I am quit passable expect my voice. I am going to have some speech therapy. But before that I make sometimes stupid/unpolite expression because I am saying very little or nothing. When I tried to exercise myself I got nearly immediatelly sore throat. I have so called ''sensitive throat''.
Because of my voice, it is difficult to pass. To pass, usually I do not speak. Sometimes people still recognize me as a woman even after hearing my voice. But, in most cases, they can quess it or are dazed.
Nevertheless, when I am in full dress, I am usually with my friends and colleagues who know I am a dad.
Barbie~~
I do my RLT with people that majority does not know about me. So the voice is a real problem.
If it is bothering your throat I think you are "trying too hard" and forcing it. Going up in pitch should be a little more "relaxing" and easier once you find the "trick".
Yes you will get a sore throat. But with practice, the muscles in your throat will get use to the new higher voice. Make sure that you can record your voice to play back. A speech therapist can help, but they will have you practice. When your throat becomes sore, give it a break for a day or two and then get back at it. It took me a couple of months to be passable in the voice department, and now I can't even get 'his' voice back. Which is a good thing.
Janet
Quote from: Northern Jane on September 02, 2008, 09:34:05 AM
If it is bothering your throat I think you are "trying too hard" and forcing it. Going up in pitch should be a little more "relaxing" and easier once you find the "trick".
Yeah, for some people to takes longer than it does for others. It's taken me around 6 to 9 months and I still have relapses from time to time. It probably would have been easier if I had not spent 12 years wrecking my voice to Napalm Death and Carcass tapes all day. :D
Your voice will come with lots of practice, I've been working on mine for at least 4 Months and thus far it is very passible in many aeras, however, a few things I still need to work on and watch for (Mainly my anger) but I'm sure your voice will come. Try lots of different things to help. Personilly I use water, juice, any form of Liqud to ad.
Am I just lucky with my voice ... its one thing I've never practiced ?
Yet I've never thought that my voice has ever "outed" me. When I'm with a guy I very much do the talking (just like a typical woman ... ::) ...) and I just don't think about voice at all, being far more concerned with how I look.
Don't feel anyone's ever thought twice about my voice, least of all me. But I "pass" and I'm stealth to so many recent friends. And guess I pass 99% on the phone too.
I've heard many trans women who sound really forced, almost falsetto, or those who just do not make an effort and sound like truck drivers.
Guess its to do with adapting what you have, not really trying to raise pitch, but mimicking female voice patterns, word choice, things which were always a characteristic of the way I talked.
Just can't imagine how hard it would be to be always talking in a pitch higher than what comes naturally, and always being concious of having to maintain a "female voice" ... :-\ ...
Laura x
You have not said if you have transitioned yet. Once you do never go back to a normal guy voice. If you work very hard it will become natural. Once there never slip and go back.
I have never had a problem with my voice as I did sart very young. Listen to yourself on a phone recording. If you sound ok there to your satisfaction you are on your way.
Deb
Quote from: Secretgirl on September 02, 2008, 07:08:21 AM
I am quit passable expect my voice. I am going to have some speech therapy. But before that I make sometimes stupid/unpolite expression because I am saying very little or nothing. When I tried to exercise myself I got nearly immediatelly sore throat. I have so called ''sensitive throat''.
Get CDs of classic torch songs and learn to sing along. Buy the sheet music or songbooks. Most of the greatest torch song singers had husky sexy voices that drove men mad with desire and you need to learn how to make those kinds of sounds. Plus, as added bonus, singing the lyrics over and over is a form of self-hypnosis to feminize your thought patterns more deeply. I will be waiting, dear. You'll thank me later for this advice. Women sing more than just speak sentences. You'll see when you start doing it.
The biggest problem is when you have to shout out some cursewords at some ^%$^%$&^ because of their stupid !%#^%^#&&. You need to practice how to swear, dear, in a femme voice. That takes skill!
my voice seems to be getting slowy better the more feminine I become.....
however.... the breathyness of it is working well, yet it still seems too much like a whisper,
anyone know any technique to make it like a completely proper female voice??
It's hard to explain, but with talking with a male voice, the voice is forced out. With a female voice, it (the sound) kind of slides out on it's own. It's like you do the muscle movements and it just comes out on it's own. Add *some* breathiness to it, but don't overdo it.
Not only do I speak as a female, I also sing as one. I've been in 2 musicals as well as taken professional voice lessons without anyone knowing (including my voice teacher) that I was TS. I started out learning a lot on my own. It helps to talk with other women because just hearing them talk and talking along with them is immensely helpful in getting your technique correct.
Also, it can be helpful (and sometimes discouraging) to use your voicemail to record and playback your voice. It can sound very fake in your head, but it's what others hear that counts. It's a matter of learning the "feel" of what doing the voice correctly and using that feeling to do it consistently.
Now, unlike some people, my voice didn't just come naturally. I definitely had to work at it, so I hope that helps you out.
I'm personally trying to contact the Speech Pathology department at the local college near me, and hoping to go from there. I have asked the GLBT group that is located there if they know of any resources, or people who could help me train my voice, maybe I'll get lucky.
awww thanks Melissa, I trust a singer's voice!
Thats encouraging :) - I'm having to work at it quite a bit, time is the greatest healer i suppose...
(don't want to hijack this thread or anything)
I can do often a fake sounding voice in my head, which I really hate (cos its fake)
so I stop doing that straight away.
time, time, time.... :D
Quote from: Laura Eva B on September 02, 2008, 07:26:11 PM
Am I just lucky with my voice ... its one thing I've never practiced ?
I've heard many trans women who sound really forced, almost falsetto, or those who just do not make an effort and sound like truck drivers.
You ARE lucky to have a passable voice without practice! I wish that I could say that, but the truth is that I did practice, beginning as a child. All of my friends were girls, and part of what I did in order to fit in, was to try to sound like them. I did very well and developed a very natural childlike voice that was 100% passable over the phone. I used to call my mother and tease her about having dialed her number by mistake. She thought that I was a little girl and never thought that the little girl was me!
You're certainly correct about trans women who try to over compensate by speaking in an un-natural, forced high voice. The goal is to sound natural, which is more than pitch alone, but also resonance and intonation. Articulation makes a difference as well. Vocal presentation is about subtleties; many women have low voices. Lauren Bacall is an example. I no longer can speak as sweetly and as childlike as I once could, and I've utilized the services of a speech pathologist to help me to refine my speech. I have excellent control over pitch, can easily speak in one note per syllable if I wish to, my resonance is very good, and most importantly, my speech flows gracefully, and is completely natural. For me, transition is about gender and self expression. My voice is crucial to my identity and to my ability to express myself, I place enormous importance to it. My voice has to be true to who I am, or how can I express myself honestly? I've spent a great deal of time practicing and refining my voice to the point where I really feel comfortable using it as I would like. I would never live full time as I am if I were unable to open my mouth and add to my ability to blend into society. I need to be able to freely interact with people, and to feel pride in who I am.
I do volunteer work. I work as a receptionist greeting visitors as well as taking phone calls. I also work in New York City as a saleswoman. I would never be able to do these things if I were unable to speak naturally as myself. I sound like a woman with a New York accent, and that is exactly who I am. As Laura has observed, some individuals make no effort. Everyone has the right to express their gender awareness as they experience it. I experience my gender in the same way as any other woman, and there is no way that I would be able to become accepted by mainstream society as I am without my vocal skills. They are, for me, at least as important as my visual presentation.
There has been a lot of attention given to the program recenly that showcased Dr. Marci Bowers, as well as another woman. Both women speak beautifully! They both present so very well physically and in terms of their speech! I'm not nearly as passable as either, and my speech is entirely different. I have no desire to look or to sound like anyone else. I'm transitioning in order to be true to myself, and I'm very comfortable with what I've accomplished. I practically never attract attention as I look like what I am; an average 58 year old woman. Sometimes an older man will start a conversation. My vocal skills allow it to continue!
Quote from: April221 on September 10, 2008, 02:56:45 PM
Quote from: Laura Eva B on September 02, 2008, 07:26:11 PM
Am I just lucky with my voice ... its one thing I've never practiced ?
I've heard many trans women who sound really forced, almost falsetto, or those who just do not make an effort and sound like truck drivers.
You ARE lucky to have a passable voice without practice! I wish that I could say that, but the truth is that I did practice, beginning as a child. All of my friends were girls, and part of what I did in order to fit in, was to try to sound like them. I did very well and developed a very natural childlike voice that was 100% passable over the phone. I used to call my mother and tease her about having dialed her number by mistake. She thought that I was a little girl and never thought that the little girl was me!
You're certainly correct about trans women who try to over compensate by speaking in an un-natural, forced high voice. The goal is to sound natural, which is more than pitch alone, but also resonance and intonation. Articulation makes a difference as well. Vocal presentation is about subtleties; many women have low voices. Lauren Bacall is an example. I no longer can speak as sweetly and as childlike as I once could, and I've utilized the services of a speech pathologist to help me to refine my speech. I have excellent control over pitch, can easily speak in one note per syllable if I wish to, my resonance is very good, and most importantly, my speech flows gracefully, and is completely natural. For me, transition is about gender and self expression. My voice is crucial to my identity and to my ability to express myself, I place enormous importance to it. My voice has to be true to who I am, or how can I express myself honestly? I've spent a great deal of time practicing and refining my voice to the point where I really feel comfortable using it as I would like. I would never live full time as I am if I were unable to open my mouth and add to my ability to blend into society. I need to be able to freely interact with people, and to feel pride in who I am.
I do volunteer work. I work as a receptionist greeting visitors as well as taking phone calls. I also work in New York City as a saleswoman. I would never be able to do these things if I were unable to speak naturally as myself. I sound like a woman with a New York accent, and that is exactly who I am. As Laura has observed, some individuals make no effort. Everyone has the right to express their gender awareness as they experience it. I experience my gender in the same way as any other woman, and there is no way that I would be able to become accepted by mainstream society as I am without my vocal skills. They are, for me, at least as important as my visual presentation.
There has been a lot of attention given to the program recenly that showcased Dr. Marci Bowers, as well as another woman. Both women speak beautifully! They both present so very well physically and in terms of their speech! I'm not nearly as passable as either, and my speech is entirely different. I have no desire to look or to sound like anyone else. I'm transitioning in order to be true to myself, and I'm very comfortable with what I've accomplished. I practically never attract attention as I look like what I am; an average 58 year old woman. Sometimes an older man will start a conversation. My vocal skills allow it to continue!
I used to have a little bit of a New York accent, but I moved out of Jersey, and now I have lived in TN for 6 years and IA for 6 months now, so my accent is just me. Still working on feminizing my voice, and will practice as I feel comfortable as much as I can. The only thing I think I have to worry about is resonance, I speak with a natural sing song all the time, probably part of the reason people take me for gay (well I am technically, but not how they think I am). My issue is the male resonance, Pitch is no big deal, I actually don't want to raise mine much at all, its that resonance though that bothers me so much, so bleh. I'm working on it though, hopefully I won't develop too quickly on HRT, because that might up my timetable a little bit.
My voice by default is a female voice, and no one is the wiser, though I can if I want to switch to my deep male voice. It takes some forcing, though. When I was younger I prayed to God to allow me to keep my young feminine voice, and I think in a way he did, but I also probably worked extensively (probably without my knowing what exactly I was doing) on training my voice to "jump" into the female range and stay there. It has never been a problem for me, and I enjoy my voice! (Though today it's a bit raspy from singing in the car!)
i don't know what to think anymore sometimes.
i can talk to people who care about me with different voices, and they don't ever even mention it.
i am beginning to believe it has something to do with honest, true love
Hi Alexandra, I to was lucky that way, I never realy had a deep voice to start with, I'm also a small person anyway. I use to call it a half way between voice so that helped a great deal when I came out full time. But two years ago I started to get this scratchiness to my voice and I have been practicing at bringing my voice up a couple octaves higher in order to override the scratchiness. I mostly practiced my voice by humming when ever I get a chance to do so. So people just think I'm a hummer which they think is rather charming.
Cindy
I find the voice to be one of the single hardest parts about transition. I have seen numerous video's on the subject matter, but I can't seem to get it to where I need it to be. However, when I do "accidently" get it there, all is good until I actually force it back to my boy voice. Consequently, I agree with what has been said, that if you never let it drop back,you would probably be fine, because you would adapt to this being your "normal" voice. Unfortunately, I won't be in the position to do that for another couple of months.
Once I got out and active in the trans community, I was amazed how many women look great but simply do not bother to feminize their voices at all. It's always a little unsettling when some lovely woman opens her mouth and a thoroughly male voice comes out. Come on, girls, get with it.
Although once I was talking with one such lady, about the excellent voice training program I'd been in, and she answered that for some medical reason she is unable to feminize her voice. Umm.... :icon_redface: sorry, never mind.
Hi Hypatia, I quite agree with you. It's the same thing here. Outside of the place where I work I would not feel comfortable having them around me. I don't understand the obsession to pass if when they open their mouth they sound like Paul Bunyan complete with sore bunions.
Wing Walker would like to know if you are going or have gone to GWU for voice training?
Cindy
Yes, it was the Speech & Hearing Center at George Washington University, and the training I got there was top notch. But then they told me that I was the fastest learner they'd ever had among their transsexual clients. I graduated in two semesters, and they said everyone else takes longer to learn it. I attributed my success to having been a musician and a linguist, and knowing what to listen for acoustically and phonetically.
What worked best for me was when Professor Moody modeled the voice I was trying for, and then I was able to mimic her accurately. She commands an amazing range of voices. I feel it was just like learning to speak a language: mimicry is the key, which is why little kids are the best at learning languages, they're natural mimics. So I guess the trick is, become ye as little children...
It would be nice to be like a child again, but I get what you are saying. Me, its just a matter of practice and doing my best, but I need to contact the Speech Pathology department here at the local college, and maybe they will be able to help me out.