I also ended up at about a 170 Hz base pitch, which is 30 Hz lower than Dr Kim was "aiming" for, I guess. His estimate of my pre OP pitch was 135 Hz, but this is all quite unsure. I know that my real base pitch originally probably was lower as I always felt it was even lower than with most of the boys in school, but I used a trained voice for 15 years, so I did not know what my original pitch was, 135 Hz seemed rather relaxed though. Also now this 170 Hz is sort of the base pitch, while the 135 Hz was measured with me reading a text, if I read a text now it all depends on my mood, intonation etc - the average comes out at 180 Hz a lot, but occasionally I get an 200 Hz average if I sort of put more femininity into the voice. I think this also happens in real life - if I talk to male coworkers in a meeting, I have no doubt my voice is more in the 170 Hz range, while if I a talking to some guy I want to convince to do something for me or being thankful, the pitch goes up. If I am with other women, the pitch is a bit higher as well...
There is a strong social component to pitch - I read an article yesterday about female voices in Germany - apparently over 20 years, the average pitch of female voices here has dropped from over 200 Hz to 170 Hz because of changes in social positioning, independence, emanzipation etc. In that sens, I am right in the average with my voice, it may well be that I use this pitch because it is the average of other women I perceive and subconsciously adapt it as well. Maybe if i lived in a different country, my pitch would eventuall adapt to a different level. I know for example that my pitch is higher if I speak english.
The voice is flexible - there is barely some real fixed pitch that a voice has, there is maybe a pitch range that is most comfortable but when speaking we always use muscles to make a sound and just how much we use these muscles determines the pitch and this really is highly influenced by the brain as well
