So I made a recording of me singing

[a Birdie on a Wire]

Something I really like about the profile posts is they can only be seen by logged in members of the forum.
And right now, I'm really liking that a lot because I'm about to make myself feel pretty vulnerable.

If you saw my thread about "matching voice to gender expression" you saw me write about the anxiety I have about my singing voice. Anxiety... dysphoria... I guess it's a fine line.

So I've been practicing...
and practicing and practicing annnnd practicing on my hour-long drive to work, desperately trying to work on my voice.
Wanna know something? It turns out singing like a woman is WAY harder than talking like a woman, which also isn't very easy when you were born with a body that went through puberty powered by testosterone. Also, it doesn't help any that I'm not that great of a singer to begin with.

Well, here goes. Last weekend I recorded a song that I know pretty well and gave it a shot. I'm afraid this is about as close as I'm going to get my voice to sound like a woman singing, which is to say... not at all.

But the thing is... I don't identify as a woman (or as some on the interwebs have started saying, "a woman of transgender experience"). I may be shapeshifting to look like a woman (as I've been on gender affirming hormone therapy for seven months) but I'm an enby. And my voice is that of an enby's, which doesn't necessarily have to sound like a woman's and I should be ok with that. Only problem is it's easier said than to believe.

So in the link below it will take you to my recent profile post where another link will take you to hear me singing a cover of John Prine's "Angel from Montgomery"


Click here: --> Wren's singing profile post

 

[TonyaJanelle]

Very good. Great song too.

 

[Confused]

You are selling yourself short. You sing very good and I am envious of your voice.

Hugs,
Mike

 

[Tallulah]

Really lovely. You have a very smooth voice, great pitch stability. What have you done so far to brighten your resonance?

 

[Lexxi]

I commented somewhere on your recording...I just don't know where. So I thought I'd comment here too. You did a fantastic job!! I'm a singer and wish I could keep my voice in the female range.

I have a very strange relationship with my voice. It's deep and booming and it's literally the only thing I've ever liked about myself. But there's no way it passes as female so I'm working hard to change it.

I've been thinking about recording a whole bunch of songs in my male voice though, so when it's finally gone me and my loved ones can still hear it singing occasionally.

I hope one day I can get my voice up to your level.

 

[OzGirl]

Very nice Wren! Great song well performed!

Hugs,

Allie

 

[a Birdie on a Wire]

Thanks everyone!
Thank you so much for the kind words and the feedback.

Hi @Tallulah I've been consistently working on my speaking voice for a couple of years but only recently gave thought to my singing voice. And that's because after I started gender affirming hormone therapy I actually saw physical effects happening that made me think, "oh crap. I'm actually going to look different. I will probably male-fail and my voice won't match."
So I've watched what seems like endless hours of videos, done research on the physiology of the throat, I had a couple of lessons with a voice coach that confirmed it all

Short answer... raise the larynx, raise back of the tongue, raise the soft pallet but it's all hard to do without choking.
Doing all that is kind of like the perfect golf swing.

 

[TonyaJanelle]

Doing all that is kind of like the perfect golf swing.

Crap then. I only get that once or twice a round if I'm lucky.

 

[Tallulah]

Thanks everyone!
Thank you so much for the kind words and the feedback.

Hi @Tallulah I've been consistently working on my speaking voice for a couple of years but only recently gave thought to my singing voice. And that's because after I started gender affirming hormone therapy I actually saw physical effects happening that made me think, "oh crap. I'm actually going to look different. I will probably male-fail and my voice won't match."
So I've watched what seems like endless hours of videos, done research on the physiology of the throat, I had a couple of lessons with a voice coach that confirmed it all

Short answer... raise the larynx, raise back of the tongue, raise the soft pallet but it's all hard to do without choking.
Doing all that is kind of like the perfect golf swing.

For me, you learn one skill, as you get better learn another skill, master the past skills as you continue to build new skills. The adding tools to your tool box. The goal is a healthy, effortless correctly-gendered voice. I just graduated a voice today which makes me so thrilled.

 

[Linde]

For me, you learn one skill, as you get better learn another skill, master the past skills as you continue to build new skills. The adding tools to your tool box. The goal is a healthy, effortless correctly-gendered voice. I just graduated a voice today which makes me so thrilled.

My new voice is still trying to find its final home. It is very clear sounding in the morning, but as the day passes on, it gets rougher, and more strained. I did not realize how ling it would take to heal my voice out again after the surgery.

Hugs
Linda

 

[Tallulah]

My new voice is still trying to find its final home. It is very clear sounding in the morning, but as the day passes on, it gets rougher, and more strained. I did not realize how ling it would take to heal my voice out again after the surgery.

Hugs
Linda

Did they give you any restorative voice exercises to do during the day, like SOVT, or a vocal warm-up in the morning?

 

[Linde]

Did they give you any restorative voice exercises to do during the day, like SOVT, or a vocal warm-up in the morning?

I am supposed to do the exercises I did during the sessions with the pathologist.

Hugs
Linde

 

[Donna622]

Really nice! I've had some classical voice training which I used to help my female speaking voice. I am too proud of my tenor voice to attempt to sing like a girl! I sang in a classical chorale for several years and there was no doubt I had male singing voice. I was accepted for who I was. Even had a two bar solo once!

 

[Loki Luci]

Ya, I used to sing baritone when I was a teenager but kept stretching through tenor to get range. When I quit smoking, I didn't bother trying to sing low anymore and liked a lot of folk rock then, which a lot of which was in tenor and lower alto. So, now if I sing along with female vocal artists, I can get most of alto without going into falsetto. But, my volume and confidence is not very present in my singing at that range yet. So, I guess what I'm saying, @a Birdie on a Wire , is that when you have the song right and let it flow, you can change pitch to fit you and everyone will love it!

 

[Spr]

Something I really like about the profile posts is they can only be seen by logged in members of the forum.
And right now, I'm really liking that a lot because I'm about to make myself feel pretty vulnerable.

If you saw my thread about "matching voice to gender expression" you saw me write about the anxiety I have about my singing voice. Anxiety... dysphoria... I guess it's a fine line.

So I've been practicing...
and practicing and practicing annnnd practicing on my hour-long drive to work, desperately trying to work on my voice.
Wanna know something? It turns out singing like a woman is WAY harder than talking like a woman, which also isn't very easy when you were born with a body that went through puberty powered by testosterone. Also, it doesn't help any that I'm not that great of a singer to begin with.

Well, here goes. Last weekend I recorded a song that I know pretty well and gave it a shot. I'm afraid this is about as close as I'm going to get my voice to sound like a woman singing, which is to say... not at all.

But the thing is... I don't identify as a woman (or as some on the interwebs have started saying, "a woman of transgender experience"). I may be shapeshifting to look like a woman (as I've been on gender affirming hormone therapy for seven months) but I'm an enby. And my voice is that of an enby's, which doesn't necessarily have to sound like a woman's and I should be ok with that. Only problem is it's easier said than to believe.

So in the link below it will take you to my recent profile post where another link will take you to hear me singing a cover of John Prine's "Angel from Montgomery"


Click here: --> Wren's singing profile post

This is so good. I've not heard the song before. But your voice is amazing.
It's something I've always wanted to do, is sing in a higher range, that would be less male.