Quote from: Melissa on December 19, 2006, 03:09:46 PMHowever, when it comes to singing, I think I do quite well. I can sing as both male or female (without any special equipment, although female song selections are more limited) and I have been singing since I was a kid, but I really started working on it in junior high and highschool, where I was in a choir for the next 4 years. I have sang regularly on an amateur basis since then.
Oh geez, wow!
I posted this last December, but things have changed a bunch since then. I really can't sing as male anymore, which is fine with me.Based on how my voice is now, I would say that when I posted the above, my voice sounded female, but wasn't very good (compared to a GG). I have been rehearsing for the last 2 months for my musical and in that time, I figured out how to change my technique to make my voice come out as female and it has improved SO much.
I guess I would describe the technique as a breathy modified loose falsetto (if that makes any sense). I would say the main different is how you breathe out. While a male singing voice is forced out, the female voice is gently breathed out. A good analogy would be how air is forced through a trumpet (or even a saxophone) versus being just breathed out over the mouth piece of a flute. Both are metal instruments which can play very loudly and carry far, but the techniques and resulting sounds are very different. In fact, now that I think about it, that's an excellent analogy! I do use some visualization techniques that help, like I picture a bunch of hot air going vertically upwards through my chest which assists with singing in a more flute-like way. Singing this new way allows me to actually hit higher notes than I even can in falsetto.
Now I have adopted that technique so much, that I kind of forgot how to sing as male, since even on my lower notes (which really aren't all that low), it still comes out as female and any lower than that and my voice just kind of dies out. Perhaps I just am not trying the old way (but still capable of it) because I don't want to remember it and possibly lose any progress I've achieved. I was doing warm-ups a few days ago and they kept going lower and lower (which I've usually had no trouble doing), but I was quite surprised when my voice bottomed out around the same time the other women's voices did too. I've also notice my range has increased by a couple of notes, because I am now able to consistently hit notes I was having trouble with a couple months ago. I think the musical director, who helped us develop better techniques, was a large contributing factor to this. In fact, I now sing in a full alto range, whereas before I was a note or 2 short of the high end. My voice improved so much in a short time, that I actually felt comfortable doing a small solo part, which helped build my confidence (which was probably THE biggest of my hurdles) about how my voice sounded. Also, I had to figure out how to project my voice while still sounding female, so I'm also singing much louder than before (which I believe is a primary reason I didn't get the part of one of the more major characters).
Unfortunately, I think after the musical is over, I will need to keep singing so I don't lose my technique and somehow revert to the old way of singing (which is actually one of my fears). My singing voice continues to improve as I continue practicing and figuring out what sounds good and what doesn't. I may sign up for some singing lessons now that I have proved to myself that I actually can still pass for a GG even while singing. Initially I was afraid that in order to take singing lessons, I would have to out myself or find a specialized teacher before this, but the technique ended up being the same as it is for other women. I definitely want to continue singing and working on my voice. Before I got my voice to this point though (which I didn't think was actually possible at the time), I felt that when I transitioned, I had given up ever being able to sing well as part of a group, which was the only thing I missed about being able to do as male.
However, I know I can still continue this as female, although I have work to do to get my voice up to the same quality as female (which I can do inconsistently). That is why I am SO proud of what I have achieved. Compared to a lot of the other GGs, I would say my say my voice STILL needs a lot of work. I would describe it as "ok", but not necessarily above average for a woman. However, Rome wasn't built in a day, so as long as I continue to work on my technique, then it should continue to improve.
