nor guaranteed to immensely less-high than before, but it's still possible to make one's voice seem at least a little lower.
Quote from: Jay on October 15, 2009, 02:11:34 AM
I guess it depends on there T and how much of it they take??!
No -- this has little, if anything, to do with how the voice sounds. I'm pointing this out because I don't want something to see this and take that as a suggestion to start giving themselves an extra CC or two of T with their fortnightly shots -- that can actually be VERY dangerous. DON'T MESS WITH YOUR DOSAGE!
It's largely about age, length of time with extra testosterone, and where one is projecting their voice from. After that, you get what you get.
I think there may be something to the postulations that a lot of people end up trying to speak with their old registry. There's probably something to that, as well.
