I have succeeded in singing in the exact same range as Tori Amos (Alto) and Tracy Chapman. I have a very bluesy, soulful voice, the bues, of course, is, by and large, a male genre. A lot of people have told me they thought Tracy Chapman was a guy when they first heard her. I learned You Got a Friend, which I do one octave above James Taylor, I had this little nasal thing going which made me sound a little like Carole King.

I don't know...maybe sounding like Tracy Chapman is not so bad, i just wonder what I could do to make my singing voice a little more feminine though.

Breathiness.
Pitch...while important is just part of it. 

There is also issues of resonance and harmonics.  Guys typically have more resonance and can achieve more harmonics in their voice.  Take for example Built to Spill, the lead singer is close to singing in a complex multi-harmonic fashion.  The softies on the other hand sound breathy, and airy.  But even here there are not hard and fast rules.

I could go on, but its more complex than just speaking.  I still sing using multiple vocal techniques both male and female.  Its taken years to develop singing in this way.

I would like to say women vary thier pitch more...but for singing that is not always the case.

There is also approaches to differant words, writing styles, etc.

I could go on and on. 

You are also HIGHLY influenced by what you listen to. 

Also I would not focus so much on pitch, there are female alto's who tend to rest mainly in a lower range.  Traci from Everything But the Girl is actually a lower range than her male counterpart in the group who is a countertenor.  It really has to do with delivery if you are in the alto/counter-tenor range.  Harmonics, resonance, breathiness, and delivery begin to play a much larger role. 

Sample of my singing voice

I wasn't concentrating on my speaking voice I noticed when I laughed and said the mike wasn't on, I sounded pretty feminine...feedback is welcome

QuoteI have succeeded in singing in the exact same range as Tori Amos (Alto) and Tracy Chapman. I have a very bluesy, soulful voice, the bues, of course, is, by and large, a male genre.

Melissa,

It took me years to discover that my natural singing voice is baritone, I spent years before that singing badly as a tenor . There's a lot of great blues singers with alto range: Bessie Smith, Rory Block, to name a couple. I'd have nothing to complain about if I could sing like Tracy Chapman! I haven't seen it yet, but apparently there's a recently released documentary about a transgender chorus.

zythyra

Quote from: zythyra on June 29, 2007, 02:04:12 PM

QuoteI have succeeded in singing in the exact same range as Tori Amos (Alto) and Tracy Chapman. I have a very bluesy, soulful voice, the bues, of course, is, by and large, a male genre.

Melissa,

It took me years to discover that my natural singing voice is baritone, I spent years before that singing badly as a tenor . There's a lot of great blues singers with alto range: Bessie Smith, Rory Block, to name a couple. I'd have nothing to complain about if I could sing like Tracy Chapman! I haven't seen it yet, but apparently there's a recently released documentary about a transgender chorus.

zythyra

I was encouraged to audition for that but never did.

Well I suppose you could try this, you said that you sound like Carol King and that's a good place to start. Now is there another singers style that's nice and feminine that you could blend in with Carol Kings to form a hybrid style that's all your own. Personally I'm more concerned with the end results than any gender influence but that's just me. For my voice and taste I find a blend of Jackson Brown's and Linda Ronstat's style to be the most versitile for almost every musical genre.

Quote from: Jonie on June 29, 2007, 03:53:37 PM
Well I suppose you could try this, you said that you sound like Carol King and that's a good place to start. Now is there another singers style that's nice and feminine that you could blend in with Carol Kings to form a hybrid style that's all your own. Personally I'm more concerned with the end results than any gender influence but that's just me. For my voice and taste I find a blend of Jackson Brown's and Linda Ronstat's style to be the most versitile for almost every musical genre.

The big problem is that I developed a great bluesy, ballsy male style. I am influenced by Tracy Chapman, Mahalia Jackson, Chrissie Hynde, Pattie Smith, Tori Amos, Billie Holliday, Etta James and others.

Posted on: June 29, 2007, 04:35:45 PM

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Quote from: melissa90299 on June 29, 2007, 01:50:59 PM
Sample of my singing voice

I wasn't concentrating on my speaking voice I noticed when I laughed and said the mike wasn't on, I sounded pretty feminine...feedback is welcome

Could I get some feedback>

QuoteCould I get some feedback>

I tried to listen, but playback kept stopping, I only got to hear about 15 seconds of singing. I'll try again later. Your speaking voice in the intro sounds good.

zythyra

I concur with Gina on the speaking voice. I wouldn't peg you on the singing voice, but I might on the speaking. Perhaps trying to project the sound, like Gina said, more to the spot behind your front teeth and under your nose might help a little and a bit more air in it. It's damn close though and the speaking part wasn't the point of the clip.

On the Carole King song, I wouldn't say it's a nasal thing, what you do is give it a little country twang, which sounds good. I like your interpretation of it. And you do have a lovely blues voice as well on the Chapman song.

You have an excellent singing voice, Melissa. And you sound all woman to me.

Dennis

I actually got a Don Mclean feel from your style.  Then again I'm more familiar with American Pie and Vincent so I guess thats why.  As far as a more feminine sound, I would definitely say try not to sing from the chest as much.  That reminds me, its going to be hell for me to abandon the full tenor voice I've worked so hard on.

So I think I making great progress on my singing voice, miked up live, I can use more breathiness, I am going to look for a pianist to accompany me and do a lounge act when I get back, still want to start a band but that requires a lot more time. In the meantime, I will do some open mike at piano bars like Martuni's.

I know a guy who has a recording studio.....he knows I can sing higher than the guys can and on oaccasions gets me in to do multiple backing vocals with slightly different harmonies. On the playback they sound like four or five female backing singers.......

Quote from: melissa90299 on June 29, 2007, 04:36:23 PM

Quote from: Jonie on June 29, 2007, 03:53:37 PM
Well I suppose you could try this, you said that you sound like Carol King and that's a good place to start. Now is there another singers style that's nice and feminine that you could blend in with Carol Kings to form a hybrid style that's all your own. Personally I'm more concerned with the end results than any gender influence but that's just me. For my voice and taste I find a blend of Jackson Brown's and Linda Ronstat's style to be the most versitile for almost every musical genre.

The big problem is that I developed a great bluesy, ballsy male style. I am influenced by Tracy Chapman, Mahalia Jackson, Chrissie Hynde, Pattie Smith, Tori Amos, Billie Holliday, Etta James and others.

Posted on: June 29, 2007, 04:35:45 PM

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Quote from: melissa90299 on June 29, 2007, 01:50:59 PM
Sample of my singing voice

I wasn't concentrating on my speaking voice I noticed when I laughed and said the mike wasn't on, I sounded pretty feminine...feedback is welcome

Could I get some feedback>

I think it all boils down to style, pitch, and overtones. What else could effect how feminine you sound?