Eliminating voice raspiness?

[Kristen1114]

I've not been able to find anything on this really.

One of the things that keeps my voice from passing is the raspiness.

Since I don't think there is a way to not be raspy who are some raspy voiced girls

besides Stevie Nicks?

I'm not sure how to translate it to speaking though.

  Singing seems to be the best way of gaining control of pitch.

http://www.singsnap.com/karaoke/watchandlisten/play/b66274ed1

I'm not a great singer but this is where I am now. XD

 

[Alessa]

I was actually going to recommend singing! When I'm not putting force into my voice, it sounds very effeminate and I love to sing. Maybe your voice will still be a bit off, but that wouldn't make you any less beautiful! Historically, I've always been more attracted to women with a deep voice versus a higher voice anyway; it's a rare gem of a trait. 

[Jani]

There are lots of raspy sounding women.  I worked with a woman who was much younger than I, who had a voice of a frog (the best I can explain) and when you saw her she was a petite woman and a non-smoker, so that's just how she sounded.  An older actress, Bea Arthur has a very distinct voice too.  

 

Sure a raspy voice is different but not unheard of in real life.  Stevie Nicks voice is certainly unique.  It's a bit raspy but at times is not particularly low in range.  Don't pigeon hole yourself to one sound.  You are unique!

 

Jani

 

 

[Kristen1114]

1 hour ago, Alessa said:

I was actually going to recommend singing! When I'm not putting force into my voice, it sounds very effeminate and I love to sing. Maybe your voice will still be a bit off, but that wouldn't make you any less beautiful! Historically, I've always been more attracted to women with a deep voice versus a higher voice anyway; it's a rare gem of a trait. 

 

Singing is fun~

I can sing pretty high pitch to. 

 

[Kristen1114]

1 hour ago, Jani423 said:

There are lots of raspy sounding women.  I worked with a woman who was much younger than I, who had a voice of a frog (the best I can explain) and when you saw her she was a petite woman and a non-smoker, so that's just how she sounded.  An older actress, Bea Arthur has a very distinct voice too.  

 

Sure a raspy voice is different but not unheard of in real life.  Stevie Nicks voice is certainly unique.  It's a bit raspy but at times is not particularly low in range.  Don't pigeon hole yourself to one sound.  You are unique!

 

Jani

 

 

 

I love Bea Arthur!

 

I've only been ma'am'd on the phone once so far, maybe I'll get there soon. XD

[Jani]

It seems the phone is the one last frontier for gaining acceptance as the person on the other end doesn't get any visual cues and the sound quality often varies.  

 

Jani

 

[Michelle F]

On 5/11/2018 at 3:27 PM, Mallion said:

Thanks everyone. Honestly I reaallly am looking forward to the future and when changes can start happening. Just hope I don't get too down before then lol. Thanks again = ). I know the wait is worth it. 

When I was younger my voice was much higher. I am a singer/musician by trade but these days I don't have the range. I can still sing fairly high, but I lost the high-end in my speaking voice.

 

When people hear my name on the phone they address me as ma'am. Except of course my insurance and some Doc's! I am waiting for my court hearing to legally have my name and gender changed on my DL and Birth Cert. California is ahead of the curve on that one! Thank God!

 

[ChickenLittle]

If you're able to, you may want to consider seeing a speech-language pathologist! (Full disclosure, I'm an SLP in training so I think about this stuff constantly). If your voice has not always been raspy, but is now, that could be the result of nodules on your vocal cords. If you've always had a raspy voice but would like to learn to use your voice differently, an SLP can help you learn how to do so without putting extra strain on your vocal cords. 

[ChickenLittle]

Oh, I just thought of something else that could be fun to play around with-- people usually think that pitch is the most important thing with voice, but resonance is just as, if not more, important in gender perception. You could try downloading a pitch reader app (my favorite is Sing Sharp on Android), then try to say "ahhh" at a comfortable pitch and loudness, watching the app to make sure you're staying at a steady pitch. Don't try to raise your pitch, just keep it steady at that comfortable zone. Then try to move your resonance up and down (so you feel the vibrations in your chest, then try to move them up to your neck then up to your face) WITHOUT changing your pitch. A "chest voice" with low resonance, even at a high pitch, is typically perceived as more masculine while a "head voice" with high resonance, even at a low pitch, is perceived as more feminine. 

 

I'm in voice therapy now to work on my resonance now because while T has given me a low pitch (around 115 Hz, well within the range I want), my habitual voice has a high resonance which leads people to perceive my voice as very feminine. If I use my "chest voice" then strangers perceive a recording of my voice as unambiguously masculine. So the opposite can work for anybody wanting a more feminine-sounding voice. 

 

Sorry for the novella on voice, I really love to dork out about this stuff! But as everybody above said, whatever voice you're happy with is a good voice. You're not required to change the way you sound, and there are lots of cis women with raspy voices. 

[jae bear]

@ChickenLittle I was just playing with this resonance trick in the minivan this morning on the way to work! I seem to have some frequency ranges near the intended female range that I will need to use that fall off or go raspy if I do not resonate, I also found that when I fail this vocal range in "ahhh" I can more easily achieve it in "Ooooo" or "Ohhh"... I have a voice therapy appointment this month, so hopefully I am going in with some useful practice under my belt.

Hugs,

Jae

[VickySGV]

On 11/22/2017 at 8:11 PM, Jani said:

It seems the phone is the one last frontier for gaining acceptance as the person on the other end doesn't get any visual cues and the sound quality often varies.  

 

The phone has a couple of peculiarities that I have mentioned in posts before.  If it is a cold caller who only has the family name and is looking for the "Homeowner" I get taken for male because of the caller's sexist view that only MEN are homeowners, in spite of the fact that I have held title in my female name since 3 months after it was legally changed with the Super Court here, and I refinanced the house to pay for my GCS. (Tells me how recent their victim list is.)  If the call is for some other sales "opportunities" and I tell them they are talking to Vicky, the get the pronouns fine.

 

I know that our voices can shoot dysphoria out to the orbit of Pluto but in time as we are accepted and welcomed as ourselves the importance of "true voice" wears off and its stress reduced.  My voice resonates at the back of my mouth today and with my now female speech vocabulary and patterns, I am a lower voice tenor, which is pleasant and acceptably female.  Other than knowing I am a T2 habitually I do not try to listen to my pitch or worry about it at all.  If you sing, that is a wonderful way of getting used to your voice. If you like to sing, get in touch with any of the Gay Mens or Lesbians chorus organizations and try out.  The ones I met two years ago this July were happy to include us since Trans Choruses are a little scarce just now.

 

I brag about my musical family, the Trans Chorus of Los Angeles who really show that Trans voices can be beautiful and well received.  We had a graduation party last Sunday for one FTM singer who re-auditioned for Baritone and moved over a few chairs from high Tenor (T1).  Having fun with your voice is the best way to get it to sound right. 

[jae bear]

I’ve been answering my sales line at work with my preferred female voice, and it does confuse people from time to time but they always typically address me as male, or  then again they pretty much know that my particular line of work would normally have a male sitting at the desk so maybe that has something to do with it, the perceived notion that a man needs to know the information I would provide. But I honestly don’t think I’m trying to fool anyone at this point other than just working with what I’ve got and hoping to learn to improve it.