Kathy Perez: The 30 Day Crash Course voice feminization

[CostaRicaRachel]

Hi everyone.

I've been on HRT for about 11 weeks. I'm very unhappy with
my voice. I'm consdermnig buying

Kathy Perez: The 30 Day Crash Course voice feminization.

It is not that expensive.

Has anyone tried this.

Any input or advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

Rachel

[Pat]

Wow. She's gone up-scale since I last saw her stuff. She had a program called "Exceptional Voice" that ran on smart phones. I used it and it seems pretty good, but you have to be focused and commit to practice. I practiced for a while then fell by the wayside. The phone-based program was kinda klunky but the information was all good. If the crash course is something you can access with a computer it would probably be pretty good.

[Mirya]

Earlier this year, I purchased the Kathe Perez 30-day crash course. I found it helpful as it laid down the foundation for my voice training. Kathe goes over some important concepts that you'll find useful. But, I did NOT have a feminine voice after finishing the course. It was definitely worth it though, and I recommend it.

There's also the Andrea James voice training DVD/video. It costs significantly less than Kathe Perez's course. I tried that too, but it didn't really do anything for me. It did help a lot of other trans women though, so maybe it'll work for you.

It wasn't until I took private voice lessons with a professional voice trainer that I finally starting developing a passable female voice. And now, I get gendered as female all the time based just on my voice, even while on the phone. My voice trainer was already familiar with Kathe Perez's techniques, so I think the time I spent on the 30-day course helped make the private lessons more fruitful.

Thing is, you really need to practice a lot to develop a female voice. I literally practiced an hour every single day (30 min in the morning, 30 min at night) for many months (both 30-day course and private lessons) before I finally found my voice. This is one of the hardest things to do, and takes a ton of dedication and commitment to practice, even if you're not seeing results for a while.

[PretzelGirl]

I will echo Mirya. I took the 30 day crash course and then went with Kathe for personal, one-on-one lessons. The 30 day course is like an introduction. You will likely need to do more (some people seem gifted and get away with little training). The apps are good for some basics, but again, those of us that aren't gifted need more.

[CostaRicaRachel]

Hi everyone

Thanks for your input.

I think I will buy it.

From what I can tell, I believe training your voice is like learning
a foreign language. Regardless of the system you use, you have to work hard and
practice. Without the hard work and practice, you won't get results regardless of the
system.

In 30 days (maybe 32 days) I will let you know what I think

Thanks

Rach

[Meghan4now]

Wait, a crash course on a computer? Isn't that kinda a bad idea?

I think the advice here is good. Practice practice practice. Dancing and comportment are easy in comparison

[Rianna Humble]

Wait, a crash course on a computer? Isn't that kinda a bad idea?

[Contessa]

Hi

A lot of people don't have a lot of money to pay for some of those voice programs. And more don't have money for personal one on one trainer. But singing songs by female singers will also help. Amy Whitehouse, Adele and Pink and others allow you to practice when you want and can. A really deep voice may take a little longer but if you need to try a better voice keep trying especially when you need to. Go for it. A higher voice is what you need not necessarily a squeaky voice. I was told not to change my voice so I have two voices. I have also been told that I sound just like a recently passed writer.

[CostaRicaRachel]

Well, I bought the course on Dec 24 and downloaded it.

I began practicing immediately. At first the exercises seemed impossible, but I kept plugging away. I am getting better, but I am still not good.

The woman on the video teaching the course, Kathy Perez, has such a beautiful voice, the then I listen to myself, and it is so disappointing. But,
I really have no choice, but to just keep plugging away and do my best. I might make a before and after recordings, so if anyone is interested, they
can hear what the course did for me.
\

[Rianna Humble]

Hi Rachel, don't be disheartened by the fact that your first day or two hasn't yet given you the perfect voice - it is a 30 day course after all and as some have said, really only a starting point.

I think your suggestion of keeping before and after recordings to share with people is a very thoughtful good idea.

[Pat]

Rachel -- Part of my job requires a lot of voice recording, so let me offer you a tip: memorize a fairly lengthy block of text (it would be great if it was a speech by a female character in a play or movie) and use that speech as your benchmark when recording so you can always compare apples-to-apples. It should be somewhere between 30 seconds and a minute so you have plenty of time to get into it. Don't use poetry or read off a page because, unless you're trained for it, both of those cause you to modulate your voice differently than in daily speech.

[PretzelGirl]

I certainly wouldn't even get down on only getting so far with a 30 day course. Only the lucky can do 30 days and be done. I did EVA, the 30-day course, then 9 months of every other week sessions and I might sound like Bea Arthur at best. But it gets me by. Remember, it will be different for each of us. Patience and practice.

[Tommie.]

I have been doing the EVA app on the phone and just signed up for the 120 Day Challenge from Kathy. I have had a little luck so far but still not even phone passable. NTL the voice issue seems to really be the key issue to me.... no pressure lol. Best of luck Rachel!

[CostaRicaRachel]

Hi everyone, thanks for the input.

I'm actually getting better at the voice exercises. I'm still a far cry
from a passable female voice.

Jennie, I'm going to take your advice and just memorize a 30sec to 1 min
speech and use that as a reference. I hope I hear changes.

From everything I've heard and read, obtaining a passable female voice is a
long difficult struggle, but what other choice do we have?

Rach

[PretzelGirl]

Tommie, a phone passable voice is something more akin to the finish line. A person has no visual cues and may pick up on subtleties in the voice and misgender you easily. If you get gendered well on the phone, then you are doing good. I help my chances by potentially introducing myself (hopefully they don't believe in a boy named Sue) and I make sure that very first sound is higher in pitch. It is almost like that first sound synchronizes listeners ears. So I wouldn't get too worried about phone voice until you are not getting misgendered face-to-face.

[Tommie.]

Thank you Sue... I will use the idea and keep all in mind.

[CostaRicaRachel]

Hi everyone, thanks for the input.

I'm now have way thru week 2 of the program. For me, I think it will be a 35 day program,
I'm on no hurry so I will spend 1 week on each of the 5 chapters.

Week 1 was difficult, but was measureable. Pitch, posture and breathing. The pitch
can be measured with tuner, so it's possible to see your success and failure.

Week 2 is articulation. This is purely subjective. I really can't tell if I am practicing
correctly or not. There is no way to measure articulation, I guess you just have to feel if
you are better or not. I bought a table mirror so I can see myself as I speak. When I
see myself as I speak, I'm reminded to move my mouth more. I believe this is helping.

Also, at the beginning of the course, Kathy mentioned, we should be keeping a journal of
our successes and failures. The first few days, I did not do this, but I began doing it and it
is very helpful. Writing things down helps me remember what I'm doing wrong, right and
the problems I need to work on.

Also, I did not have time to find a long passage to memorize and record, so I used a short passage
I have known since I was a child. I have recorded me reciting the "Pledge of Allegiance".
I've recorded it with my normal voice and after week 1. I plan on recording again at the end of each
chapter to see how I'm doing.

That's the update. I hope everyone had a fun Christmas and New Year's.

Rach

[CostaRicaRachel]

Hi everyone, just a quick update.

I'm practicing, maybe, 1 hour per day, some days a little more.

I just finished the 2nd week and am starting the 3rd week. It is getting very, very difficult. There is
no real way to tell if you are doing the exercises correctly, it's completely subjective. What really worries
me, you get what you practice and if I practice wrong, my voice is wrong. Later, I may have to spend
time trying to undo the wrong voice before I can get to the right voice.

I think I'm at a little of a disadvantage, I'm pretty old, 59, (and you can't teach old dogs new tricks). I've have
no musical talent whatsoever. I can't sing, or even carry a tune.

I'm going to keep plugging away. Some days I think I'm making a little progress, other days, not so much.
I believe it's going to be a long road, but you have to start somewhere.

[Pat]

You might want to see if you can book some time with a speech therapist / vocal coach. As you note, bad habits that get practiced in are hard to correct. I don't know what vocal coaches make these days, but it used to be pretty small money relatively speaking. You don't need to see them often -- maybe once a week for a month then once a month for a few months, then you should be OK on your own.

[jentay1367]

Hey Rachel...are you using the frequency tuner? I use it all the time to check if I'm in A3. I sound like Minnie Mouse to my ear but my SO tells me it sounds more female than what my ear perceives when I try and wing it. So I'm trying to stay at that A3 frequency as much and often as I possibly can. I use Singscope...a free tuner I downloaded for my iphone 5s and it's real simple to use. So I just pull it out, turn it on and check where I'm at. Stick with it girl! Don't be hard on yourself and stay positive. They say it takes 21 days to make any change you do to actually stick. That's apparently what it takes to get your lizard brain on board....practice...practice....practice...hope ...pray...hope...practice..pray...hope...cry...pra ctice.....lol

[Tommie.]

Rachel you are not old.... old is when you quit or don't try! You can do voice coaching over Skype and such if the coach or you have an account I guess.... computer peeps know this for sure. I have talked with Kathy on Skype but good coaches are expensive particularly if they are accomplished like Kathy.... I have not found a list of coaches and pricing. Small townees like myself have no access to voice coaches otherwise and if they are here they do not advertise MTF training in this conservative venue lol.

[Mirya]

I don't know what vocal coaches make these days, but it used to be pretty small money relatively speaking.

Kathy Perez charges $150/hour for her Skype lessons. My vocal coach charges $80/hour, which IMO is really cheap given her years of experience teaching transgender voice and her master's vocal education background. I suppose a less experienced instructor would charge "pretty small money" in comparison, but would that even be worth it?

You don't need to see them often -- maybe once a week for a month then once a month for a few months, then you should be OK on your own.

Are you speaking from experience? You only needed weekly lessons for a month, and then once a month after that? And then you had a female voice? If so, I'm really impressed. It took me 2 months of weekly lessons just to get to a usable starting point, and I had a lot of things going for me even before I started my lessons with my voice instructor - such as a very high 170 Hz natural male voice, a musical background, and some time spent doing DIY lessons from Kathy Perez and Andrea James. For the majority of transgender people, they're going to need a lot more private lessons than "once a week for a month then once a month for a few months" to develop a female voice.

[Pat]

You only needed weekly lessons for a month, and then once a month after that?

Not what I'm saying. Sorry if I wasn't clear. If you're following a method, like Rachel is, then you only need to check in with a live, trained person once in a while to have them catch any mistakes you're making as you practice to nip those in the bud before they get practiced in. You need to see them frequently at first because you're still refining your familiarity with the method. You can taper off over time, as long as you're still practicing the same material, because by then your practice routine will be correct. I do not claim to have a female voice and I do not say you only need those check-in sessions to achieve a female voice. My background is in helping performers perform and my experience that I'm admittedly abstracting to this case, is with vocal performers and voice actors not people trying to change their perceived gender.

[PretzelGirl]

Mirya, this might be a case of the speech therapist separating out lessons at a pace they feel is appropriate for you progress. I did 18 lessons in 9 months with Kathe, but they were more erratic than every other week. I was closer in the beginning and further spread out in the end.

[Kaitlyn Michele]

in the end, the real progress is out in the field...

i think without the feedback, you are going to take a very long time for progress, and when you get out there and use it, you'll have no context...

just go out and talk...getting over the internal sense of having to try is just as important as what pitch or resonance....i think most of us would be surprised at how low in pitch we could go and "pass", and i have heard some absolutely AWFUL voices and all of them were in the high pitch area...its almost better to just talk a bit more softly

i tried andrea james and kathe perez cds and found them wanting...i was actually horrified by one of the voices in the cd i got!!

i ended up in an 8 week programs at lasalle university and he had a half dozen of us that he "coached" ...we talked into a mic...and it was an oscilliscope, an amplitude meter and one thing i cant remember! LOL

he coached us AS we talked... i was looking at the pitch meter, and he and an associate gave me prompts and instant feedback...

i bet on skype that is much better use of $$ than anything that doesnt give that type of feedback...

the subtle part is that in the 2nd half i was doing well...my voice is kind of neutral, and i my pitch increase was literally two semitones.........the positive feedback i was getting was fantastically helpful..

also i was already full time when this started...i was making due with whatever voice i had.... i think this is important too....practicing and practicing before going full time is only so helpful