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Thread: Kathy Perez: The 30 Day Crash Course voice feminization

  1. #26
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    Thanks Kaitlyn....your post is almost like a touchstone and point of reference. It is really hard to understand what you're doing and what you should be doing with these programs. Ultimately, it wont stop anyone from transitioning that actually should. There's plenty of cis-gendered women out there with crappy male gendered voices. These women aren't mistaken for males.
    We, as a group seem to get hypercritical of every facet of our physical presentation to the point that we can literally become obsessive to the point of an unhealthy neurosis. I'm cognizant of that fact and trying to constantly be mindful. Your post really helps put the whole voice issue into perspective. I'll keep at it, plugging away and do the best I can, but in the final analysis, this like every other thing about my transition, won't and can't be a deal breaker. It is what it is. Lisa
    Last edited by jentay1367; 01-09-2017 at 01:35 PM.

  2. #27
    Ex prisoner in paradise CostaRicaRachel's Avatar
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    Hi everyone

    Thanks for the input. It's helped me a lot. You've given me a lot of ideas.

    I did about an hour of exercises this morning, maybe it is not as bad as I thought.

    But I have to be realistic. I have been breathing and speaking one way for almost 60 years, and I
    can't expect to change it in only 2 1/2 weeks. So, I think, 6 months is probably a more reasonable
    time frame to obtain a passable (not necessarily beautiful) feminine voice.

    So, I plan on continuing with the course for a total of 6 or 7 weeks. After that, I think I will contact a
    voice therapist, maybe a local one or maybe Kathe Perez via Skype, if she is available. ($100 or $150
    per hour is not too bad considering what I have spent on therapists and electrolysys.) Then, go from
    there.

    When I try and speak in public at the higher pitch, I often can't maintain the higher pitch with unfamiliar
    words. So I think I am going to make a list of words and phrases I commonly use, practice them at
    a higher pitch and see if I can begin speaking them naturally that way. Common words like, "Hi" my name
    "Rach", glass of wine (I say that one a lot), please, thank you, (I probably don't use these enough)
    How much is it?, etc

    We will see how it goes. I'm also recording my voice about once per week, as a record of my progress.
    I will post the recordings, maybe they will help someone in the same position as me.

    At the end of the 6 or 7 weeks, I will post the recordings (if I can figure out how) to show everyone
    how far (or not so far) I've come.

    Thanks for the input.

    [SIZE=1]- - - Updated - - -[/SIZE]

    I'll add one more thing. I agree with all of Katlyn comments. (Of course, I'm an expert, I've been
    doing this 2 whole weeks).

    One thing is, pitch probably is not the most important aspect of having a feminine voice, resonance, voice
    quality, articulation, fluency all may be more important. Pitch can be measured. I don't believe any of
    the other aspects can be measured. When you change your pitch, you feel like you are making a little
    progress because pitch can be measured.

    The other thing I agree with is, one method may work for one person and not for another person. If
    this program does not work for me, I will have to try something else.

    And, the third thing, I believe speaking feminine is just like learning a foreign language. I lived in Costa Rica
    10 years, and I met many people who never learned Spanish (or English) because they were afraid to speak it.
    I believe that in order to obtain a feminine voice you need to speak in a feminine voice.

    Of course, this is just my opinion after a whole 2 weeks of voice training.
    Although your current visions might be grounded in reality,
    there are no shortcuts to get from here to there.
    Face the facts and realize that you still may have to manifest this
    dream the old-fashioned way: by creating a concrete plan,
    putting in the hard work and maintaining an
    unwavering determination to make it happen.

  3. #28
    Transgender Person Pat's Avatar
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    As you say, pitch can be measured. Resonance can be felt. There are three places where you can get resonance -- in "the mask" (i.e. your face,) the throat and the chest. Men usually strive to resonate in their chest to sound powerful and in their throat to improve intelligibility -- you will probably feel the resonance leave your chest when you're trying to explain something to someone because you want them to understand what you're saying rather than to overwhelm them with your power. You can touch those areas to feel the resonance -- hand spread over the chest or along the side of your neck. You do need resonance in your speech to sound right, but most people agree that men trying to sound like women do better if they try to keep their resonance in the mask and only occasionally allow it to descend into their throat. Absolutely keep it out of your chest. (I talk a good game, but after more than a year of trying to control my resonance, I still drop into the chest 'way too often.)

    In my experience you're correct that you have to practice phrases. I can be nattering along using words and phrases I'm used to and suddenly need to express something I've never said in "girl mode" before and I'll find my voice going out of control and turning into my old voice because that's how my vocal apparatus knows how to say it. It can be embarrassing, but I console myself that nobody that I'm talking to is likely to be surprised to find out I went through male puberty (you make one mistake and it follows you forever...)
    I am not a woman; I don't want to be a woman; I don't want to be mistaken for a woman.
    I am not a man; I don't want to be a man; I don't want to be mistaken for a man.
    I am a transgender person. And I'm still figuring out what that means.

  4. #29
    Aspiring Member Georgette_USA's Avatar
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    Don't want to discourage any that feel they need to develop a more "female" voice. Some do have a deep resonant voice.

    To tell the truth, I have NO idea what I sound like. Few people question me on meeting face to face. Before puberty, I loved to sing soprano with all the other girls, but that changed. I would never sing in public after that.

    This last year I fell in with a group that would do Karaoke a lot. I finally decided to give it a go. Others tell me my singing is quite good, and I sometimes get money tips while singing (mostly men but have had 1 woman also) plus requests. I try to sing a variety of songs (fast, slow, light, heavy), exercising my range hi and low. Low tends to hurt my throat, Hi tends to crack if using intensity.

    I have always been a chest/diaphragm speaker/singer and project very well. Large family and worked well for work when leading groups of men.

    I think the idea of using singing does help to exercise the voice. It helps if you have others listen to you for feedback. Make sure that they can be objective, Too often in this lifestyle people give compliments but few objective criticisms.

  5. #30
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    I believe the biggest obstacle for voice training is getting over feeling stupid during early attempts. That was MY biggest hurdle anyways. I think for others, the excuses of "I just cannot" or "I am too old and have been speaking like a man for years" are their biggest hurdles. Get past those, 50% of the battle is won. The question is - how much do you want to do this? Only the undetermined (or those with a serious voice condition) are bound to fail.

    You can find plenty of free stuff on the web about how to train your voice.
    The problem with a lot of these voice coaching programs is that it is 90% filler and rambling and maybe 10% actual advice on how to do it.
    The filler parts just serve to further confuse and over-complicate. I tried one years ago and the audio quality was so bad it put me off. Melanie's "develop a female voice" program.

    When you do train your voice or take whatever lessons, here are the essentials to look for -

    Really take note of how your throat feels when you gargle, cough up plegm, cough at all, speaking really high or really low or do other non-speaking things with your throat.
    Then work on restricting the lower 1/2 of the voice/throat muscles while speaking.
    Once you can learn to restrict the lower 1/2 of the voice a little bit, you can fine-tune things from there.
    Also, do not expect to like the sound of your female voice nor should you expect it to sound like the angels singing. Nope, we tend to not like the sound of our own voice and very few GG's have a "beautiful" voice, it is (usually) just female.

    ALSO - for the first few days, do not spend more than a few minutes a day trying this, it will hurt your throat at first since you are using muscles that are often unused. I think I had a sore throat a few times when I first started learning.
    It takes a true Erin to be a pain in the assatar.

  6. #31
    Member Mirya's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jennie-cd View Post
    As you say, pitch can be measured. Resonance can be felt.
    This is a good point. Eventually you want to get to a point where you can feel the vibrations in your skull. Then you know that you're resonating from your head. Be careful not to resonate from your nose though - then you'll just sound nasally instead, lol. Even in a noisy room where I can't hear my own voice, the vibrations tell me that my voice is in the right place.

    Unfortunately, the Kathy Perez course doesn't really do a good job of explaining how to develop feminine resonance. It just kind of glosses over it briefly. I think it's because developing the right feminine resonance requires different techniques for different people. And so it's kind of out of the scope of the 30-day course. But still, the other things that you learn in the course are useful.

    As for pitch, my natural male voice was 170 Hz (I know, freakishly high). So getting up to 230 Hz for my female voice was really easy. For me, it was more about resonance and intonation. Oh, and gestures! I never really used hand gestures before, but women tend to use their hands more while talking, so I worked on incorporating that as well.

  7. #32
    Silver Member Angela Campbell's Avatar
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    I bought the course a few years ago. I was skeptical at first but had met Kathe and was impressed by what she does. I practiced it constantly. I drove 20 hrs a week at the time so I practiced while driving. After a while it did work. Pretty well I guess. I still refer to it from time to time.
    All I ever wanted was to be a girl. Is that really asking too much?

  8. #33
    Lady in Being (7/20/17) AmyGaleRT's Avatar
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    I haven't used the course, but Kathe Perez is a friend of mine (a fellow member of the Gender Identity Center Board of Trustees), and I've attended one of her seminars at a conference. She knows what she's doing, definitely. If you have an iPhone or Samsung Android phone, check out the "Eva" apps as well. I often recommend them to others.

    - Amy
    Amy Gale Ruth Bowersox (nee Tapie) - "Be who you are, and be it in style!"
    Member, Board of Trustees, Gender Identity Center of Colorado
    aka Amelia Storm - Ms. Majestic Hearts of All Colorado 2018-2019, Miss Majestic Hearts of All Colorado 2015-2016

  9. #34
    Member Read only April T's Avatar
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    After learning about EVA on another thread, I have purchased the first lesson today. I understand its a time consuming process but every journey starts with a single step.

  10. #35
    Aspiring Member MarieTS's Avatar
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    I am curious, do regional accents seem to make a difference? For example, Is it more difficult for say, tg's from the eastern seaboard, the deep south, etc, to transition their voices than for tg's from other areas? And are those dialect and slang differences in elocution discussed in the programs,course work, lessons, etc.?
    Marie

  11. #36
    GerriJerry Gerrijerry's Avatar
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    I am not saying a book or course is bad or good. However the only way I know of to be able to sound more feminine is to first use the same wording as a woman normally does. Lots of practice and talking slowly so you hear what you are saying.
    Plus if your want a feminine voice you might need a little surgery. My was done a few months after SRS. However the way you say things is really what people hear not just the tone of your voice.

    Just my feelings.
    TO OVER WEIGHT TO POST A PHOTO, MY wife tells me I look like I am pregnant

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