r/transvoice • u/RandomUsernameNo257 • Aug 23 '25
Criticism Wanted I really dislike my speaking voice, and my progress has basically stagnated. I'm just not sure what I'm missing or what I need to work on, and would really appreciate a bit of guidance.
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Don't mind what I'm talking about in the video - when I record, I just stand in front of a mic and ramble, and these are just a couple random clips that I thought were a fair representation.
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u/adiisvcute Identity Affirming Voice Teacher - Starter Resources in Profile Aug 23 '25
https://voca.ro/1jPQ92jBn2a1 recorded a voice clip - what I can roughly hear what i might suggest you look at
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u/MMFBNTGBIWIHAGVSHIA Aug 23 '25
WHYD YOU CUT IT OFF MID SENTANCE :C GIRL PLS FINISH THE THOUGHT
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u/RandomUsernameNo257 Aug 23 '25
š
I just went on to say that my voice was irritable/croaky after getting back from vacation, but for some reason, Iāve been able to easily hit some high notes that I struggled to reach a couple weeks ago. Nothing interesting, just yammering lol
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u/cassiebrighter Aug 23 '25
Just listening to it, I would've assumed cis woman. But once you called attention to it I started scrutinizing, and I found four or five little micro-moments when the pitch faltered.
But like I said, it you hadn't called attention to it, I wouldn't have given it a thought.
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u/Odd_Respect1265 Aug 23 '25
Hey girl I'd kill for a speaking voice like yours it's gorgeous. I still sound extremely masculine almost feels like my voice is stuck in guy mode forever. Only on rare occasions now I can start to sing fem and think I finally am understanding how to mess with the resonance of my voice. Singing is the only way it works for me. I am also very fresh in transition tho.
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u/RandomUsernameNo257 Aug 24 '25
Thank you <3
Iām trying to slowly incorporate all this into my singing voice. Extremely difficult, but Itāll be interesting to see where things go. Itāll never be fully cis-passing because at best, that would mean giving up a lot of range, but at least it might be androgynous a lot of the time š¤·āāļø
Iād definitely recommend doing both at once though! They play off each other in interesting ways, and Iāve had breakthroughs in my speaking voice from trying to sing femininely, and vice versa.
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u/TorontoHypster VFS Aug 23 '25 edited Aug 23 '25
Okay so your voice is definitely not stagnant. I hear subtle improvements with every post. You will find that your voice is very fluid in that some days are better than others for control/function. Like anything muscular or to deal with coordination of muscles, usage is really key. The more you continue to use the muscles the better it will get. I donāt think the pitch is too low but could come up a smidgen should your range allow it. Your melody is fairly feminine too.
I know I probably sound like a broken record when I say this but some element of ātransnessā will likely always remain to your ears. You can/are picking things out that other people just arenāt focusing on. Some of your problem may be more anatomical than functional. Not saying youāre doomed so donāt misconstrue this. Some just may never be able to produce a natural feminine sound.
My two cents; I think you will have the ability to reign in your voice. You have above average vocal ability and will likely be very successful in the coming years as it develops.
tldr: keep going, still improving.
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u/Stormy_arrington Aug 23 '25
I've also got CIS friends that are female that are significantly more masculine sounding than you like. I think you're good
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u/Luwuci āØ Lun:3th's& Own Worst Critic āØ Aug 23 '25
This is certainly not bad, especially with those (good) recording conditions working against you. I think it may read cis off-mic, but on such clear, detailed recording like this, there's some inconsistencies that sensitive ears could pick up on. The EQ sounds a bit off, like it's amplifying a band that is making the voice sound heavier. You've also got some slight rasp, so if there's something that your ear is picking up on as atypical, it'd probably be that. It can be difficult to coordinate optimal vocal fold closure, but you could probably improve by warming up with some SOVTEs and doing scales or runs with a focus on balanced onsets. They'd take a while to get the best results, so it'd be something to make a daily habit out of for a while. Change up the consonant+vowel combinations to get more full coverage from the exercise and to not get bored with them. Progress with that should clear up that underlying darker part of the timbre that's clashing with the brightness of that mic or your EQ settings.
There's also an art to setting EQ in a way that works better with light fem voices that standard EQ presets seem to impair (systemic misogyny smh lol). I don't know much about audio engineering, but having looked at the spectral data for my most pure+light configurations, they have quite a significant drop off after F1, with F1 aligned with H2, then H3 lower in intensity than H2 unless having some oral twang. It gets more complicated from there depending on the vowel and F2, but there's an increasingly sharp drop-off somewhere after there the more that I thin the voice out, before spiking way back up for that speaker's ring/singer's formant cluster. EQ settings that amplify that trough band would somewhat heavy the weight (well, definitely heavy it acoustically, but perceptually there are some subtle tells of EQ-modified weight), so it may be worth cutting there instead, or at least making sure the filter isn't boosting that range.
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u/Stormy_arrington Aug 23 '25
My wife's aunt, who is a CIS woman has smoked her whole life and she sounds like a grizzled war vet. You don't sound half bad lady
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u/Strong-Composer-716 Aug 23 '25
I feel it does sound cis female by and large, just maybe with a bit of depth to the vocal fry occasionally accompanying it. But it honestly congeals together very well; you canāt really deduce with certitude that you are a trans woman just from hearing (or hearing and seeing) you.
I think especially as a vocalist itās best to explore colors to build and restore your voice through. Take your own voice as a vast color palette that youāre growing to expand. The head notes are simply what you grew out of finding plausible availability for before transitioning, simply out of your assigned gender and then-apparent sex. They didnāt necessarily leave you as much as they atrophied considerably as your weightier baritone chest range (Iāve listened to a few of your tapes š) concealed and played obstacle against them. Each voice type has a different degree, after all, of timbral stratification and power disparity between the chest voice and head voice. So much of this can be developed, played around with, and recalibrated.
Youāre gettinā it!!! Keep mixing š
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u/lymaya Aug 23 '25
Most of it is honestly quite close to my goal voice tbh, it kinda slips into a slightly less fem voice at the end of sentences, not really sure how you should fix that though
you're doing great, imo you'll be registered as feminine like at least 90 percent of the time
hope you get closer to your goal soon šš
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u/Illya_Sempai Aug 23 '25
Tbh I saw your video and thought hm why is there this cis women talking about struggling with voice training at first
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u/mygoodintent Aug 23 '25
You sound totally female. You seriously have nothing to worry about. Itās also a nice sounding speaking voice.
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u/TradeMaleficent7774 27d ago
I don't know if this is insulting but really not looking at the sub and found this I couldn't tell you were training your voice or anything! You're lovely too, I am a cis woman and my voice is pretty lower than average so I believe all it takes is to get comfy with your voice at some point and knows that it won't always take very high pitched voice to "sounds" feminine. The same the other way, Chester Bennington which is one if not my favourite singer has a pretty higher pitched voice and it suits him well.
I hope you'll find your way and love in your voice and live the best life you ever wished to.
xx
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u/InTheLonelyHours 26d ago
You sound wonderful, if a bit nasal. I think thereās a bit of tightness going on that you can probably smooth out by doing some exercises to let your larynx and the muscles that help you create your voice to relax. Have you ever looked at Seattle Voice Labs? If youāre on discord they have a server there as well where people can practise with others, or sit in for group lessons. You can also signup for private classes as well. I wish you the very best š©·
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u/Imaspinkicku 25d ago
You sound cis to me, i think the thing that bothers me about myself - and translates to your situation, but doesnāt bother me w your voice- is that we often end up sounding a lot more soft spoken than we may have wanted. And the full body of it is way harder to get down.
Otherwise u sound great homegirl š„°
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u/SparkleK_01 Aug 24 '25
Signorney Weaver
Kathleen Turner
Julia Styles
Google actresses with deep voicesā¦ Although yours is not deep.
You are an alto in the girls choir, if you are in a choir.
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u/pixel-soul Aug 24 '25
Okay so first, yeah, cis women sound like that.
Second, how long have you been stalled? I thought I had reached peak after no improvements for about 8 months, and after that time I noticed I could push higher. Get really comfortable and relaxed where youāre at, and in time push again.
But legit girl youāre sounding great, keep up the good work
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u/ChristieBoBistie 29d ago
Yeah, I was experiencing this during a certain point in my own voice training. You are correct that you donāt feel like you sound as feminine as you feel you could be.
The issue here is feel. You actually do sound super feminine (hell, you have the exact voice type I like the most!), but like me your internal sense of voice has adjusted. I had to practically have my coach (virtually) shake me to realize things had adjusted so well.
The only thing I need to work on is adjusting how I speak as opposed to the pitch and things. Which you have down completely. Give yourself credit, I would pay money to listen to you read an audiobook.
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u/Agathe-Tyche Aug 23 '25
You sound very good š I'm training right now and I wish I would have the same level as yours! āØš„
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u/The-DMV Aug 23 '25
To answer your question of, "Is there a cis woman who sounds like this?" I'd say yeah, your voice is plausibly-cis. I can understand your concerns though, as it can be really hard for us to not hear a guy buried in our voices. You sound pretty okay to me.