CrossPort: Cincinnati, Ohio

Volume 22, Issue 5

\ÇÇxÜi|xã Version: 5/14/2006 1:36:47 PM May 2006

In This Issue!
To Sound Like A Woman
Finding Susan D Clark Phil: Speech and acceptable female voice. are likely to be perceived as
Your Language Therapist
On the first visit to the thera-
• Those who have an unre-
alistic self- perception of
male. There are two impor-
tant points to remember re-

Feminine
pist, a case history is taken.
Hearing a person's back-
ground in their own words
Voice!
helps to form a relationship,
and to elaborate on areas per-
tinent to communication. A
person who is not perma-
nently cross-dressing full-
time, may be accepted for
Index: treatment because this pro-
vides an opportunity to give
To Sound Like a Woman 1,2,7 them basic information that
will allow them to practice
techniques, and they will
Melanie Speaks 1,2,5 achieve results more quickly
once they are cross-dressing
permanently. From the outset,
CrossPort Information 2 fundamental pitch frequency.
total commitment to therapy
is essential.
So far as voice is concerned,
How to Develop a Female 3,4,5 experience shows that trans-
Voice sexuals fall into four catego-
ries;
Happenings 4 • Those where little ther-
apy is required to achieve
Feminine Voice Techniques 6,7
acceptable voice.
• Those who can gain ac-
ceptable voice with con-
siderable therapy input
• Those where voice modi-
fication surgery is re-
quired.
The aim of therapy is to femi-
nize the voice so that it does
not attract attention. The
voice should possess the cor-
rect blend of pitch, loudness
and quality combined with a
feminine manner. At the first
or second session an audio
tape is made to determine the
This is to show if the pitch
moves into the feminine range
after therapy. Transsexuals
who use a fundamental fre-
quency of 160 Hz. or more
are likely to be judged as fe-
male. Those with a fundamen-
tal frequency below 160 Hz.
garding frequency. Firstly
there is an overlap between
male and female frequencies
- Eartha Kitt and Cher are
examples of low frequen-
cies, and secondly, some
transsexuals have a large
frame and would sound ri-
diculous with a high pitched
voice.
A photograph of the client is
taken at an early stage in
therapy, and may be re-
peated at intervals to assess
improvement in femininity.
Recently I have started
videoing transsexuals to
evaluate voice and body
language together.
We are all influenced by
how we expect males and
females to sound. A group
of university students were
asked for three female and
three male characteristics.
(Continued on page 8)

Voice Feminization 7,9

Melanie Speaks
Nothing gets you read faster than a voice that doesn't match your appearance. Many gender
folk dress up to the nines and look like goddesses... until they open their mouths. Suddenly, in
Top Tips 10 spite of the grace and curves they turn into truck drivers or lumberjacks right before your eyes.
Clothes may make the man, but voice makes the woman.
Illustration 10 Whether you are a cross dresser or transsexual, developing a truly FEMALE voice - not just a
feminine one - is of paramount concern. When I began my transition, there was electrolysis to
worry about, mannerisms... but it was voice that seemed to me the greatest obstacle.
Membership Form, Info 10
Like most, I tried simply feminizing my voice, softening the voice I had. I tried raising my
pitch artificially, arriving at that bad falsetto that forms the stereotype of the transgendered
Coming Next Month 10 marking them as parodies rather than the real thing. Eventually I even consider vocal chord
surgery as a last resort.
 PAGE 2 INNE RV IE W V OLUME 2 2, I SSUE 5

Melanie Speaks, Part two

Voice surgery made me nervous though. I had a fairly decent singing voice, I like to do character voices, I liked to sound dra-
matic when I spoke. But the thought of being read every time I uttered a word was enough to tip the balance to consider voice
surgery, even though all end-results I had heard were not very convincing AND I had heard horror stories of those who as a result
of the surgery lost their voices completely!
I had just about resigned myself to that risk when, a few months into fulltime, I stumbled into something quite by accident that
made the difference in my career, my relationships, in my life as a whole: I learned to sound female.
Notice I did not say "to talk like a woman", but rather "to sound female". This is because the secret I found is not in the way one
speaks but the way one sounds. I had been trying out different voices that day (as I did most days), sometimes trying to sound
like a squeaky teenager, other times like a mature matron. For weeks I had been struggling with no progress to speak of. And
then, this one day, suddenly something happened. My voice "slipped gears" and came down in a different place than it had ever
been.
All at once, in one broad stroke, the TIMBER of my voice had turned female. I couldn't believe it! I actually SOUNDED female!
I tried saying this and that and EVERYTHING sounded female. This was incredible! After all my fears and yearnings... well, it
was almost like magically being transformed into a woman!
I was working as Melanie, but still going home to my wife as Dave. The kids did not know about my transition yet. So each
night, I would leave work, take off the nail polish and make-up, change my clothes and go home. So, I decided it was time to go
back to my "drab" voice and do Dave again for the night. But when I tried to revert, I couldn't find my old voice. I tried again -
nothing! Suddenly I felt that I really HAD been transformed! That somehow my whole voice box had been changed to female!
But this was terrible!!! My wife was going to kill me!
After half an hour of unsuccessful attempts to get out of voice, there was nothing left to do but face the music.
Continued on page 5

A lighthouse beacon for those seeking hope

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Web Sites
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http://www.looking-
glass.greenend.org.uk/

Synchronicity Bookstore:
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http://ifge.org/catalog/

CrossPort Information
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Cincinnati, OH 45201 Stacy Lynn Parker, Treasurer, Publications, Events : stacylynn@fuse.net
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V OLUME 2 2, I SSUE 5 INNE RV IE W
How to Develop a Female Voice
Tara M. Taylor
You can be very passable in your appearance, but if you
speak in a masculine voice you've just outed yourself. It
amazes me how many transsexual women speak in a mascu-
line-sounding voice, even post-ops. They'll spend thousands
of dollars on hormones, electrolysis, surgery, etc, but won't
make the effort to retrain their voices. If you don't mind get-
ting sir'd on the phone, or even in public, go ahead and talk
like a man. But if you want to pass as a woman, your voice is
important.
Another reason to speak in a female voice is we are all am-
bassadors for the trans community. People will often base
their views of us on first impressions. If you speak in a mas-
culine voice not only will there be an incongruity between
your voice and appearance, but people will probably relate us
more to drag queens and crossdressers than women, an im-
age we need to get away from.
Just about any male voice can be retrained, so don't be dis-
couraged if you're starting as a baritone! Just like your walk,
unlearning years of doing something in a masculine way,
you're retraining your throat muscles, so give yourself time.
It may take a year, or more, before your voice sounds good
in all situations, like yelling.
Will hormones make your voice higher? Unless you
started HRT at the onset, or at puberty before your voice had
changed, hormones will have no effect on pitch (though es-
trogen will tend to soften the voice).
What about voice surgery? That is an option and can take
the worry out of whether you'll get read when you speak. As
with most surgery, the outcome of voice surgery isn't certain.
Explore your options and educate yourself about vocal sur-
gery before deciding to have it.
There are three steps to developing a female voice:
1) Learn the techniques, 2) practice, 3) more practice!
Training your voice is similar to learning piano: first you
start with scales, then progress to songs until you're profi-
cient.
If you have singing experience, radio broadcasting, or have
done character voices, these techniques should be easy for
you.
Recording and listening to your voice, either with a cassette
recorder or your computer, is essential!
There are many nuances that make up a female voice and
you can only hear them when you play your voice back.
When a person hears his or her voice played back for the first
time they're usually surprised at how different it sounds.
That's because when you hear your own voice it's resonating
in your head and will sound different from what others hear.
I also recommend recording your phone calls, either with
your computer or a cassette recorder. They will be invaluable
to your learning process. The phone is an important test since
the person you're speaking to has no visual clues about your
PAGE 3
gender. There are inexpensive devices you can buy at Radio
Shack, and other electronics stores, that plug into your phone
and a cassette recorder and are activated when the phone re-
ceiver is lifted. (Check with your local laws. In some states in
the US it's illegal to record a phone conversation without the
other person's knowledge.)
Similarity to acting
Speaking in a female voice has similarities to acting, in that,
you're adopting speaking mannerisms that are different from
your normal voice. The difference being it'll become your nor-
mal voice! Actors whose character speaks in a foreign accent
often study other actors, or everyday people, who speak in the
accent they need to imitate. A southern accent is good practice
in developing a female voice and will be addressed later in the
lessons.
Just as in a female walk, when everything's done correctly they
combine to make a convincing sounding voice. You'll need
some reading material to practice from. I recommend some-
thing you enjoy, like a favorite book or women's magazine.
Warm ups
When you take acting lessons you're taught warm-ups. One I
recommend is saying the vowels (a-e-i-o-u) and over-
emphasizing them by making exaggerated mouth movements.
This will help in relaxing your mouth muscles and achieving
the clear enunciation and modulation of the female voice and
break the male habit of slurring words and not enunciating
clearly.
Pitch
The main difference between a masculine and feminine voice is
pitch. Don't believe anyone who says pitch isn't important.
Those who say that usually don't pass well with their voices.
Even Melanie Phillips says pitch isn't im-
portant. However, if you listen to her voice
her pitch is far above most male voices (I
think that's a reason why some don't get
results from her lessons). Pitch should be
the technique you work on the most.
Males have deeper voices due to longer and
thicker vocal cords. It's like the difference
between a flute and an oboe.
If you picture your vocal cords as a pipe (see diagram), pipe B
will make a higher pitched sound than pipe
A, since pipe B is shorter. You can accom-
plish this by tightening your vocal cords.
You want to move the resonance out of your
chest and lower throat and up into your na-
sal passages and head. Try this experiment:
place your index finger just above your
Adam's apple and your middle finger just
below it. Now speak in your normal voice.
Continued on page 4
 PAGE 4 INNE RV IE W V OLUME 2 2, I SSUE 5

How to Develop a Female Voice

Part two
Happenings
Continued from page 3
You should feel vibration under both your fingers. Now
tighten your throat, raise your pitch and try to make your
voice resonate from just your upper throat. You should now
feel vibration mainly under your index finger. Don't be dis-
couraged if your pitch doesn't sound natural at first; It will
rise over time with practice.
I teach two techniques to raise pitch. The first is emitting an
audible sigh -- like a big yawn -- in the highest pitch you can
go without breaking into falsetto (falsetto is that high,
squeaky voice that sounds like Mickey Mouse and sound
unnatural). This technique is taught to singers. The second is
deliberately going into falsetto and sliding down into a pitch
that feels comfortable.
Now, onto your first lesson. Start your recording device and
do an audible sigh while raising your pitch as high as you
can. In other words, take a breath and say "haaaa" in as high
a pitch as you can without breaking into falsetto. Holding that
pitch read a few lines from your reading material. Or try the
same thing by going into falsetto and letting your voice slide
down to a pitch that feels comfortable. If your voice cracks or
breaks, that's OK. When you first start it will, your throat isn't
accustomed to using the upper vocal cords exclusively.
Breathiness
Marilyn Monroe had
the classic sexy,
breathy voice.
Breathiness begins by
whispering -- pretend
you're whispering
something into your
girlfriend's ear. Over
time your volume will
increase; people are
used to women having
softer voices. Just
speak loud enough to
make yourself understood. Don't over do it -- talking with too
much breathiness can make you sound like a drag queen!
You may think you sound funny, just ignore it and keep prac-
ticing.
“Imagine your voice being projected
out the tip of your nose”
Second Tuesday’s, 7:30 Sharp to 9PM General dis-
cussions @Jenelle’s house. Q&A. afterward. Open
topic meetings in safe, quiet, accepting neighborhood.
S.O.’s welcome! Call or write for details: 513 731-
2464 or jenelle@jenellerose.com, Suject::CrossPort
CrossPort Social held on third Thursday of each
month. Dinner and socializing. Spouses and partners
are welcome to attend.
Cross dresser's (CD/TV) Support Group meets on
the first Wednesday of each month. The goal of this
group is to address issues relating to the needs of the
cross dressing members of CrossPort. Every month we
offer all or part of the meeting to open discussion.
Spouses and significant others are welcome and en-
couraged to attend. For more information, please
email Stacy: stacylynn@fuse.net
Transsexual Support and Discussion Group: The
defining characteristic of transsexuals is the lifelong
desire to live and be socially recognized as the sex
opposite the one assigned at birth. The primary pur-
pose of this group is to provide an environment in
which transsexual identified and questioning people
have the opportunity to meet and discuss concerns that
affect them. These include: relationships with family
and friends, employment concerns, legal issues, dis-
crimination and violence, and access to health-care
providers.
The group, which focuses on pre-operative, post-
operative and non-operative female-to-male and male-
to-female transsexuals, offers an opportunity to net-
work in a supportive forum. This group meets twice a
month, on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays. For more
information please email Cynthia at:
cynthialeigh2@yahoo.com
Vicki D'Salle @Hamburger Mary's Friday, June
9th- 5:30-8:30 PM
Ricky Nye @Chez Nora Wednesday’s, 8:30-12:30,
w/Bekah Williams the first & third Wed's.
CrossPort membership is ENCOURAGED, not a require-
ment to attend our meetings.
Without Members there is no CrossPort

Send your event to: jenelle@jenellerose.com,

More on page 5 Subject:CrossPort
V OLUME 2 2, I SSUE 5 INNE RV IE W
How to Develop a Female Voice
Part three
Continued from page 4
Enunciation
Men tend to slur words and not speak as clearly as women. This
is probably due to having louder voices so they don't have to
enunciate clearly. For example, a man would say: "Gonna go ta
Tom's house 'n' check out the game." Whereas a woman would
say: "I'm going to visit Mary. We're going to do each other's
hair." A good way to learn to enunciate is to read something
and over e-nun-ci-ate each word. This will sound overdone, but
you're breaking the male pattern of slurring words.
Phrasing and Modulation
Men tend to speak in a flat-footed or monotone way, not vary-
ing their tone much and saying as much as they can in one
breath. Women modulate, or vary their tone. In other words,
their pitch will go up and down during a sentence. For example,
a woman would say, "Oh, my dear [pitch up]. How are you-
u?" [pitch down] Men have larger lungs and can speak longer
without taking a breath, whereas women have less breath ca-
pacity and tend to take more breathes when speaking. A way to
practice this is to read something and every time you see a
comma, take a breath. Try it with the following sentence, taking
a short breath at every comma: "I went to the store and bought
lipstick, eye shadow, blush, and mascara."
Pronunciation
Men and women pronounce words differently. The main differ-
ences are women often pronounce one syllable words as two,
and sometimes their voices go up at the end of sentences, like
when asking a question. For example, a man would say: "I'm
going out the back door," whereas a woman would say "I'm
going out the back door-or." The classic female greeting of "hi-
eee" is another example. A good way of practicing this is to
speak in a Southern accent. If you saw the movie "Tootsie," (If
you haven't, I recommend you do since Dustin Hoffman did a
good job of imitating a woman's voice) you may remember
when Mr. Hoffman was Tootsie she spoke with a southern ac-
cent and didn't when he was a man. That's because a southern
accent is one of the easiest to speak in a feminine voice. People
from the south pronounce one syllable words as two (for exam-
ple bray-yed instead of bread) and the southern drawl gives
your voice a natural feminine quality. If you don't know how to
do a southern accent rent a movie with a female lead who
speaks with a southern accent, like Fried Green Tomatoes and
imitate her.
Women hiss!
OK, not like a snake! When women talk they make a hissing
sound when they say words with the letter 'S' in them. You can
do this by putting your tongue at the roof of your mouth just
behind your front teeth. It's like talking with a lisp. Try putting
your tongue in that position and say, "Girls make a hissing
sound when they say words with S's in them."
These are the basic mechanics of a female voice. Keep re-
cording and critiquing your voice. The worst time to practice is
in the morning after you've just gotten up. Your throat muscles
PAGE 5
are relaxed and this tends to put your resonance into the
lower vocal cords and chest. A good time to practice is when
you're excited about something, after a good day. Your voice
naturally sounds livelier and you're enthusiastic.
Here's a tip when answering the phone: Women tend to take a
breath just before speaking. When you answer the phone take
an audible breath (inhale) before speaking.
When you think to yourself, think in your female voice.
Spend at least 10-15 minutes a day practicing recording,
playing back and critiquing your voice. Don't just listen to
your voice (without recording) and think you'll sound fine.
You'll miss things. Hearing how others hear you is essential.
Sometimes it boils down to just one phrase or word that
needs improvement.
It's exciting to hear a woman's voice played back and know-
ing it's you!
Listen to and imitate
women on TV. Note their
cadence, modulation and
phrasing
Melanie Speaks, Part three
Continued from page 2
I drove home, and Mary said, "How was your day?" I re-
plied, "Fine", but it wasn't Dave's voice, it was Melanie's
and Mary threw a fit!
"What's wrong with your voice?!", she demanded. I ex-
plained what had happened and how I got stuck. She told
me I had better figure out how to get my old voice back
before the kids woke up in the morning. Over the course of
an hour or so, my voice relaxed and the old voice came
back. I worried that I couldn't get the new voice back again.
It happened by accident, and I really didn't know what I had
done. At first, I DID lose the new voice. But then, I found it
again, and practiced and practiced going in and out all the
rest of the night.
The next morning, the first thing I did when I woke up was
try to find the new voice again, and there it was, mine to
command! Over the following months, I worked on the fine
points, adding all the elements that affected not only the
sound, but the manner in which I spoke. And now, over four
years later and two years after SRS, I can report that my
new voice is fine. If I choose I can slip in and out of it at
will. This voice has been crucial in my career advancement,
relationships and best of all, my female voice has helped
developed my sense of self as Melanie.
 PAGE 6 INNE RV IE W
Feminine Voice Techniques
Introduction
This is a collection of practical suggestions and ideas for self-
help in the feminization of the voice, developed by a group of
male-to-female transsexuals within the Looking Glass Society.
Neither hormones nor genital surgery will 'un-break' a male
voice, and voice-changing surgery is widely regarded as inadvis-
able, in addition to being at best only a partial solution. Thus,
speech training is necessary in order to produce a satisfactory
'female' voice.
At first, it may seem hard to concentrate on all the different facets
of producing a feminine voice, and lapses will happen. The only
solution is to practice and practice again until it gradually be-
comes second nature.
The Methods
1. Sing! To loosen-up the voice box, extend your pitch
range, and help develop good control, it can be very helpful
to choose a female vocalist that you like, preferably one with
a relatively deep voice, and sing along. The musically-
minded may also wish to perform singing exercises, such as
singing scales.
2. Raise the position of the laryngeal cartilage : up raises
your voice pitch and decreases the characteristic male reso-
nance. (The laryngeal cartilage is the 'movable' piece of car-
tilage that you can feel rising if you place a hand on your
throat and sing a rising scale ( "doh, re, mi, fa, sol, lah, ti,
doh" )). The point of this is to try to gain a higher 'baseline'
pitch than you have previously used, and then increase the
pitch further when placing emphasis.
3. For example you might decide that if you pitch the
"doh" as your baseline male pitch, raising your basic pitch to
about "fa" or "sol" would be sufficient. But do not overdo the
pitch-raising: a squeaky, falsetto voice sounds very inappro-
priate on an adult woman. The pitch adjustment is a compro-
mise --- for the technically-minded you should aim for above
160Hz; if you have access to a musical instrument that's
about the G below middle C.
4. Of course, everyone starts out with a different original
voice and some will be able to raise it more than others with-
out sounding squeaky. You might find it slightly tiring on
your voice-box at first, as you are unused to speaking in that
register, but it should become comfortable with a little prac-
tice. If it does not, then you are probably trying to force your
pitch up too high.
5. Partially open the glottis when speaking : The posi-
tion of the glottis controls how much air passes over the vo-
cal cords. When breathing rather than speaking, when whis-
pering, or when producing an 'unvoiced' sound (where the
vocal cords do not vibrate, like 'hhh' or 'sss' ), the glottis is
fully open and all the air bypasses the vocal cords. With the
glottis firmly closed, all the air is forced over the vocal
cords, producing a fully-voiced and typically male voiced
V OLUME 2 2, I SSUE 5
sound. You need to try to find a 'semi-whispering' posi-
tion that eliminates the fully-voiced sound with heavy
resonance in the chest, and imparts a breathy quality to
the voice.
6. You can hear the difference between voiced and
unvoiced sounds by comparing S and Z sounds (say 'sss'
and 'zzz' , and feel how your vocal cords vibrate on the Z
but not the S). You're trying to find a midpoint between
an unvoiced (whispered) sound, and a fully-voiced
'male' sound.
7. Try saying the word 'hay', and pay attention to how
you change between the unvoiced H sound and the
voiced A sound: say it very slowly ( 'hhhhhaaaay' ) and
feel the change in the vocal cords as your voice slides
from the unvoiced 'hhh' sound to the voiced 'aaa' vowel
sound. Then try to stop before you reach the fully-voiced
point, and you should be producing a soft, breathy
(feminine) 'aaa' sound.
8. Then try to learn to always use that half-open posi-
tion for all voiced sounds. This is simply a matter of
practice.
9. Place emphasis with pitch, not volume : Upward
intonation places emphasis. Men place emphasis in their
speech by varying the loudness, but keep their pitch
within a very narrow range; on the other hand women
tend to keep their loudness much more constant but vary
their pitch a great deal to express emphasis.
10. Speak slowly, enunciate clearly : Especially conso-
nants at the beginning and end of words. Don't mumble;
clear voice requires fairly big lip movements. On the
whole, women enunciate much more clearly and pre-
cisely than men.
11. Pace your speech carefully : Start and end sen-
tences slowly and gently; do not sound clipped. Do not
'swallow' pronouns, articles or other 'little words' at the
beginning or end of sentences. Male speech tends to be
characterized by what speech therapists call 'hard attack'
--- the first syllable is pronounced very hard, and
quickly. Women usually start a sentence more softly.
12. Use appropriate content : Men and women tend to
talk about the same things in different ways; what you
say contains gender cues, just as much as how you say it.
Women tend to concentrate more on thoughts and feel-
ings, while men concentrate on objects and actions. Men
generally use more 'short cuts', colloquialisms and bad
language, too.
13. A simple illustration is to imagine someone asking a
friend if they are going to go for a drink after work. A
male might say something like 'Coming down the pub?' :
rather abrupt, using the minimum of words and concen-
trating on the desired action in a rather impersonal way.
V OLUME 2 2, I SSUE 5 INNE RV IE W
Feminine Voice Techniques
Part two
Continued from page 6
rather abrupt, using the minimum of words and concen-
trating on the desired action in a rather impersonal way.
A woman might say 'Do you feel like going for a drink
tonight?' : concentrating on her friend's feelings and de-
sires, personal, and not abbreviated.
14. Pay attention to tongue position : The tongue is
higher and flatter for female than for male. This gives
'dental' sounds (ones that involve the teeth, like T and D)
a softer, breathier, almost sibilant quality in the female.
Say 'tttt' in male mode, then 'ssss'; find the halfway posi-
tion, that is the female position for the letters T and D;
likewise for a TH sound, etc. Use plenty of air to get a
breathy sound.
15. Hold your mouth in the right shape : A slight
smile helps, and is the 'resting' facial expression for a
woman anyway. 'Rounder' lips (a slight pout), and good
lip movement, help produce a clearly enunciated voice.
16. Develop head resonance : One of the biggest prob-
lems facing TS women is, after learning to produce a
soft, feminine voice, to then learn how to speak loudly
when necessary without the voice returning to a mascu-
line sound. Women gain loudness by using the cavities
inside the head as a 'sounding box' whereas men use the
chest.
17. To gain a louder feminine voice, develop head reso-
nance rather than chest resonance --- open your mouth a
little more, use more air, and 'push' your voice up into
your head.
Use Feedback : Record samples of your voice and listen to
yourself. Read a passage of text, listen to yourself and keep
practicing. It can be helpful to actually read these notes
aloud, practicing each point as you read it. Then listen to
yourself and successively refine your voice.
PAGE 7
Voice Feminization
"It's funny that almost all speech therapists that help male-to-
female transsexuals tend to be female - next time you see your
speech therapist ask them to sound like a convincing man. If
they are Male - Jackpot! - see if they can sound convincingly
female and watch them cringe! Then you could seriously say
they are all talk!"
Introduction
Voice quality plays an essential role in speech communication.
You accent can be an advantage or disadvantage for example a
voice of Caribbean origins may be deeper in pitch than that of a
European counterpart this can be an advantage for black trans-
gender people. A welsh voice can sound more 'sing-songy' and
be slightly higher by force of habit and dialect. So pitch and
strength of voice can be very different yet sound feminine. And
regional variations also apply.
Other influences
Smoking and medication can also affect the voice
Loudness of the voice will also have an effect on perceived voice
quality.
Physiological, cultural and linguistic factors may operate inde-
pendently, and voice quality can be modified to meet social
needs.
Taking female Hormones will not return your voice to a prepu-
bescent state - unlike the notable masculine-izing effects that
male hormones with female-to-Male transgender people have!
SRS (Surgery) will not affect the voice either. The best way to
improve the femininity of your male voice is by vocal exercise
and practice.
Techniques:
Pitch Shifting
Singing scales - La la la la la la LA! LA LA LA LA la! Shifting
your pitch up and down!
The Larynx (voice box) can be felt shifting up and down as you
sing your scales. Place your hand gently against your Adam's
Apple (Trachea). Now sing again!
Feel it moving up and down? Ok now place your hand there
again and as you sing your scales attempt to keep your Adam's
Apple up.
If you have access to a sound editing software and microphone -
cool edit for example - then you can try and hit the pitch exactly.
Between 150-300hz or about the G middle C. Goldwave is a
good free software package. Goldwave.com
You could also try software created by This Voice Recording
Software by Becky Rose at Bansheestudios records your voice
and plays it back, nothing special in itself, what is though is that
by simply pressing and releasing the space key it allows you to
work much faster, and focus on your voice rather than the inter-
face of a complex sound program.
http://www.bansheestudios.com/tranvoice.zip
(http://www.bansheestudios.com/tranvoice.zip)
Breathing over words -slightly!
Continued on page 9
 PAGE 8 INNE RV IE W
To Sound Like A Woman
Part two
(Continued from page 1)
For female they selected:
• High pitch
• Wide pitch range
• Gentle speech
For males they selected:
• Low pitch
• Loud voice
• Forceful speech
Voice changes may be accomplished in several ways:
1. Relaxation and Breathing.
It is impossible to practice voice exercises without being relaxed
and using deep breathing techniques. Breathing must be from
the level of the diaphragm giving maximum lung capacity.
Without taking a deep breath it is impossible to do voice exer-
cises without running out of breath when working on pitch, reso-
nance, and intonation.
2. Pitch.
Men have a larger voice box than women with thicker, larger
vocal cords, which gives a lower pitch but, as has already been
noted, the pitch range of males and females overlap. Females
use a wider pitch range than men and are described as being
more expressive and melodious in their speech. Pitch range can
be extended by singing. It may be helpful to sing along with the
radio or a CD - any way that will loosen up the voice box is use-
ful. Exercises to produce a musical note that can glide up and
down on supported breath should follow, then speaking the song
using the same breath technique as for singing. Each phrase
should be finished with a deep breath as in singing.
Pitch can be raised by making a falsetto ('ah'), and bringing the
pitch down as low as possible without breaking the voice and
practice talking in a monotone on that note and gradually start to
vary the pitch as you become comfortable with this pitch. This
lowering the pitch can be combined by making a gargling sound
which will automatically tighten up the throat, and the voice can
be brought to the front of the mouth. The voice will resonate
from exactly the same place with the lowest falsetto or the gar-
gling.
However increasing pitch without a change in resonance will not
produce good female voice, and special attention must be given
to the way a person coughs, laughs, and clears their throat.
3. Resonance.
Resonance is perhaps the most important aspect of voice
change. The aim is to develop head rather than chest resonance.
This can be done by feeling vibration in the chest by humming
and slowly raising the sound into the throat and into the mouth
and nose. Changing resonance gives the illusion of raising the
pitch. It is not where the voice is pitched, but what can be done
with it. It is important not to strain the voice and damage the
vocal cords. The client should start by practicing for a few min-
V OLUME 2 2, I SSUE 5
utes, and build up gradually. The focus of articulation should
be at the tongue tip and lips to move the emphasis away from
chest resonance.
Slight breathy quality which is made by not quite bringing the
vocal cords together, can feminize the voice. This requires
careful monitoring so that the voice does not degenerate into a
whisper that cannot be heard.
4. Intonation.
Women use a wider range of intonation patterns than men.
Men use more falling than rising tones, while women use
more rising tones, giving the illusion of a higher pitch, men
often talk in a monotone
5. Voice Quality.
On the whole, women enunciate more clearly and precisely
than men. They talk slower than men, with a softer delivery
which involves breathing out slowly in a controlled way, dur-
ing speech. Vowel sounds tend to be longer. Male voices on
the other hand, have powerful staccato attack, and men gener-
ally speak more loudly than women.
6. Vocabulary and subject matter.
The best advice is to listen to the way women speak and the
vocabulary they use. Women tend to concentrate more on
thoughts and feelings, while men concentrate on objects and
actions. Men talk in a more direct manner. A simple illustra-
tion is to imagine someone asking a friend if they are going
for a drink after work. A man might say rather abruptly
"Coming down to the Pub?" using the minimum of words and
concentrating on the desired action in rather an impersonal
way. A woman might say " Do you feel like going for a drink
tonight?" concentrating on the friend's feelings and desires,
personal and not abbreviated. Women help themselves by
being able to talk about their problems, and thinking about
their feelings. Men are more reticent about these matters.
It is said that men speak in a more aggressive blunt authoritar-
ian manner, but women speak with a clearer enunciation, cor-
rect grammar, politeness and tend to talk about trivial topics.
This may be changing as women are taking a more prominent
position in society but these points still apply to some extent,
and transsexuals must be aware of them as they must empha-
size all aspects of femininity.
Summary.
• Women use more evaluative adjectives than men, e. g.
'lovely', 'delightful' but not to the extent that they might
be mistaken for being "gay."
• Women are better listeners.
• Vocabulary is characterized by more words implying
feeling and psychological state.
• Women talk more slowly.
• Men interrupt more than women.
(Continued on page 9)
V OLUME 2 2, I SSUE 5 INNE RV IE W
To Sound Like A Woman
Part three
• Men talk in a more direct manner.
• Men demonstrate a greater sense of humor in speech.
• Men have a predominance to discuss subjects such as
sport, politics, and business. Women are more concerned
with people, relationships, and clothes.
The importance of non-verbal behavior should not be forgot-
ten. Male body language can be as big a give-away as a male
sounding voice.
• Women use more eye contact than men
• Women nod and touch their hair and clothing more than
men
• Women smile more than men
• Women use more gestures than men
• Women walk with smaller strides, swing their hips and
tuck their elbows in
• Women cross their legs more than men
• Men are more relaxed and expansive when sitting down,
generally positioning their arms, and knees wide apart
and holding their arms away from their bodies.
• Men are more restless than women, exhibiting more pos-
tural shifts and foot movements.
• Men take longer strides and walk by swinging their
shoulders
• Men put their hands in their pockets, women do not.
There are a number of minor points, such as using your fe-
male name when answering the telephone, and waiting until a
salesperson is facing you before speaking in shops.
Where appearance and mannerisms are concerned, it is not
how the public perceives a client but how the person per-
ceives themselves. If the transsexual is satisfied with their
appearance, voice, and mannerisms, they will be a success in
their preferred role.
The role of a Speech and Language Therapist is multi-focal,
firstly to achieve acceptable voice and body language, sec-
ondly listen and advise about any problems that may arise to
help the transsexual gain self confidence in their preferred
role in society.
A transsexual sums up their
change in this way:
"Opening the bottom half of
a stable door with the top
half already open . . . . it lets
you walk into the sunshine."
PAGE 9
Voice Feminization
Part two
Continued from page 7
This can be a useful technique, if you do drag then you can go
for it! But realistically you must just apply this ever so gently
to your speech. It is essential you avoid whispering but at the
same time that tinge of whisper can soften a voice considera-
bly!
Voice quality is a multi-dimensional component of fluent
speech determined both culturally and physiologically. Fe-
male speakers have breathier voices than men, with a ten-
dency for increased breathiness at higher pitches. And breath-
ier at the higher end of their fundamental frequency ranges in
connected speech.
Vvoice quality varies with social situation and speaking task,
and the correlation of breathiness with fundamental frequency
may be task-dependent. In particular, sustained vowels may
not hold when connected speech is examined. Shorter contact
ratios correlate with breathy voice quality.
The tongue is higher and flatter for female than for male. This
gives 'dental' sounds (ones that involve the teeth, like T and
D) a softer, breathier, almost sibilant quality in the female.
Say 'tttt' in male mode, then 'ssss'; find the halfway position,
that is the female position for the letters T and D; likewise for
a TH sound, etc. Use plenty of air to get a breathy sound.
Marilyn Monroe's breathless speech can if toned down really
help feminize speech listen to her here Listen to a
Marilyn Monroe sound file here!
(http://www.transgenderzone.com/library/uz/monroe.wav)
Raising the end of a sentence
Although this is context specific (and accent dependent) rais-
ing your pitch at the
end of a sentence is
a good habit for M-
T-F transgender
speakers. It also
'lightens' your deliv-
ery tending to make
you smile more.
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Top Tips
Avoid the camp voice - Julian Clary is a nono
Concentrate more on thoughts and feelings, whereas men con-
centrate on objects and actions. Men generally use more 'short
cuts', slang and swear.
Avoid sounding like Mickey Mouse
Avoid looking bashful and staring at your feet!
Avoid whispering - although a semi-whisper maybe all you can
www.tgforum.com get to sound feminine - remember if people can't hear you they
will concentrate more on you rather than you speaking a bit
deeper and moving on quickly.
Keep you mouth less open - ahhhhhhhhh! Becomes ohhhhhhhhh!
Don't Shout! You can speak loudly, but anger is a dead give
away!
Slow down the speed you speak a little - this not only gives you
time to think it also sounds more considered.
Mix Body Language with the way you speak
Start and end sentences slowly and gently
Push your speech up into the top of the throat away from the
chest.
Record yourself speaking or ask friends to comment - don't be
offended if they say negative things - this will take time to get
right!

June:Acceptance