voice change and singing

[Jeh]

I'm a singer, so I'm anxiously watching my voice to see how it changes. I've only been on T for almost 2 weeks.

I tested my singing range today, and while the top end hasn't really changed, the bottom of my range has expanded about 4 notes. I can now hit the D below middle C. I've always had a high soprano voice, could never get below the A or G.

Is this the start of the voice change, or is it too soon? Is this worth getting excited over?

[xAndrewx]

I'd say as a singer hitting any new range is worth getting excited over right? Is it due to the T? Likely since it didn't happen before then but maybe not. Best suggestion is to record your voice in some way each week saying the same thing. Some people have drops that quickly from the people I've heard however I didn't get a whole lot of change that soon. Just got a sore throat and a rougher tone to my voice.

I can't hit half the notes I used to be able to as a soprano but I can reach notes I never could before.

Note- I did chorus for many years but I never could read music so I don't know notes or how much change that really is sorry.

[Stephanie]

Congratulations!   

When you said the D below Middle C do you mean D3?   Can you still reach C6?

[Jeh]

Yes, it's D3. And I can still hit C6, though it doesn't feel quite as comfortable - needs more warming up than usual.

I've felt that my speaking voice is lower at times, too. A few people have commented on a difference. But it's not consistently lower yet. Could be the T, since none of this happened before the T even when I tried to train myself lower. Or I could be getting a cold, though I don't really feel like it.

[Jeh]

People keep asking me if I have a cold, but I don't have any symptoms of a cold, so I think my voice is just getting a bit deeper. Several people have commented that my voice sounds different.

Is that how it starts?

[xAndrewx]

Sometimes, from what I hear yes. For me, I felt like I had a cold for a couple weeks (might've actually been sick) then my voice was all over the place for a while. One day it'd be same as pre-T then a few hours later my mom called me into the room and said she hadn't recognized my voice it was so deep. Now as it deepens I don't notice much unless I'm recording it. Though sometimes I can tell because I can feel it echoing through my chest when it gets really low. So yes, that could be it. Are you recording yourself to hear it yourself? Really you won't know if it's dropping unless you do that.

[darius82501]

It took a few months for me to notice any vocal change. Now, 8 months later, I am semi frustrated cause I can't sing the way I used to. My voice cracks when I try to hit the higher notes I used to be able to. The high notes most popular male singers now days can. So....I am sure you will soon notice the change. THose who are around you will notice it faster than you will.

[Stephanie]

[Jeh]

I actually hope my voice doesn't end up so low as that video clip. I'd like to be a tenor. I know obviously, I don't get to pick where my voice settles. But I started out a high soprano, so I'll probably end up a tenor like my dad and brother.

If I end up a bass, I'll deal with it. But I do musical theatre and there are more roles for tenors.

[Stephanie]

Jeh you will probably become a Tenore di Grazia with a facile ease on the high notes.   Do you like Opera?

[Jeh]

I'm going to university as a voice major, so I'm studying Opera and stuff. I sang a lot of soprano Opera stuff this year.

I googled Tenore di Grazia and it sounds good to me. My voice teacher is a counter tenor.

This is how my voice sounded yesterday, on 2 weeks of hormones. Sounds pretty much just like before hormones. I haven't found a song that shows the new lower notes yet.

[Stephanie]

Nice 

[Stephanie]

It is strange that testosterone is said to lower the pitch of the voice while oestrogen is said to have no effect whatsoever upon the voice.

[Stephanie]

Jeh it would be really great if you ended up as another Mario Filippeschi!
Here he is as Arnoldo in Rossini's Guglielmo Tell, just listen to that voice!

[Stephanie]

It is strange that testosterone is said to lower the pitch of the voice while oestrogen is said to have no effect whatsoever upon the voice.

I think that the transsexual experience is so individual, so idiosyncratic that no one can offer advice.   Why should testosterone lower a voice and yet everyone is so adamant that oestrogen has no effect whatsoever upon the mtf voice?  In fact the same goes for hrt effects in general.  I have read numerous times of members losing weight on HRT when I have had the opposite effect.  They post, and I am paraphrasing 'Oh my goodness how do you gain weight on Hrt?  I have lost 30-60lbs in a single year on HRT.  Will I ever have enough fat for breast development'?  Every single time I take oestrogen I gain significant amounts of weight.  Once I gained 30lbs in FIVE weeks.

[Stephanie]

I believe that there is a world of difference between natural oestrogen/testosterone and synthetic hormones.   My sister is as skinny as a rake despite being exposed to oestrogen for around 7 years.    I on the other hand take synthetic oestrogen and five weeks later I am 30lbs heavier.
It is clear that what has been going on and still is going on in my sister's system is NOT what is going on in mine.   What is the effect of synthetic testosterone?   Have you like me noticed a difference between synthetic and natural?

[Jeh]

My brother and sister are both thin people and I'm on the higher end of healthy/slightly heavy. I don't know if I will gain or lose weight on T, but with both natural hormones for them they seem to be thin. Then again, they are younger than me. I was thinner at their age too.

I recorded a male musical theatre song today that shows the lower part of my range. http://www.jenny-jackson.com/shecriesapr22.mp3

I still sound like a woman with a low voice, but I'll keep recording it as my voice masculinizes and then I'll have comparisons.

As for that clip of that tenor, I would love to have a great tenor voice. The only thing that worries me is that I can't sing very high in my woman's chest voice, so I don't know if my male chest voice will be high enough.

[Stephanie]

Jeh you are a really good singer!    The voice certainly sounds lower and has a pleasing mezzo soprano colouration.   

[Jeh]

Thanks. I'll post more when my voice drops further. I get my 4th T shot tomorrow.

[Jeh]

Today is 1 month on T, and I am definitely no longer a soprano. I can't hit the C above middle C any more. And my lowest note is the B an octave below middle C.

This is how I sounded last week.
http://www.jenny-jackson.com/ificantloveherapr28.mp3

And as a speaking voice comparison, this is how I sounded pre-T:
http://www.jenny-jackson.com/day1.mp3

And how I sound 4 weeks in:
http://www.jenny-jackson.com/4weeks.mp3