Your Voice??

[TrishW]

Do you have a fem voice?? I definetly do not.

[kym]

mine gets softer when in fem mode, but still not girly

[sherri52]

I have a strong Boston voice. Growing up in the city we paaaak our caaar in haavaaad yaaad for a quaata. Pretty hard to get a fem voice with that.

[sissystephanie]

I have been crossdressing for 70 years. Never have I had even the slightest feminine voice! Do I care..............**** No!!

[dilane]

...when talking to GG's and non T-people in the real world, my voice is pretty good. A coule of GG's I know have said it's perfect.

For some reason, I have the hardest time with my voice when talking with other T's ... go figure.

It's taken years to get it to my current (good or imperfect) state.

[Daniela76]

I'm working hard on it.
I can do softer & sweeter. I try not to go too breathy though.
If I try too hard I usually get a frog in my throat. Then I have to cough & I cannot do that like a lady.

[suchacutie]

I've been working on my voice for a year and the YouTube videos have been very helpful (given in other similar threads). I've been successful in shutting down the bass part of my voice, but I don't have enough experience using the rest of my voice to be authentic. I just haven't figured out yet how girls use their voices to get the inflections they get.

I do think that talking too fast is part of the problem, and when I slow down it's easier, but it's still not natural. I've relied on the bass part of my voice for so long that I can't switch off the mind, and when it's not there it sounds a bit odd.

So, I have the voice, pitch, sound, and all...just wish I knew what to do with it! My wife said tonight we should try a phone call to see how it works without interruption since talking on the phone means continual talking. It's worth a try!

tina

[Katesback]

The voice tends to be one of the most difficult things a trans person can attain. I have seen it on occasion that a CD is able to pull it off, of that small few most were able to only pull off a reasonable voice for a short period of time. Few could sit down and have a normal conversation and maintain the desired voice.

That is my observation working with trans people. I would say that for one if you mentally train yourself to feel that the voice is a CRITICAL part of your presentation and that if it is not acceptable your success is a big negative your mind might automatically make some changes that allow ya to have a decent voice.

My CD friend who in a few months was able to produce an acceptable voice learned beause for one I told her if she wanted to go with me places it was not going to be GAY bars (no safe zones) and because she did go with me to general public places she learned real quick how important a voice is.

Katie

[Renee_E]

Not even close. I can't even fool myself much less any one else, but i am happy being me.

[vetobob9]

is it like ventriquiloqism?

[Byanca]

Is there a thread here we can post and get feedback? I suspect my voice is somewhere in between male or female. But I dont know how it sounds to other people. So just a wild guess.

[Engendered]

I like the idea of a feedback topic. Since this is one of the most difficult (but achievable) parts of passing, it would be great to have a place we can knock our heads together and help each other out. (without the actual physical knocking)

[sallyjones]

it takes alot of practices, and it almost allway take alone time. but a passable voice is the goal right. try talking from the top of your throught, or talk from your mouth. i know it sounds funny but it works.

[Samantha43]

Not even close. If I try, I sound like a guy trying to sound like a girl.....

[SuzanneBender]

My male voice is very deep Baratone and I have been working on my female voice for almost 6 months. I am finding now that when I use my female voice it is hard to switch back quickly because there are sooo many aspect that are different.

[marie354]

I found that shifting it up to a mickey-mouse type voice, softening and quieting a bit, then lowering it slightly, works for me. I can now readily shift between the two at will. It's far from perfect imo, but others have told me that it's pretty good.

[Karen__Starr]

I had several people tell me that unless they were listening for a man attempting to sound female they would not know but I must try hard not to revert to my male voice especially when caught up in the moment. When first starting out I would practice at least an hour everyday along with taking lessons and getting immedate feedback helped a great deal.

[msginaadoll]

I have been confused for female on the phone a bunch. I do not have a strong male voice. Actually i have had people ask me where im from -what country because they tell me I have an accent. I tell them I was born in Detroit. Michigan actually tends to have a bland midwestern accent if any- and heard they try to teach some reporters from other cities to talk michiganese.

[tamarav]

[SIZE=4]Voice and how I sound has always been one of my holdbacks. After starting to work in the beauty industry dressed, I have found that many women's voices can be mistaken for male and vice versa. I have been doing someone's hair and forgotten what gender they were until I looked at them in the mirror.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=4][/SIZE]
[SIZE=4]Take your time and relax, the first utterance is all most people hear anyway. Think about it. You form an impression almost immediately, as soon as the other person speaks. Then with continued conversation, it either pans out or you realize they are not who you first thought they were.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=4][/SIZE]
[SIZE=4]I generally chew gum or have a cinnamon drop in my mouth to keep my mouth moist, otherwise I get so dried out that I can't talk at all, or with just a cracked voice.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=4][/SIZE]
[SIZE=4]Whatever you do, smile when you speak and it really helps keep people from focusing on your voice.[/SIZE]

[Stephenie S]

I wish I could answer this question for you all. Voice certainly seems to be a stumbling block for many CDers. Interestingly enough, it's one of the few male marker's that we CAN change. While it's impossible for someone attempting to "pass" to change their height, shoulder width, chest size, arm girth, hand and foot size, voice CAN be changed.

Unfortunately I have no ready answers as to how to do it. I do know that there are several lesson plans offered on the Internet. Mellanie Ann Phillips offers a VERY well known set of compact disks. Deep Stealth Enterprises also offers a program. Another is Exceptional Voice, Inc.

Any one of these programs will help you IF YOU PRACICE. Most crossdressers are just plain not in a position to practice enough. AND, they have to be able to switch back and forth quickly.

I think the single most important way to perfect your voice is to go full time. Unfortunately, that's just not what crossdressing is all about. By definition, crossdressing is a part time activity. And for most here on this forum, it's a VERY part time activity. So for most crossdressers, putting in the required amount of practice is problematic.

So, listen to women. Really listen. Don't worry too much about trying to raise you pitch. You can speak in a low voice and still sound female. DO try to lift your voice out of your chest and into your mouth. Practice humming. You can hum deep in your chest, and you can hum in your mouth. If you can feel your teeth vibrate, if it tickles your lips and teeth, you are probably getting your voice out of your chest. Start with small words. Numbers maybe. Then move on to phrases like thank you and please. These will come in handy even if they are the only ones you can use.

Try to get more MUSIC into your voice. Don't worry too much about where or which words. If you have been really listening to women talk, you will have heard that women's voices are INCREDIBLY varied. Women's voices are all over the map. So there are no rules about how women talk.

As I said before, going full time really helps. You really have to put up or shut up, so to speak. When you always have your "guy voice" to fall back on, it will be very hard to put in the required practice time. Of course, some guys get this right away. Then they go online and put out a video saying ''Look how easy it is". So for some, voice is no problem. But for many, it's quite hard. But believe me, if you can put in they same amount of time that you put into the rest of your presentation, you will get it.

Lovies,
Stephenie

[Kerigirl2009]

My voice could be considered sort of girly, I love when I go thru the Drive thru or pick up the phone and they say that will be 5.25 Ma' me. Just makes me smile. But I have been working to make my voice softer when en femme.

[DiannaRose]

Not even close. If I try, I sound like a guy trying to sound like a girl.....

The few times I've tried, that's me, too!

Admittedly, this has been a low priority for me thus far. Eventually I'll start looking into the videos and tips. Anyone know of, say, downloadable podcast-type lessons, something I can throw on my mp3 player and practice in my car during my hour-long (each way) commutes?

[Nicole Erin]

Mine does pass for female when I do it, but is not perfect.
I cannot keep it up for long periods yet, and it still needs a bit of fine tuning.

My natural male voice doesn't really sound femme.

I get on SL and practice, unless I say something about being TG they don't seem to know, and I have asked people about it. Kind of wish the rest of me passed as well.

For doing the voice, basically if you can learn to close off the bottom half of the voice, that will kill most of the male resonance. Raising pitch might be necessary but very slightly.

You have heard women with deep voices but no one is gonna mistake it for male voice. Why is that? Cause the bass resonance is not there.
You have heard men with high voices but people don't think it is female. That is cause the bass is still in there. That of course means GM non TG.

For softening the voice, it might help but if you had to actually speak in a normal volume, then what?

There are many videos and such about making your male voice femme. The problem is they tend to be 90% ramble and 10% good info.

IN that 10%, I have found what I said about killing the bass resonance. How to control the throat muscles? One thing is like gargling water, open and close the throat at different capacities.
Or think of how the muscles feel when you try to deepen your voice, notices how you open it even MORE at the bottom?
Or if you can close the throat completely and then open just the top half.
Takes practice a bit but also try speaking with different levels of the throat being open or closed.

The hardest part is getting over the silly feelings you will have making these weird voices.
I think the biggest mistake people make is over thinking it. All the fancy, long, boring programs and junk don't really help.

For fine tuning, I think it just takes practice.

Ladies this is one part of transition or CD'ing that doesn't cost anything You do9hn't even need to buy a tape recorder, just use the built in sound recorder in the computer, or download one for free off cnet.com
I use one called "audio recorder for free"
Lastly, even if you do achieve a good femme voice, you might still hate the sound of your own voice whether femme or male. Weird I know but while I get compliments on my femme voice, I still hate it.

[Jilmac]

I am a natural baritone and can sing as low as bass so I do my best to soften my voice when I'm enfemme. Even though my femme voice has a masculine tone to it, I have heard many GGs with low masculine voices, especially those around my age. My natural voice is a dead giveaway that I'm a guy but when I soften it I sound more like a woman with smokers voice.

[nikki_cd05]

I have always had two voices. when i was a kid my parents always got upset at me when my (they called it baby voice) came out. It would just happen. Now as an adult, its quite femm, on the phone i can be very convincing.