What to do with the voice

[Brittany CD]

I find it to be inevitable that I will go out as Katie eventually and I look forward to the day I go clubbing in my cutest outfit. The only thing that would hold me back is my deep manly voice. Some guys can still pass with their regular voice, but mine is too manly. What do you ladies find helps to sound a little more feminine?

[Zoe Michelle]

This is something I'm interested in too. I'm a few months into my transition, and live it 24/7, but I have a radio voice. Was taking voice lessons but had to stop due to my budget. Also, Katie, if you would like to PM me, I can give you the few exercises I know. It's not much, but it's the very basics.

[KellyJameson]

Try this link. I love this girl, She's smart,funny and a great voice teacher in my opinion. On a couple of her video's she goes back and forth between her voices, brilliant and natural performer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaxxEyZBgR4

[Stephanie-L]

Interesting timing. I have my first appointment with the voice clinic of the speech therapy school at my local university, tommorow afternoon. I emailed them and told them that I wanted to develop a more feminine voice, the instructors there have worked with other trans folks and said they can help me. I will probably be working primarily with graduate students, still should be interesting and helpful. I will post more as I find out...........Stephanie

[Jaimie]

Try

http://www.exceptionalvoice.com/voicefeminization.html

http://www.deepstealth.com/film-tv-video/instructional-videos/finding-your-female-voice/

http://www.youtube.com/user/candiFLA

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/lynnskinner4

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/lynnskinner5

[t-girlxsophie]

I've never really bothered with altering my voice before,I figure I don't pass so would be a bit daft trying to put a femme voice on.But I had an Interesting conversation with my TS Friend about how she found her voice,so this doubter will be having a go and see how I get on

Sophie

[suchacutie]

I agree with Kelly...that's a great set of videos! It took me no time at all to cut off the bass part of my vocal cords when I want to. Unfortunately, that was just the beginning.

Once you have the sound you want, then it's the inflections and use of words that are the really important part of using a feminine voice properly. THAT takes some study :)

tina

[Tanya C]

My male voice is a classic radio voice. I struggle mightily trying to conjure a female voice. Usually when I speak in higher registers my volume tends to drop and it becomes difficult for anyone to make out what I'm saying. I end up having to repeat myself in a lower voice and that just makes matters worse.
But I shall continue to try the best I can not necessarily for the purpose of passing, but for the purpose of completing my female presentation.

[kimdl93]

I try to soften my voice a bit - as someone said - the way you'd talk when speaking to a child. But I don't have a very deep voice - more mid tenor.

[Stephenie S]

I am repeating myself here, but I will. I have been repeating this for several years right here on this forum.

You CAN change your voice. It takes NO money, only effort. You put tons of time and effort into your appearance, don't you? Why can't you understand that if you put that same effort into changing your voice you will be successful? Changing your voice takes practice. Lots and lots of practice. But it's completely free. It costs NO money and takes only time and effort.

Buy a cheap digital recorder and start. Start with one word. Then add another and another. This is SO within your reach and for NO money at all.

IMHO, I think that maybe this is the ONE bastion of masculinity that some are just unwilling to let go of. If you keep that one marker, your deep masculine voice, then no one can possibly call you gay. You know what I mean? Think about it, 99.9% of male crossdressers refuse to attempt this simple task. Why is this? It may just be that deep seated homophobia that most modern males seem to be suffering from.

I dunno. Just a thought, huh?

Stephie

[Jenna J]

Well put Stephanie, I think you are right.

[suchacutie]

Stephie, this voice thing is crazy! You are right about the psychology of letting go of our male voices. For me, I practiced in the car on the way to work and back (20 min) for 6 months and was very comfortable with all of it! So here I was, ready to trot out Tina's voice for the first time to my wife....and Tina just froze, suddenly all shy about it.

What is with that??? I've gotten over it for the most part, but not totally! That voice caps all the other efforts, and seems to be that last link...and for some reason it's a darn hard thing to allow to happen naturally.

Nothing, I repeat Nothing else has been that kind of issue! So bizarre!

tina

[Chickhe]

I don't think its homophobia. I think its a fear that you will sound rediculous, drawing even more attention to yourself. I remember the first time, as a kid when I heard my own voice on a recording, it was difficult to listen to because I didn't sound like me. That's another reason, even in your thoughts you hear your own male voice, so I think you have to work on that too.

[Stephenie S]

Well, DUH!

Of course it's gonna sound ridiculous to YOU. It's a new and different voice. That's kind of a given. But remember, NO one else knows what your old voice sounded like. Women's voices are all OVER the map. High and squeaky. Low and sultry. Nasal. Melodious. Fast. Slow. High. Low. The field is wide open. You can sound as silly as you want and still be accepted. Does that ditzy broad on Will and Grace sound ridiculous? Yup. She does. But does she sound masculine? Nope. She sounds like a woman with a ridiculous voice.

Give up the silly roadblock that your voice sounds ridiculous. It does and it will. But so what? Get used to it.

S

[moondog]

I watched a video on youtube by a TG and in the beginning she was talking in her female voice and it sounded female, nothing gave her away. About half way through she switched to her male voice and then back to female. She did this a few more times and it was interesting to see the ease with which she could switch her voice back and forth with little effort and how completely different her voices were. At that point I noticed her female voice wasn't perfect for a female, although after watching the video several times I also began thinking her male voice wasn't dead on either. Of course this was only after hearing her switch between her two voices and I believe this is more a result of my own pyschological make up, still holding on to the male/female dicotomy, then her ability to have two distinct voices.

She said the same thing as Stephenie S, you don't need to spend money or go to a speach therepist, you only need to practice.

[retrofitme]

in some sense, I think voice is kind of the 'holy grail' of passing in public. I've never tried to get a femme voice myself, though I am fairly verbally talented (I emulate accents easily, can do lots of voice impressions from cartoons and such). The trouble for me is, I have to 'hear' the voice first before I can emulate it. I haven't found a femme voice yet that I can reasonably emulate.

[Stephanie-L]

Having noted the sites posted earlier, I will definately be checking them out, but as a TG I am going to give the speech therapy school my best shot. I had my first meeting with them today, and they were great. It was mostly an evaluation, and what they can do for me kind of meeting. They asked a lot of questions about how I felt about my voice and it's current feminine qualities, and recorded me saying various things in both my male and (terrible) female voice. The first appointment was a senior student, who kind of ran it, a junior student and a professor who had worked with TGs in the past. They were all very positive, and the professor even talked about non-verbal communication stuff that is different male to female, and how they can help me with that too. They asked me which name I prefered (as I was presenting male at the time I used my male name) and the professor said I was welcome to come as a female at any time. They asked about my goals, which I told them, I want to have a more feminine voice. I realize that at my age it will be almost imposible to totally feminize my voice without surgery, but any improvement would be good. They said that I can get some significant improvement and that I am being realistic in my goals. I will definately work on my voice on my own, but the help from professionals and the acceptance they gave was really great. They also suggested finding a female voice I like, a singer or actress and they may be able to use that as a bit of a model. All in all, it was great, I will report more as it progresses, unfortunately it will be a few weeks before my next session...........Stephanie