I am starting this thread because my voice therapist wanted to know who I thought had a pleasant female voice. I am to get three samples of female voices before returning for therapy on Wednesday. It is really hard thinking of a pleasant, plausible voice for me. Getting a sample without music in the background makes it harder. So I do kind of like Siri's voice. I took note of Sharon Stone's voice which is low but definitely female. I need an age appropriate voice also. I can't sound like The Little Mermaid at 60 years old right? So, any thoughts? (No, not Ursula!) I need inspiration. My emphasis would be pleasant over sexy. HELP!
Moni
Marlene Dietrich
Bonnie Raitt
Dolly Parton
Not Mine :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
(Sorry!)
There is an App that Laryngectomy people use called Talk For Me and it is free and just downloads to your phone. It has several female voices from different parts of the USA and from around the world, you can speed them up and slow them down to find one that is OK for you. OK it is for people who can't speak but it does have a nice range of voices.
I don't know if you have ever heard of the podcast, My Favorite Murder but the hosts I listen to all the time:
Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark ..... I LOVE their voices!
I got to meet them earlier this year!
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190528/22f127444416458feb86a96d7b21b7c0.jpg)
Natalie Rene's
Chrissy
I was always partial to Susanne Pleshett's voice. It's deeper but definitely female. Plus she was older when I heard her, so no little mermaid voice there. lol
The NPR women anchors are generally really good because they're very controlled. I especially like Melissa Block's voice, which is lower, yet feminine with good croak - a really great model for trans women, I think. Here's a clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dODBcW9lfc
Rachel Martin is also a very good one to emulate and a good target for trans women...although she pops higher occasionally, she's hovering around 130-225 Hz for the most part with an average excluding the pops of around 180 Hz.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFhlpDhhz_Q
A great exercise to do in the car is to listen to NPR and literally mimic what the female hosts and reporters are saying. It's fantastic practice when you don't have much better to do. (You can do this with podcasts as well).
Sarah
My therapist feels that I could be a Marlene Dietrich impersonator (I also have that slight German accent). I don't know if this is true, but there are some on this forum who know my voice. It definitely is the voice of an older woman.
I started voice therapy last week my normal male baseline is 147hz so im right about the low andro, she wants me to be at 180hz
Its amazing now that I didn't realize how low a lot of womens voices actually are,i have been measuring what other womens voices are at in hz and they vary so much and a lot their bases is in the male range but always sound female . You do not need to go to super high to have a female voice.
My therapist has a beautiful voice and completely female she told me her base range is 175hz I was surprised to say the least
Quote from: Quinn on May 28, 2019, 05:34:32 AM
I started voice therapy last week my normal male baseline is 147hz so im right about the low andro, she wants me to be at 180hz
Its amazing now that I didn't realize how low a lot of womens voices actually are,i have been measuring what other womens voices are at in hz and they vary so much and a lot their bases is in the male range but always sound female . You do not need to go to super high to have a female voice.
My therapist has a beautiful voice and completely female she told me her base range is 175hz I was surprised to say the least
Have you tried to use voice pitch analyzer? It is for free on the Google play store.
I am lucky (I did not think so when I tried to be a man) that I have a pretty high pitched natural voice, and my average range is around 200 hz, but my base is around 160 hz, and my max is 258 hz. As you can see, this is not a very large range of frequency, I use for talking. But yet, I sound as female (older female) as they come. A lot of this has to do with the way one uses the voice. I can talk in a very similar frequency range and sound like a man with a higher pitched voice, or I can sound like a female with a little lower pitched voice.
I wish you good luck with your voice training
Linde
Moni... I used Meryl Streep, Sally Field as my voice examples. Both ladies have good sense of humor. Nice smiles and have graceful hand gestures. Plus I have known Sally pretty much all my life, going back to Gidget.
personally, I don't have a voice preference. The only thing I want is "Ma'am" when I'm on the phone, not "Sir"
So many good suggestions. You hit it out of the park. Thanks for coming through for me. I had my eyes opened by listening to the ladies from NPR. Their voices were not that high, but they were feminine sounding. I see these as realistic models. It really hit me how well they annunciated and what a difference that makes. I am from New York originally and I learned to speak fast and mumble well living there. I am only on my third session tomorrow, so I have learned diaphramatic breathing and stretching the vocal cords by practicing lesandros (spelling). Can't wait to go further. I want to really try to be more vigilant with annunciation. I am having trouble finding a voice tuner app for the Iphone which shows Hertz not the musical notes. Ideas?
Thank you muchly!!!!!
I have used an app called Voice Pitch Analyzer by Purr Programming, the app is free. It's not real time but it does show frequency and bands for Male, androgynous, and female voices. There are other apps as well that show real time time frequency, but don't recall then names :( . Something to think about is vocal range not just who you want to sound like, although that is a great way to figure out where you want to be.
I have some musical training and so figured out I could do a Contralto voice with some practice. Singers like Cher, Amy Winehouse, Pink, Shania Twain, and Stevie Nicks are Contraltos.
For us Transgender women whose voices may fall at the lower end of the spectrum, that is some good company.
Just something to think about. :icon_yes:
All the Best :)
Hi Moni! I've always like Catherine Zeta-Jones and Demi Moore. Pleasantly elegant and sexy. I use the same "Voice Pitch Analyzer" that Ava described above and I also spent a little money for the same app my therapist uses "Voice Analyst". It was only $9 or so.
I don't like my voice playback on either app. I'm not sure why because this morning I got positive feedback from a callback with a recording of my voice and for the first time, I was very happy with it. So was the gentleman that responded to the callback. "How can I help you ma'am?" YAY SQUEEEE!!!!
I just want to sound always like Chrissy and not Christopher.
Whether talking softly, when surprised, or whenever!
If it sounds sweet, pleasant, and sexy, so much the better.
Chrissy
Thank you for the awesome suggestions. I may end up trying them all. I started out the day with good voice I thought. I was happy and confident that I had already found some areas of improvement. By the time I got to therapy though, my voice was straining some. I was not relaxed as much and felt pretty lost. The voice I am talking with now she said was about 125 Hertz. I thought it was higher, but not according to her equipment. My homework is to read passages stepping up to 140-150 Hertz. It is hard to read and focus on the frequency when the frequency is jumping around. I guess I should find the pitch with the tuner and just read allowing for variation in pitch above and below. Got to admit to being frustrated. I have flem on my vocal cords which adds to the difficulty. I expect to get good and frustrated before I make a break through of any kind. My reading material is Dr. Suess. Was aso wondering about reading in front of a camera or mirror for visual feedback.
Quote from: HappyMoni on May 29, 2019, 08:10:40 PM
Thank you for the awesome suggestions. I may end up trying them all. I started out the day with good voice I thought. I was happy and confident that I had already found some areas of improvement. By the time I got to therapy though, my voice was straining some. I was not relaxed as much and felt pretty lost. The voice I am talking with now she said was about 125 Hertz. I thought it was higher, but not according to her equipment. My homework is to read passages stepping up to 140-150 Hertz. It is hard to read and focus on the frequency when the frequency is jumping around. I guess I should find the pitch with the tuner and just read allowing for variation in pitch above and below. Got to admit to being frustrated. I have flem on my vocal cords which adds to the difficulty. I expect to get good and frustrated before I make a break through of any kind. My reading material is Dr. Suess. Was aso wondering about reading in front of a camera or mirror for visual feedback.
Getting flustered and the voice tiring are pretty normal for only being a few weeks in. This is a deceptively difficult process, and you're still at the stage of needing to concentrate hard just to speak.
As for frequency jumping around, if you have a lot of natural intonation in your speaking style, I would suggest trying to tone that down for a while. At the beginning of this process, it's better to have a much narrower pitch variance in your voice for at least a few months - try to keep the pitch relatively steady without being robotic. That will help you get used to the new pitch. Once you get the new pitch gets burned in your mind and have resonance down, you can then think about adding back some intonation.
Sarah
My pre T middle range is 180 Hz. You don't need to pass 200 Hz to sound female.
It is not all about the Hz. It's also about HOW you talk according to my speech therapist.
Women talk like a roller coaster and go up at the end of the sentence, like a question. Men talk more even, without high ups and downs and go down at the end of the sentence. I was told this by my speech therapist. I have been listening to the melody when people speak, and she is right!
My speech therapist said I talk like a man. All I need is to come down below 170 Hz and I will be heared as a guy. T will do the trick.
I'm not sure how to practice for a female range though. Do you have a speech therapist that can help you?
I always thought I had a strange dialect, but when listening to the recording with my speech therapist I could hear I don't do the roller coaster thing. She said I interpreted that as a dialect. That I don't sound like a woman when I speak.
Tony
I think the way a spoken language sounds, male or female, also depends on the language, and the country this language is spoken. I grew up with Dutch and German. The German is the way it is spoken on the left side of the river Rhine, and it has a very strong French language influence, because this area used to be part of France for a while. The German spoken there is an up and down experience of intonations, by men and women the same. This means, male and female differences are mostly seen in the frequency. Most any statement sounds like a question.
I can hear a similar difference in Dutch. the Dutch spoken in the northern part of the Netherlands is pretty flat sounding, while the southern Dutch dialekt, which I speak, has a lot of ups and downs, too.
I learned most of my current English from my ex wife, who is a linguist and teaches at a large university. Which means, I learned the more female version of American English. Paired this with the way I used to speak German or Dutch, plus my rather high pitched voice could be the reason that I was able to speak "female" without any real problem. I was around females for most of my time over the last several years, and i just picked up the way they talk. I never had any voice lessons, or did any major exercises for it. I just talked the way it felt tight.
One funny thing though, whenever I use the telephone I use my male voice, sometimes on purpose if I want to push things, sometimes simple because it is a habit.
Quote from: sarahc on May 29, 2019, 08:23:04 PM
Getting flustered and the voice tiring are pretty normal for only being a few weeks in. This is a deceptively difficult process, and you're still at the stage of needing to concentrate hard just to speak.
As for frequency jumping around, if you have a lot of natural intonation in your speaking style, I would suggest trying to tone that down for a while. At the beginning of this process, it's better to have a much narrower pitch variance in your voice for at least a few months - try to keep the pitch relatively steady without being robotic. That will help you get used to the new pitch. Once you get the new pitch gets burned in your mind and have resonance down, you can then think about adding back some intonation.
Sarah
Sarah, thank you for putting it in perspective. You are right, I think it is normal to have some discouraging times with this. I started to feel like I was finally having a jumping off place and then I was lost again. So much has caused variability in my vocalizations. I tend to have mucous and have to clear my throat a lot, I have confidence issues, and don't have a good self awareness of my pitch. After some initial optimism, these things crept back in and I was lost again. Tonight, after a bad voice day, I did some reading out loud. The tuner jumps around but I found the 145-155 range and used your inflection limiting advice. It helped get my base pitch. I am more optimistic again. I also think a lot of my practice will involve reading. It is good practice for pitch and annunciation.
Tony, hi, yes I am starting with a therapist now.
Linde, are you kidding? I can barely speak English. lol I always thought of German as a masculine language and French as Feminine. And those Antarticans, don't get me started!
Hi Moni,
a lot of what Sarah said, my voice therapist told me the same thing today. She doesn't want me reading or talking yet just training to get the pitch all the time and the learn how to resonate then I will move on.
she told me too much to fast and it gets overwhelming and frustrating if I can get the basic down which is the hardest the rest falls right into place and can actually be enjoyable
But I understand the frustration too I added a post about my sessions on my page earlier
Hugs to another struggling voice student
Quote from: Quinn on May 30, 2019, 08:36:58 PM
Hi Moni,
a lot of what Sarah said, my voice therapist told me the same thing today. She doesn't want me reading or talking yet just training to get the pitch all the time and the learn how to resonate then I will move on.
she told me too much to fast and it gets overwhelming and frustrating if I can get the basic down which is the hardest the rest falls right into place and can actually be enjoyable
But I understand the frustration too I added a post about my sessions on my page earlier
Hugs to another struggling voice student
It sounds like your starting point is much higher than mine, Quinn. Thanks for commenting. Maybe we can compare notes. I have not been this clueless about anything else in my transition. I wish you luck with your social transition. Hugs to you as well,
Moni
Quote from: HappyMoni on May 30, 2019, 08:16:41 PM
Linde, are you kidding? I can barely speak English. lol I always thought of German as a masculine language and French as Feminine. And those Antarticans, don't get me started!
There are more women in Germany than men. And boy, can they sweat talk you, and their voices sound as feminine as they come. >:-)
I would love to compare notes anything to help with this would be great and your right this is very hard to understand how to do. When im sitting there with my speech therapist its much easier because she says the word then I repeat the word she corrects me right there on the spot and explains what I did wrong and she will again repeat the word and I follow her along in this manner it makes a lot of sense I do pretty well. It also helps with her right in front of me so I can watch her mouth while I also hear at the same time.
But when I get home and its time to practice im like what? how? why? I did it with her there why cant I do it now?
We will get this it just takes time and practice
She is really good at what she does I drive 1.5 to 2 hours each way to see her each week, As I progress and when I get the basics down I will not go down there as much, but many people do their sessions with skype with her . But until I get to that point I want her right in front of me
For me my voice is very dysphoric, i tried to do the speech therapy in 2017 but had such i bad experience i just put if off until now, i regret that decision everytime i practice now lol
hugs
Quote from: Linde on May 31, 2019, 01:17:24 AM
.... And boy, can they sweat talk you ....
'
I love sweat talk!! you know, the chat you have right after the fun is over, waiting for the next round.
I miss those days
No one springs to mind in particular, but I'll admit I'm partial to a Welsh accent on a woman, though I don't think they work as well for the guys out there - sry, just my preference [emoji846].
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Quote from: Megan. on May 31, 2019, 06:29:30 AM
No one springs to mind in particular, but I'll admit I'm partial to a Welsh accent on a woman, though I don't think they work as well for the guys out there - sry, just my preference [emoji846].
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And ofc I love a Boston accent too ;-) @Devlyn
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Quote from: Megan. on May 31, 2019, 06:31:01 AM
And ofc I love a Boston accent too ;-) @Devlyn
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You mean like "she's got a jahb pahking cahs at the Gahden"?
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Quote from: TonyaW on May 31, 2019, 06:54:31 AM
You mean like "she's got a jahb pahking cahs at the Gahden"?
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Haha, I'm sure I couldn't/shouldn't comment!
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Oh wow. I just found this topic. How did I not see it before?
What (who's) voice would you like? Therapy stuff!
My voice coach asked me this very question. For vocal range, I would love to have Terri Nunn's voice (Singer from the band Berlin). But that would take years or even decades of intense training. Who has time for that?
For just day-to-day speaking, I love Renee Zellweger's voice. Her voice is so soft, she can scream at you and sound like she is whispering. I don't see that as realistic for me to achieve, but trying to mimic her voice has helped me practice forward resonance.
OK, so what (or whose) voice would you like to have?
Quote from: HappyMoni on May 27, 2019, 07:01:12 PMI am starting this thread because my voice therapist wanted to know who I thought had a pleasant female voice. I am to get three samples of female voices before returning for therapy on Wednesday. It is really hard thinking of a pleasant, plausible voice for me. Getting a sample without music in the background makes it harder. So I do kind of like Siri's voice. I took note of Sharon Stone's voice which is low but definitely female. I need an age appropriate voice also. I can't sound like The Little Mermaid at 60 years old right? So, any thoughts? (No, not Ursula!) I need inspiration. My emphasis would be pleasant over sexy. HELP!
Moni
I just started voice coaching also and was asked the same question. I was struggling to come up with any answer. Fortunately I just happened to come across this post this morning. My appointment is today at 11:00 a.m. This gives me a little time to now do some more work on this thanks to everyone who shared their experiences here. I was at a loss on this. Once again Susan's Place has continued to be the place to bring us together. 🫂 Annaliese