Do You Like Your Voice?

[emeraldmountain]

Hello!

 

I was curious if anyone here likes their voice associated with their gender assigned at birth?

 

I really appreciate the richness of my male voice and am tickled by the fact that I'm often complimented on my voice, especially by women. I'm not always comfortable with my voice, but sometimes am. I desperately wish to be able to produce a genuine sounding female voice, as well as have the male voice in my back pocket, so to speak (haha). However, when I'm out in public and look the feminine way I do, it is definitely awkward to use my male voice. I am doing voice training, but not yet comfortable using the female voice in public.

 

Anyone under the trans/nonbinary umbrella is welcome to post here, not just male to female!

 

Thanks and have a great week!

 

 

Edited November 13, 2023 by VickySGV
Member request

[KathyLauren]

I don't mind my voice.  I'd be happier if I had a more feminine voice, but it is what it is. 

 

When speaking, I can raise my pitch to a plausible deep female level, but of course, the resonance will always remain male.  I do try to put more feminine inflection into my voice.  The result, while maybe not totally convincing, is usually good enough that it doesn't automatically "out" me.

 

However, singing is another thing entirely.  I avoid singing if I can.  At Saturday's Remembrance Day ceremony, as is customary, everyone sang O Canada and God Save the King.  I sing as quietly as possible, since an obviously baritone voice coming from a woman is just a bit odd.

[Ashley0616]

I have been going to speech therapy for about 4 months and it has really helped me. I still have a lot of work to do but I can pass by in public and by phone without someone questioning it. After I finish the vocal part, I'm going to attend a class on nonverbal communication. 

[emeraldmountain]

Thank you @KathyLauren and @Ashley0616 for your thoughts.

 

Anyone else want to chime in?

[AllieJ]

I get by with my voice everywhere except on the phone / digital microphones, and my grandson....  I guess it is because face to face I give enough clues about my gender to make it easier for people to get it right, and I am old. I'm not really worried about people around me except for my 9 yo grandson who is confused about my gender, and it hurts me to think my being trans is causing him confusion. I attended voice therapy for a year, and it helped a little, but I still get misgendered on the phone.

 

Last week, I was invited to be part of a trial for new wearable technology which is supposed to give immediate feedback and suggestions, and I am a bit intrigued. I have an info session soon and will decide to commit or not, but if I do I will review this technology here IF I am allowed to!

 

I believe the online apps currently available are not as good as having female company (for MTF's) and professional therapy. There is too much emphasis on pitch, and not enough on gendered language.

 

Hugs,

 

Allie

[emeraldmountain]

1 hour ago, AllieJ said:

Last week, I was invited to be part of a trial for new wearable technology

Sounds very cool. Keep us posted, please.

[MaybeRob]

My voice is way too deep to present as female. 

 

Hugs

 

Mayberob

[awkward-yet-sweet]

AFAB, and I don't like my voice.  Not so much because it doesn't match how I present in my boy form....it doesn't matter since I look androgynous.  Its just the quality of it isn't great.  Some people have a clear singing voice, I don't.  Its like...crackly.  Don't know a better word for it.  And trying to voice-text with my phone or use one of those multi-option phone menus where you have to talk to it is a nightmare.  It either doesn't pick up my tone or my accent....when it does hear me, it gets everything wrong. 

 

To add more on top of it, if I'm surprised, I make a sound somewhere between a squeak and a yip.  Which is made more embarrassing by partners and friends who think its cute. 

 

[Betty K]

I started voice training with a speech pathologist about a year ago and, though I’ve been lazy, I’m relatively pleased with the results. Sometimes — usually with strangers when I am on my best behaviour — my voice sounds exactly right to me. It usually doesn’t last if I keep talking, since I forget my good habits and revert slightly to my masculine voice, but I’ve clearly made progress.

 

One thing that helped give me confidence was listening to Cate Blanchett speaking. She is clearly feminine, but her voice hovers around the same area mine does, though it does occasionally jump higher if only very briefly. (I know this for sure because I analysed both our voices using the pitch analyser on the Voice Tools app.) What Blanchett has is pitch variance, a sing-song quality. This is huge. In contrast, most men speak monotonously. But she also has forward resonance, which is my biggest focus atm. 
 

I also spend most of my time with cis women, and I think that does make a difference. Their speech patterns rub off on me without my being conscious of it, I think.

 

Oh, and you mentioned richness. I think my voice actually sounds richer in its feminine form because it’s smoother, and I know Cate Blanchett’s voice is rich. I sometimes meet trans women who seem to have focussed on pitch too exclusively, and their voices have a pinched sound, still recognisably masculine because still emanating from the throat. 

[MaeBe]

1 hour ago, Betty K said:

and their voices have a pinched sound, still recognisably masculine because still emanating from the throat

R3 plays a huge part in the masculine voice.

 

I am a voice person, I have long done impressions and accents. I do not have a good ear for the feminine voice, however, and find it difficult to pull off a natural sounding one. I would love to learn how, but I don't know if I need to learn how. I am not presenting feminine, I don't know if I ever will, but I absolutely love the idea of having that in my locker; for practical use or simply to expand my repertoire.

[Betty K]

32 minutes ago, MaeBe said:

R3 plays a huge part in the masculine voice.

 

I am a voice person, I have long done impressions and accents. I do not have a good ear for the feminine voice, however, and find it difficult to pull off a natural sounding one. I would love to learn how, but I don't know if I need to learn how. I am not presenting feminine, I don't know if I ever will, but I absolutely love the idea of having that in my locker; for practical use or simply to expand my repertoire.

Hi. I don’t know anything about how to deliberately produce a masculine voice, but I know my feminine voice training is centred around bringing the resonance forward. 

 

If you’re keen to try a feminine voice you could use the voice app EvaF. I hear it’s good. 

[emeraldmountain]

Does anyone know of a good free voice pitch analyzer?

[MirandaB]

I had a first (virtual) appointment with a voice therapist (and a grad student in training) today, lots of questions and a few measurements, my range was OK, hopeful I can chime in with some success story in the future. 

 

I've had a couple intro sessions with other therapists at trans support meetings or pride events, the app one of them recommended, @Emerald-may, was voice tools, I've played with it a little and haven't paid them anything yet. 

 

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/voice-tools/id1447495900

[Ivy]

@Betty Kalready mentioned  the Voice Tools app.   It might be what you want You can get it on Apple.

[emeraldmountain]

Thank you @Betty K@RhondaS@Ivy

 

The Voice Tools app looks great, but I couldn't find much info on the developer, no info on their business address, etc., so I'm hesitant to download it.

[Ivy]

All I know is that I haven't had any issues with it.  I only use the pitch monitor occasionally.

[MaeBe]

1 hour ago, emeraldmountain said:

The Voice Tools app looks great, but I couldn't find much info on the developer, no info on their business address, etc., so I'm hesitant to download it.

Here is their privacy statement: https://devextras.com/privacy-policy/

 

They state they do not store data or transmit it over the internet.

[emeraldmountain]

Thank you @Ivy and @MaeBe

[RaineOnYourParade]

I don't hate my voice, but I just don't want it for myself. Not necessarily a bad voice in the least, but it doesn't really feel like me. It's like how you see a piece of clothing and you sometimes think "Wow, that's really nice!" but it's also not a style that you like on yourself specifically.

[Jet McCartney]

I really hate my voice. Before I started T, it was very* high-pitched. Think Snow White. 

Because I started from such a high place, my voice didn't drop as much as it could, leading me to not like it now either. I do a lot of vocal practice, and hopefully it will get better/deeper.

[Raini]

I hate mine, which is why I talk much quieter now. My voice sounding feminine caused me to have a panic attack at my work training place after I had helped the customer. 

[morgie]

As someone who wanted to do cartoon voice acting I love my voice and it's capabilities. I've been practicing since I was a kid so I was able to get my voice pretty quickly. But beyond that the depth and range I have I like.

[emeraldmountain2]

Just putting this out there, but if anyone is interested in free voice training, find out if your local college or university has a speech language program. They might offer gender affirming voice therapy, such as with a student who is supervised by faculty.

[emeraldmountain2]

I'd also like to let people know about this book:The Voice Book for Trans and Non-Binary People.

 

https://us.jkp.com/products/the-voice-book-for-trans-and-nonbinary-people

[Audrey]

Voice dysphoria was especially painful for me. Before I had any voice training, I would always speak quietly, and very little, because I could not stand to hear myself. Not just the usual discomfort you might have around hearing your own voice, but a visceral reaction in my whole body. In my job, I talk on the phone a lot and every time I was misgendered was like a blow to my heart. Working with a speech therapist was one of the very best decisions of my transition. I invested a lot into the 1:1 sessions I had with her, and I practiced a lot at home and in my daily life. The results have been stunning!

https://www.speechvoicelab.com/voice-samples (I am client F!)

There used to be a really great customizable and ad-free pitch tracker on Github that my speech therapist connected me to, but sadly it has been taken down. I have Voice Tools on my phone but I find I am using it less and less as my confidence in my authentic speaking voice has grown.

 

Love,

~Audrey.