Damn, I swear over the last week my voice has dropped so much and I didn't even notice it. I've been doing these weekly voice comparisons just to keep track but this week really snuck up on me. I thought my partner was just playing with me the other day when we Facetimed and she was shocked at my voice. We hadn't talked in maybe 2 or 3 days and it had changed just that much for her to be in awe!
However, as excited as I am, I'm a little sad to loose my old voice. Theres something just so familiar about it that I can't seem to shake. I haven't grown accustomed to this new lower one...Anyone else have the same issue?

You can listen to the comparison on my Tumblr linked below.

https://wizewizkid.tumblr.com

Seems like a slow steady progression with me, everyday it sounds the same but each week it sounds less and less like my old voice.

Tbh I'm relieved, there was something so awkward about my old voice I could hardly stand listening to it. With a voice sample if I edit and drop the pitch to -11 (typically male) it sounds like a completely different person. I'm not sure it'll drop that far but if it does I'll be very cool with it.

Although I hated my old voice I sorta missed it for a time as it sounded familiar while my deeper voice at first sounded like a whole different person. But gradually my voice has settled and it sounds pretty much like how it did before; just deeper. I can't really remember what I used to sound like.

There were times when I didn't like my old voice. Like when I was in a loud environment and I compensated by going up and louder; it became more feminine and less commanding.

Now I'm concerned that my voice won't sound like a cis-guys. You know when you meet a trans guy and you can almost hear their pre-T voice underneath the depth? Would voice exercises help with that? I'm not sure what the issue is though. Is in word pronunciation, or something else?

Most of the time, it has to do with how they are speaking. Men usually speak from deeper, in the chest. Whereas women tend to speak from higher up, from the mouth or nose area. When MTFs train their voice, they focus on training it to speak from a different place.  With FTM, our vocal chords will stretch and change and resonate differently on T because of how T changes us. However, some FTM naturally speak from higher up and that could be part of the reason some voices still sound a different pitch. That can be changed with training, of course, and it can also be a combination of other things like pronunciation or emphasis. A way of speaking is something we acquire socially so it affects different people to different degrees. some Cis men speak from higher up naturally and some cis women speak from their chests. That is one thing someone could focus on trying to train, though, to have a deeper, more resonant voice. There are videos and tutorials that might help if that's something of interest.

Quote from: Dex on January 31, 2017, 10:41:01 AM
Most of the time, it has to do with how they are speaking. Men usually speak from deeper, in the chest. Whereas women tend to speak from higher up, from the mouth or nose area. When MTFs train their voice, they focus on training it to speak from a different place.  With FTM, our vocal chords will stretch and change and resonate differently on T because of how T changes us. However, some FTM naturally speak from higher up and that could be part of the reason some voices still sound a different pitch. That can be changed with training, of course, and it can also be a combination of other things like pronunciation or emphasis. A way of speaking is something we acquire socially so it affects different people to different degrees. some Cis men speak from higher up naturally and some cis women speak from their chests. That is one thing someone could focus on trying to train, though, to have a deeper, more resonant voice. There are videos and tutorials that might help if that's something of interest.

Thanks! I've always been mistaken for my dad or brother or men on the phone, I thought it because my naturally deep voice but it may also be from a chest speaking voice too. Now that I'm on T it's just way more pronounced. I'll totally look into those videos. How might I go about looking that up? Are their specific key phrases?

I've never looked into it too heavily but a google search for "how to speak with a deeper voice" turned up a lot of training documents. There are also some apps that can help with FTM voice training. I looked into them but didn't want to pay for them until I knew how well T would change things. I ended up not really needing it but, like you, I always had a relatively deeper voice for a female.

yeah I guess what I dont know is, is there more to sounding male than having a deep voice? I know there is speaking from your chest, which I'm pretty sure I already do but is there more then that? I did some research and all I could really find was "how to deepen your voice naturally."

Technically no, it's just a matter of pitch and length/thickness of your vocal cords.

But men do seem to speak with less inflections or in more of a monotone than women.

The difference between a chest voice and a head voice is tensing the muscles above the larynx. MTFs tense them and that results in the pitch increase. FTMs need to relax them and that will drop their voice. Your larynx shouldn't move up when you are speaking and you can check this by placing your hand lightly on your larynx to see if it moves or not.

Women singers use the chest voice to sing in the lower ranges. Karen Carpenter was noted for this as almost all of her singing used the chest voice. Feel free to let me know if you need additional help with this.

I think that one thing to keep in mind is that if you listen to 100 guys all their voices will sound dfifferennt, some lower and fuller, some higher, some more resonant. It's not about some ideal, though I find myself looking for that. Work with what you have and get in the changes. Not every cis guy sounds the same, neither will we

Quote from: Dena on January 31, 2017, 06:42:53 PM
The difference between a chest voice and a head voice is tensing the muscles above the larynx. MTFs tense them and that results in the pitch increase. FTMs need to relax them and that will drop their voice. Your larynx shouldn't move up when you are speaking and you can check this by placing your hand lightly on your larynx to see if it moves or not.

Women singers use the chest voice to sing in the lower ranges. Karen Carpenter was noted for this as almost all of her singing used the chest voice. Feel free to let me know if you need additional help with this.

Thank you! This was kinda the info I was searching for. I will totally keep an feeler out on my Larynx. I mean I already do  because it feels like I have a lump there constantly but still...I learned from a very young age (chores, acapella, singing in school) to use my diaphragm and it probably carried over to my daily speaking voice. I don't think I have to worry about my larynx too much. I'm just self conscious about it now because of my most recent drop has got me thinking.

Quote from: patrick1967 on January 31, 2017, 06:44:54 PM
I think that one thing to keep in mind is that if you listen to 100 guys all their voices will sound dfifferennt, some lower and fuller, some higher, some more resonant. It's not about some ideal, though I find myself looking for that. Work with what you have and get in the changes. Not every cis guy sounds the same, neither will we

I'm trying to to trip about it as much because I KNOW I had a deep and commanding voice to begin with. I just got concerned when I heard a few guys speak and I instantly new they were trans (We were also at a queer gathering). I just got worried that I could be pegged and my voice give me away.

What Kylo mentioned about inflections and speaking cadence is also helpful. There is much more than just "deep voice" that is male. However, there are plenty of cis males I know that have higher voices or slightly more feminine speaking patterns. As with everything, there is a lot of variance in human traits.

No one will probably ever attribute your voice to being trans once your voice settles in even if it's not super deep. It wouldn't be the sole thing that would tip someone off but I definitely understand the concern. Even though I know logically my voice sounds pretty good, I still have a hard time not worrying about it and various other things I know aren't truly a big deal. The confidence in the changes is where I struggle.