I don't suppose anyone knows of a speech expert who offers MTF voice coaching online? The only local option I've found is prohibitively expensives, has a waiting list until summer, and may or may not be private. I need a coach rather than a course because I've made a lot of progress, but I need feedback and specific direction for how to improve from here.
The only things I see online are tutorials or ordering video sessions. I don't ever see anything like a paid Skype tutorial out there. Not that there aren't I just don't know of any.
It's a tricky thing to teach, because of a lot of it falls onto the person. There's a lot of good written material out, and a lot of video material. The big thing is practice and recording yourself. Even if your voice doesn't sound right though it can be passable, but imo the only real benefit to lessons would be having someone try to give voice examples and giving feedback on the way a person shapes their sounds. Most MtF try to go waaaaaay too high (Like 95%+), and it sounds very unnatural and forced. Pitch isn't the main factor, it's resonance and the way a person shapes the words themselves. Women can have deep voices but sound like women, men can have high voices and sound like men and it still comes across natural. Men tend to blurt out their words while women can be a lot more breathy, so one technique is to try and exhale while speaking and making sure you aren't speaking in a flat or more monotone speech. Do it too much though and again you'll sound silly. Good warm up tricks are humming, saying various vowels for extended periods of time (Going ahhhhhhhhhhhh, ohhhhhhhhhhhhh, ehhhhhhhhhhhhh, etc), and making sure you feel the vibrations closer to the front of your face. I forget the actual key that's good to hum, but it's great for warmup and it's something you can do anywhere. If you have trouble 'starting' your voice and then it gets better as you speak and shape the words, then you can mentally hum and picture the key, or hum a bit before speaking and people will just think you're going "Mmmm yeah that's a good idea!" Or w/e filler example. One good tell is if your larynx moves up, if it's not then you need to figure out how to make it do that because that's one key indicator that you are manipulating properly. I took voice therapy but even with all the information, the biggest thing was practice and self discovery. The lessons actually didn't help me much at all, and I am largely self trained. I tried to link voice clips in the past but the site I used is banned, but if people need help, while not a professional I can try my best.
I definitely know what you mean, DoriaN. There's one girl on YouTube, Brooklyn from the channel Brookie's Life(formerly Brooklyn Beauty), who still has a very manly voice, but the way she talks just ooozes feminine, which really cancels the manly pitch out. Compare that to someone like GiGi Gorgeous who goes way too far over the top.
I hadn't thought to search with my other terms plus "Skype," but that has turned up some options! One service is at vocal-key.com. At the bottom she gives examples from a couple of clients. Unfortunately, the recording quality isn't terrific, and I'm on the fence if I'm impressed enough by the examples to want to follow up, but it's certainly an option! Brooklyn is an interesting example. I listen to her, and I have to say the whole time I hear her speak I think "t-girl" rather than just "girl" or "woman." Of course, for me that's a very positive association, but it's certainly easier, though it can be argued it's not better, if a person can speak with a voice that passes as a natural female voice. I'm very interested in developing that, anyway, and have been putting in the work toward it. I have a ways to go, though! Oh, here's another possibility ... peterfullerton.com/services.html Keep in mind I don't have any personal experience with any of these. And another ... Transgender Voice at The Voice Lab - The Voice Lab Here's another: https://houstonfeldenkrais.com/voice-studio/ OK, that's all I've turned up for now. I'm excited! I'm going to look into these and try one. Wish me luck.
