voice training question...

[Byren]

Greetings!

After fruitless hours spent trolling google, I've decided to come begging for the great accumulated knowledge of the forums here.

My voice is my biggest hurdle to being able to pass. I'm so nervous it's going to give me away that most of the time I don't even try to pass...but just cruise in neutral instead. All the advice I've been able to dig up on training a voice to be masculine is to 'practice' and to speak from deeper in the throat. Problem is, trying that doesn't seem to make me sound male, but like I'm making fun of a guy's voice.

Anyone know of vocal exercises that could help? Words that are good to practice with? Ways to avoid the fake-man sound? Websites on the subject?

Any advice would be much appreciated. I think being able to speak correctly would really help with a lot of things for me.

~Byren

[emil]

All the advice I've been able to dig up on training a voice to be masculine is to 'practice' and to speak from deeper in the throat.

honestly, technically that's pretty much all you're doing. it seems quite impossible to do at first. but what sounds to you like "making fun of a guy's voice" is actually FINE as a starting point. you will sound ridiculous for about the first two weaks.

here's how i did it: i held a hand to my throat and tried to "shift" the airstream to a "place of articulation" that would produce a deeper, huskier sound....it feels like the friction comes from somewhere near the "adam's apple". So once you found out how to say a word in your deepest, most masculine voice, you can try to speak more words like that sentences, common phrases. at the same time, use male intonation patterns. i used phrases like "i appreciate that" and "i really don't know". I did those over and over, in the car on the way to college i would force myself to say "i really don't know" in my deepest voice (this is to practice spontaneity. very important in order to make sure you can use your "new" voice when entering a shop, not just when sitting around in your room). i got it figured out for "my" phrases after a couple of days.

Then step 2 would be to start reading out loud. I started reading out children's books, like fairy tales. Sometimes it helps (may sound ridiculous) to think you are reading in the character of a tell-tale grandpa or ...grizzly bear. Later on you will grade up to just any kind of text. Read for an hour a day. don't switch back to your normal voice during that hour. if it still sounds like "mocking a male voice", keep it up, that will disappear the more natural you feel about your new voice. So do that for like two weeks (or more).

Step 3 would be to find a skype or phone friend that you can talk to for an hour a day. That way you'll be forced to use your new voice, but you can still touch your throat or make funny faces while doing it (both may be really important at first).
Step 4 would be to find a mirror, see if you're doing funny faces while using a deeper voice, and trying to get rid of those.

Step 5: use voice in places where people don't know you and won't meet you again  (or else are understanding)...like a day out in a neighboring town.

[Byren]

Thanks for the reply!  I am going to print this out and tack it on my wall to keep me from giving up.

I really like the storybook idea. I have to do the loudspeaker announcements at work and always try to make it fun by using different kinds of voices and patterns. (I've received compliments from our customers too...been told I should be a voice actor, lol!!) At any rate, I think the storybook idea will really help me to get over the 'I sound silly' aspect of practice.

Thank you very much!