Your feminine voice...

[Janelle_C]

How important is it to have a really good feminine voice before you venture out? There was a time when I did a lot of practice and started to sound pretty good but I was to chicken to use it around my wife.:o But I plan on starting again.
:)Shy

[AllieSF]

Hi Shy,

Going out just needs a lot of confidence and courage. Wanting to blend and not stand out, or not have problems is one thing, but getting out depends on those two things. You could totally not blend, dress terribly, have a very male voice, but if you have that courage and confidence you can conquer the world and people do it all the time in their own ways. If you are like most of us, you want to blend in as best possible and then just enjoy the moments out without worry. I pass at a distance and do not close up. I try to walk and more or less act like a woman when out. I also try to use a higher voice without sounding like a falsetto. That normally doesn't work for me. So, since I can't be perfect and I am very good at being imperfect, my confidence always makes my day, making me feel comfortable and those strangers around me too. So, worry less about your voice, more about your appearance and mannerisms and then build up those two key factors by taking those first steps like driving around dressed, drive through restaurants for something to drink, walks in the park and then down the street in some larger town or city. Build yourself up for a great day or night on the town. It really does work. Good luck.

[kimdl93]

I don't know....I do consciously try to project a somewhat more slightly higher, softer more modulated feminine voice...but I don't want to sound like a cartoon character in the process so it may be too subtle. In any case, that's the least of the obstacles I face as far as blending in.

[Karren H]

Though I've tried to speak more feminine.... it never sounded good so I just speak softer. Still sound like a guy. Not that they don't already know that by the time we get to the speaking part. Lol.

[Richelle423]

I still sound like a guy or a woman who smokes 4 packs of cigs a day but I'm still working on it.

[michelle64]

I just talk..see no need to hide it..and it really is of no concern to me as-as soon as i get the "all our shoes are on sale this week" and i say "i want these pairs and here are the pictures i downloaded off the puter" the cat is usually out of the bag..not once has any sales lady ever thrown me out the door..found out early on i get 1st rate servcie as well.

[lightfoot]

...There was a time when I did a lot of practice and started to sound pretty good but I was to chicken to use it...

You could try morphing your voice on the computer as a training aid. It's a fun way to get feedback listening to yourself.

I explore my fem side by playing a tgirl in SecondLife. Just recently I've been using voice with my avatar. I morph my voice to sound like a woman. Ok, I know this is not helping you in real life, but one thing I found....surprising about myself...is how changing my voice also affects how I talk. Understand, I don't "try" to sound or act like a female in SecondLife....I just do what comes natural. But hearing myself as a woman, I just naturally talk different. Anyway....after I do this long enough, I find that even after I walk away from the computer, that voice change follows me a bit. That's why I mention it as a training aid. Just for fun...morph your voice and talk. Might be easier if you Skype or chat one or more of your girlfriends. Don't "try" to change your voice, just do what comes natural. It may help.

BTW: You don't need to use SecondLife to play with voice morphing. If you're a Windows user, look into Screaming Bee. There's a free version of the software that will morph your voice male to female. If you're an OS X user like myself, you don't need anything. Just use Garage Band and play with voice morphing. Turn it on and let it go. It's fun.

[JessHaust]

I have developed a feminine voice that is OK, and always try to use it, but find that I really have to concentrate. Once I get engaged in a conversation is drops off pretty quickly until I think about it and readjust. Plus it's really difficult in a noisy environment, the male voice just carries much better.

[Aprilrain]

The best way to find your female voice is to go full time, anything short of that will end up being subpar unless you are particularly talented with voices or are naturally musical. Going back and forth keeps your male voice dominant and never gives the muscles of the upper vocal folds the proper strength conditioning. It gets even easier once the lower vocal fold muscles atropy (they never completely atrophy so no worries there)

[Leana]

My voice is awful! I usually end up saying very little; "Hmm-Hmm" "Huh-Huh" and lots of nodding and shaking of head. Are there any tips to improve it?

[Miriam-J]

I think you need to ensure that whatever you choose is sustainable. Many female emulation voices tend to be hard to carry for very long as they're pretty hard on the vocal cords. A little pitch change, softening your voice, and adjusting your vocabulary and rhythm are all pretty easy to sustain as long as you're careful even when you're excited.

Miriam

[Jacqueline Winona]

I met one of our members/sisters the other day who has done an amazing job at developing a voice (as well as a face and sense of style that blends in very well)- she learned at a local college. Very impressive to say the least.

[Leyna]

I have a pretty good feminine voice. Truth is, the pitch isn't all that much higher. On a music scale, the average female voice is only a fourth or fifth higher than the average male, so that's what I aim for. Since I have a low male voice, it translates to a low female voice. But honestly, the main difference isn't in the pitch of the voice, but in how you say things.

[Betty M]

When I was younger I had to work on developing a male voice. So I am just trying to return to the way I used to talk. I think it must be working, I have not been addressed as sir lately. (Although sometimes I slip back into male mode).

[Aprilrain]

My voice is awful! I usually end up saying very little; "Hmm-Hmm" "Huh-Huh" and lots of nodding and shaking of head. Are there any tips to improve it?

Like anything, practice makes better. What is your goal? If it is to blend a little better than just not having such an obviously male voice will help. If your gaol is to "pass" then I hate to disappoint you but the truth is you most likely are not and wont. Consider, most transsexuals don't "pass", they take hormones and generally have their own hair. Wigs are a dead give away especially to GGs (men don't pay any attention to woman they don't find attractive or in some other way odd or curious) I'm not saying don't wear a wig they are great often better than real hair which is why they are obvious, lol. Really a bunch of mm hmms and nodding is going to be weirder than if you just talk. Woman TALK! They don't grunt and say things like uh huh. Being quiet is NOT disarming it says I have something to hide.

[linda allen]

I try using a higher pitched voice, but I suspect I sound like Michael Jackson. So far, I've been able to keep my use of this voice to things like "Good morning", "Thank you", "Excuse me", etc.

There's no way I could carry on a conversation in a female voice, and frankly, I don't know what I would talk about.

In my observations, one of the biggest differences between male and female voices is, a true female will use a lot more words to say the same thing. :heehee:

[Leana]

Like anything, practice makes better. What is your goal? If it is to blend a little better than just not having such an obviously male voice will help. If your gaol is to "pass" then I hate to disappoint you but the truth is you most likely are not and wont. Consider, most transsexuals don't "pass", they take hormones and generally have their own hair. Wigs are a dead give away especially to GGs (men don't pay any attention to woman they don't find attractive or in some other way odd or curious) I'm not saying don't wear a wig they are great often better than real hair which is why they are obvious, lol. Really a bunch of mm hmms and nodding is going to be weirder than if you just talk. Woman TALK! They don't grunt and say things like uh huh. Being quiet is NOT disarming it says I have something to hide.

My "goal" was to ask for tips on how to improve my voice. But thanks for your opinion on wigs and whether I "pass"!

[Debb]

I have a very deep voice. I used to sing along with an alto-voiced singer on my drive to wherever I was going, when enfemme. It helped a little, but I found that I had to be conscious of it ... and frankly, I'm just too lazy.

Nowadays, I just let the chips fall where they may ... it's not like a person can't tell I'm a guy anyways.

[Katesback]

As was said by Aprilrain I think it's almost impossible to put toghether a decent female voice when your not full time. Theres something about going through transition and taking hormones and comming to a realitization that its truely a major important thing to have a reasonable female voice that a TS experiences. For a CD they dont go through that process. They remain men and always resort back to a man when they arent dressing. Hot can you expect one to ever have a decent female voice when that person really doesnt feel the compelling need to have it?

Having worked for trans people I met countless of them. With just a couple exceptions I can honestly say that cds cant do a female voice. They either have a male voice or a concocted voice that sounds a lot like Mickey Mouse and even those that do the Mickey voice can only hold it for a few lines and then they go back to the male voice.

I do know one CD that I am good friends with who somehow put toghether a great package. Shes six foot five inches tall and still knows how to put toghether a great presentation. She has a voice that works and is willing to go anywhere and I mean anywhere. So intereacts with people as any other woman and gets very little flack from anyone. Shes very rare I think. Shes about the only CD I personally go do things with on occasion and thats because shes got a great package. I might add that perhaps her inner strength comes from being a large boat captain.

Katie

[t-girlxsophie]

Nowadays, I just let the chips fall where they may ... it's not like a person can't tell I'm a guy anyways.

this mirrors my opinion in so many ways.I haven't really had the notion to try a femme voice,and any time I have had a try I go all Monty Python (he's not the messaih,he's a very naughty boy) and when I am going to interact with other people,It'll be obvious before I open my mouth that I'm not a GG

Sophie

[Rachel Morley]

So, worry less about your voice, more about your appearance and mannerisms and then build up those two key factors by taking those first steps like driving around dressed, drive through restaurants for something to drink, walks in the park and then down the street in some larger town or city. Build yourself up for a great day or night on the town. It really does work. Good luck.
IMHO I agree with Allie, if your appearance and mannerisms are not good you'll get read before you even open your mouth to speak. I think that it's what people perceive of the whole package. There's this person standing in front of them dressed in women's clothes with a gender neutral (or because of padding) a curvy shape, they act kinda feminine, they look kinda feminine and then when they speak it's a little on the masculine side. What do people do? ... they do some instantaneous math and add up all of the feminine characteristics and (hopefully only one) masculine characteristic - your voice and then come to the conclusion that in all likelihood you are female. That's what I pin my hopes on when I'm in public. Femme everything up and hope that the scales balance in my favor :)

[whowhatwhen]

My "goal" was to ask for tips on how to improve my voice. But thanks for your opinion on wigs and whether I "pass"!

In all fairness I'm not sure she meant any offense, but she points out a hard reality that we all must face.
If we stay in our male voice 90% of the time, our female voice might not be very good or "passable".

I do wonder if voice lessons would work for a CD though, or if you need the hormonal changes as well as the constant practice of using your female voice most of the time.

That being said, it would be important to me to sound less masculine.
I'm not sure I'd like looking in the mirror all made up and having a male voice come out.

[Beverley Sims]

I normally speak softly, feign laryngitis and try copying a female singers voice.
Start with one you can hold most of the notes to. Progress to other singers but keep it easy and it will gradually come to you.

[Aprilrain]

My "goal" was to ask for tips on how to improve my voice. But thanks for your opinion on wigs and whether I "pass"!

Touchy, I don't have an opinion about your ability to pass, my point is why worry about your voice when there are so many other things that will get a M2F person read. My other point is avoiding conversation isn't doing you any favors, AND as you can see from this thread not one CDer who has posted has a sustainable female voice, so probably not the best place to go looking for tips. As someone who once had an obvious male voice but now has a female voice my tip for all the CDers looking for tips, is either use the various recourses available via the web like YouTube videos and practice, practice, practice, like your life depended on it or find a way to be comfortable with who you are.

You're right whowhatwhere, I was not trying to be offensive. I have had the harsh reality that I will not pass in all situations smack me right in the face and this is my life, everyday 24/7. I know lots of CDs and TSes who sound like dudes and get along in the world just fine.

[suchacutie]

I smiled when I read the original post because after having practiced and practiced I found it very odd when first using Tina's voice in front of my wife. I wonder what the psychology is there? I'm still not sure that I've overcome that obsticle.

But, as to why did Tina want "her" voice? The bottom line is that we needed Tina's voice to match her presentation. She needed to be able to look in the mirror and know that when she spoke that voice was hers. It was really an internal decision and an internal need.

[Katesback]

The reason you feel wierd in front of your wife is because somewhere on your soul you realize she expects you to be a Man and being a girl is a conflict of that. If you ever go to a support group meeting and pay close attention to the crossdressers with thier wives you will notice that they in almost every instance are the ones that act most like men. There is a reason for this. They know damm well the more they present a woman to thier wives the more likely there will be tension. Remember that in most cases they are regularly reassuring thier wives they have no desire to really be a woman. Watch the same crossdressers alone and all you will see a much greater effort to present a woman.

Human nature is entertaining at times

Katie






I smiled when I read the original post because after having practiced and practiced I found it very odd when first using Tina's voice in front of my wife. I wonder what the psychology is there? I'm still not sure that I've overcome that obsticle.

But, as to why did Tina want "her" voice? The bottom line is that we needed Tina's voice to match her presentation. She needed to be able to look in the mirror and know that when she spoke that voice was hers. It was really an internal decision and an internal need.

[JohnH]

I pitch my voice an octave below a genetic woman which is deeper than most men. However, I can still have feminine speech patterns at that deep pitch, that is a softer pattern instead of the hard attack of a male, a wide variation of pitch, and a breathier sound. I do have a smooth voice that is not raspy in my favor. I am a basso profundo who does not want to give up his/her singing voice so it essential that I don't raise the pitch of my speaking voice too much [edited]

[Added section] I can speak at 120 Hz which is not too much higher than masculine speaking voice. That is about the low Bb (second line starting at the bottom) of the bass staff. There are deep voiced genetic women that speak at that pitch and even lower. [End added section]

Johanna