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1963 - 2019
How the absolute heck is one supposed to appropriately train one's voice?
More details under the cut, if you wish, but I'm mostly just looking for any guidance after years of training wrong.
rebugged because I too would like to know if there are better resources out there. and I don't know if you ended up on the same Discord server that I tried, but it was an overwhelming mess where broadly queerphobic baby trans were dominating the conversation
I was recommended to voice the Discord group "Online Vocal Coach", which I think is one of two (extremely) large channels dedicated to the topic? I didn't really even get very far, I confess. It was just such an overwhelming experience give that there were dozens and dozens of channels, hundreds of people, and no real way to parse the information there, that I didn't even adsorb anything.
Either way, I sure hope that we can both find some better resources! Thank you for extending the reach <3
I've personally never done formal voice training for "speech femanization" BUT I grew up doing a lot of acting and entertaining through my teens and early 20s (pre-transition) that got me used to the idea that my voice could be a tool.
After transitioning I took the advice of a trans elder who told me she'd found her voice by doing three things:
I took all of this to heart when I first started training and made a lot of progress very quickly, combined with the "swallowing" (raising your trachea) and "whispering" (talking as if you are going to whisper and trying to raise volume without reverb) tricks that a lot of trans voice vids online recommend.
Unfortunately I had a partner at the time that attacked me a LOT for "sounding fake" which discouraged me and slowed progress. There is a period where things sound "fake" but that's just getting used to it and just like all skills with practice things improve.
Double unfortunately one of my other partners also expressed discomfort with some of the voice practice. (They've apologized profusely since then thankfully, but it's still stuck) so I don't practice anywhere near as much as I should. BUT every time I do and focus on what I've learnt from my own A-B testing, my voice goes from husky fem to high fem pretty quickly.
I know this isn't a formal setup and may not be what you're looking for, but I also refused to join any of the vocal training discords etc and just bounce off my trans friends asking the ones with super passing voices their techniques. The answer to which is usually a similar variation to what I've outlined above.
Oh, this is very helpful!! Thank you.
The idea of listening live is one I've heard before, but these tips make a lot more sense to me, in terms of how to do it specifically. I do appreciate the mimicking tip - When I was younger I always liked to mimic voices for fun, and try to get as close as I could. I never thought about using this for feminization. I can probably find some places to start there, at least. And the involuntary noises!! I believe that for sure!! Mostly because even when I'm at my strongest with my voice, I'll sneeze or cough or make some manner of noise that just ruins it all. Those sounds are really important, and it feels like people ignore them in training all the time.
Also, I'm super sorry that anyone every gave you a hard time about this at all. Gosh - I worry so much about "sounding fake". Like, a huge part of what's stalled my transition as long as I've let it stall, is specifically because I know that my coworkers will all stop taking me seriously specifically because I'll sound fake. It's a serious point of scar tissue, and having someone you care about throw that in your face is brutal. I'm so sorry :(
Thank you so much for your input and help on this, seriously. It may not be formal, but I'm finding that so little of it really is. It's more about finding what works for you, taking the bits you can, and going from there.
And I fear some of us (me) have to begin from about 200 m behind the starting line.
I got to where I am by mimicking my Mum, Fluttershy and Emma Watson mostly, but seriously you can start anywhere! Just pick voices you like and try your best to copy them! It's kinda like art, if you mimic just the one voice it's gonna sound a lil' like copying, but if you learn to mimic a lot of voices and blend them, you'll really build a voice of your own!
The practicing of involuntary sounds is probably the thing that's helped the absolute most. Just staying conscious of it at the start of a sneeze so that I change how the other side comes out is pretty huge. I also can't understate how huge listening back to yourself on a mic monitor forces you to notice every mistake and learn not to do them. It's intimidating to start with, but hec it works well.
Also for what it's worth on the starting behind, the trans elder who gave me the initial advice, was a retired burlesque dancer in her 60s and didn't start her transition till her mid 40s iirc and she was passing by all metrics with just hrt and practice.
I'm the last person who should give advice on this - but I'm thinking maybe start by asking someone you trust to coach you? I don't know which Twitch channels you spend time on, but I'm thinking for instance about Index_paige who keeps stunning me each time she shows her range and even has a voice training lesson redeem. I'm sure there are others.
Just going to an online channel with a million strangers must have been dreadful, I hope you find a solution that suits you better!
Honestly, anyone who could help would be a welcome and fantastic step - but I really don't know where I could even begin to ask. It's a really good suggestion! I'm just, uh.
I don't have many friends. Fewer who might be able to help here.
Gosh, there are some people out there who REALLY have a great range. Or people who just have learned how to 100% own their voice in a way that makes it work for them (Like, there are a few transfem folk on Twitch who by their own confession are just using their baseline voice, but it still reads incredibly femme to me).
Still, I think your point is a great one. Having someone to confer with on this would be a boon.
Would you be uncomfortable talking to GloopQueen? H*ck, would you want me to intercede? I'm not above embarrassing myself if there's the slightest chance it helps.
Oh heck, that's super kind of you! I genuinely and deeply appreciate that a ton, honestly <3
I'm pretty sure that Gloop's got more than her share of stuff to deal with, though. I know she's super busy, and the last thing she needs is a random fan asking her for advice. ^.^; Particularly for a topic she probably doesn't intend to instruct on?
I totally get where you're coming from, though, and honestly thank you so much!!
I'm thinking between free weekly lessons (Claire's suggestion) and maybe someone to give you a lil feedback on your progress once a week or so you could go pretty far without having to take drastic steps. ^_^
I'm hoping very much the same. I'm particularly hoping that, perhaps, some or most of my previous work can help me out - and that I just need some refining and tweaking to get something reasonable!
It'd be nice to finally get something I'm comfortable with.
And thank you, honestly <3
apparently transvoicelessons on youtube is like on the cutting edge of voice fem techniques (source random redditors). waiting for another group class from them personally
Oh, I've heard that name floating around before and I think I only briefly checked them out a long time ago. Absolutely going to take a closer look soon. Thanks very much for the suggestion!
...i've been looking for this as well, and i'd ran into similar issues.
it's always felt so daunting, and i've never known where to start.
hopefully you find what you're looking for.
and that i find what i'm looking for in your replies.
