Transgender question

Try keeping a private video diary. However, you could try going to a professional voice therapist. Also, a lot more than you might think is hinged on semiotics.

 

I would like to hear more on this too. I have tried in the past and gave up. Now I have been consistently training my voice for about 6 weeks. The hardest part for me is finding a place where I can do it alone (I am too embarrassed to try in front of others). I do it in the car on my commutes to work and home. Problem is my media player is busted. I will buy a cheap mp3 player soon and speakers so I can sing along with my favorite female vocalists. And some recording device. Even just a cheap tape recorder will do.

What I have been doing is what many video logs of other MtFs have shown me. Start with a falsetto or "mickey mouse" voice for weeks on end. Slowly start "squeezing" this voice to soften it (Very tricky, hard to explain, and tiring) for more weeks. Slowly start incorporating a bit of male voice as needed to modify it so it is less falsetto for more weeks. I have heard people say it takes anywhere from 6 months to 1.5 years before the voice becomes acceptable. Very important tip though is to not strain yourself or you could end up worse than when you started. Baby steps at first and extreme care.

Definitely record yourself somehow so you can hear your progress. We sound different to the others than we do in our own heads. It can be encouraging.

@Christiaan: I had not heard of Semiotics before. Thanks!

 

i have a similar issue. i have a deper voice but im ftm. people still think im female

 

From what I have heard, and I could be wrong, the only way to change your voice is by training yourself to sound more feminine. There is such a thing as hiring personal voice trainers to help you out so it might be something worth looking towards in the future.

FtM have an easier time with the voice dilemma because testosterone actually helps deepen your voice. Sadly, the same doesn't go for MtF.

I obviously don't know too much, but we do have a decently size trans community here so hopefully someone here can help you out

 

One of my biggest fears is the voice... I fear that I may not be able to pull off a legit sounding female voice. If I become physically passable but without a legit voice then i'l just go a bit androgyne or something in public.

 

I'm so lucky my voice is lower than normal. Except when I scream or get really excited then my voice tends to get high. My suggestion is to record your voice and then listen to it. It's really weird the first time but then you can hear mistakes and you know what to fix.

 

Opposite. I always thought my voice was higher than usual, and was horribly disappointed to learn it's not. So I've tried speaking a little higher (not quite Mickey Mouse) but it still gets too deep when I'm upset and not thinking about it.

 

I have been thinking about this and did some more research on FtM voice change exercises.

I just learned a new technique. Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before.

This one, again, says to use a recorder, or, if you cannot get a recorder, get close and talk into a corner of the wall so your voice reflects back.

This technique assumes that working with falsetto is not a good way. The tighter you squeeze the larynx the less genuine your voice will sound. Instead, allow the throat to become like you are about to speak deeply, but do not allow the tongue and upper throat to fall. Reduce amount of space in mouth cavity.

Enunciate your words more. Focus on Ss and Ts. A silly practice phrase was recommended to help with this "Sister tantus tells the story of tomorrow." Exaggerate the S and T sounds, but not too much. I think the person who made this technique was trying to explain Semiotics.

Put all of these things together and keep practicing.

I hope this helps. I know this isn't perfect but I am going to try this out.

 

By semiotics, I was referring to vague subtleties of sentence structure, word usage and generally "what you consider speech to be there for." Although the voice itself means a lot, there are other aspects of speech that can make a big difference.

And the only way to change it is in the same way that you try to help change your voice: record and listen to yourself. Don't just listen to your voice, but consider all aspects of your speech.

Thing is, I think a lot of people are against this idea. Oh well.