Trans Voice Log №4

In the last few weeks, I got through 30 minutes of Trans Voice Lessons August 2021 Two Hour Livestream and watched the first four videos on the Trans Academy VODs Voice Feminization Class Playlist.

The first thirty minutes of the TVL video are primarily focused on safety and voice health. An interesting claim is made that using SOVTe's is better for your voice than resting silently because it promotes bloodflow (which therefore speeds up healing). I guess that can be connected to Babajanians [30.b], but I would want to reread it before using it to support that claim (My institutional access for that source didn't allow PDF downloads, so I'll need to wait until I'm there in person again to double check).

The first TA-VFC video points out that the larynx is one of the last things to get hydrated in the body. This is particularly relevant if you're on Spironolactone, which tends to dry you out. The facilitator suggests drinking a pint (473mL, 16FlOz) of room temperature water an hour before practicing. Ranks in order of importance the vocal features: 1. Resonance, 2. Pitch, 3. Vocal Weight. Suggests 150Hz-300Hz range for feminine pitch, target of 260Hz (C4). SOVTe's ranked from light pressure to heavy pressure: /m/, /n/, /z/, /ʒ/, /r/ (rolled), /v/, lip trill, bubble phonation. Some of the exercises mentioned include holding a pitch and SOVTe, then increment pitch; SOVTe along to a song; SOVTe fifths intervals. Exercises are recommended five to ten minutes a day.

The second TA-VFC video tries to help with distinguishing pitch from resonance. It correctly identifies which locations in the mouth/larynx are associated with each formant, though it uses the "R1" terminology. Gets areound the issues inherent to the "hold and swallow" technique by instead promoting yawning. Yawning gives a darker sound, so once you are aware of what the tongue does during yawning, you can then attempt to move it the opposite of how it does during yawning. Also covers big-dog/small-dog and whisper sirens. Uses target pitch G3 (~200Hz). Exercises for exploration include holding pitch but shifting resonance up or down.

The third TA-VFC video outlines a routine or process for vocal feminization. The first step is to use SOVTes to build out your "comfort zone" of pitch up to B3. The second step is to play around with vocal weight - be able to freely go between light and heavy. The third step is to separate resonance and pitch, then be able to transition between dark and bright with an unchanging tone. After those first three steps, you can move away from exploration towards crafting a tone. Rainbow passage repetitions, starting with less than 10 words, correcting for weight and resonance at G3. From there, habit building through passive practice out in the world is the next step.

The fourth TA-VFC video is essentially a collection of examples of tone-crafting from a variety of volunteers with the rainbow passage. The rest of the videos on the playlist seem to follow this format. Teaching by example with volunteers seems to be the current meta, as the weekly office hours from the Seattle Voice Lab discord server follow this pattern as well.

Trans Voice Log №3

So far I've watched these four TVL videos, taking notes and drawing connections to the academic sources I've read:

1. 4 Essential Fundamentals for Voice - Tools to Strengthen Weak Voices
2. Is Your Voice Too Buzzy or Too Hollow?
3. How to Separate Resonance from Pitch
4. Voice Essentials: Vocal Weight for Beginners

The first video brings up our friends SOVT and VFE (used in Leyns et al. [3] as a part of their Pitch Elevation Training, Oates et al. [8], Quinn et al. [13]; and SOVT without VFE in Stewart et al. [19], Fernandes [27], & Schneider [30.a]). This video is the first point of reference that I've been able to access for explaining what VFE is or what it does. I won't waste my time restating everything in the video, but VFE in short is about developing control and stability of loudness and pitch, with special attention towards sustained sound. SOVT and VFE on their own don't contribute directly to vocal feminization or masculinization, but do provide a solid foundation from which to work forwards from.

The second video I certainly watched out of order somehow, because while it demonstrates an exercise that seems in line with what Huff [31] requests SLPs be able to do, the video isn't as helpful for people who haven't yet discovered how to alter weight and resonance. Unless you think there's value in developing an ear for weight and resonance this way. Either way, it's really cool to hear how flexible the voice can be.

The third video is pretty neat. It tries to bridge the gap between the old model of /i/-ification (As used in Leyns [3] & Hirsch [18]) to exploring pharynx-based raising of all of the formants. This video emphasizes that the pharynx and larynx control F2 (As suggested by Bøyesen & Hide [4]) while tongue and lips only control the higher formants. The third exercise, External Pitches as Training Wheels, seems interesting. I look forward to giving it a try in the future; Though I imagine it will be quite challenging at first.

The fourth video gave me my first flash of inspiration. It helped me realize that I can already kind of control vocal weight; back in 2019 I somehow managed to work out the exercise listed in this video where you keep vocal weight light but slide from a high pitch to a low pitch. But! I didn't know what I was manipulating and the pandemic sent that exercise spiraling into the unused archives. Unfortunately, that's about the only exercise in this video I can do at the moment. I probably just need to play around with the one I can do and work from that into the other ones. The video also includes the critical reminder that these exercises are good for exploration (figuring out how to do it), but transitioning to speaking and singing is the only way to actually develop the skill (use it for longer periods of time). At first glance, weight doesn't come up at all in any of the academic sources I've look at so far. Both Renée Yoxon's article on this and a TVL two hour live stream from 14 Aug 2021 (that I haven't watched in full yet) indicate that vocal weight is derived from vocal folds (which you want to reduce the pressure/tension of for feminization), with the TVL live stream noting that thinner folds produce a steeper spectral tilt / spectral rolloff which is visible on a spectrogram. With this new name, we have the academic connection! Spectral tilt was studied by Neuhaus et al. [26] and Fernandes [27]. The conclusions of Neuhaus et al. [26] ties back to the second video, which showed that light vocal weight without high resonance results in a "hollow" sound (not feminine).

I have quite a few more videos on the "to watch" list, so I imagine there'll be a similarly formatted followup in the future. Also, I need to actually start doing these exercises, y'know? It's so hard to find time alone. Does writing this count as procrastination?

Full citations for academic sources indicated by numbers can be found by clicking the "articles" link at the top of the website and selecting the TVLR part which contains that number.

Trans Voice Log №2

I've written up what is probably my last (for now) part of a literature review on trans voice. It, and the other parts, are accessible via the "articles" link up top. If there were one sentence to sum up my thoughts right now, it would be: I can't read my way through voice training. The last article I got through before coming to that realization was Huff [31]. It shows some of the thoughts that went into the shift in methodology over at TransVoiceLessons on YouTube. Despite not being a clinical study, it bridges the gap between what we see in the academic world and what we see online. It shows a shift away from spectrograms towards ear training, which Huff cites as the most absent component in academic voice training. It is still tethered to formant manipulation, but moving away from the emphasis on vowels towards what Huff describes as "formant scaling".

My current plan is to watch through some of the post-2021 videos from TransVoiceLessons. Huff stresses that "perceptual size as a result of formant scaling forms a reliable basis for teaching the modification of resonance to clients" (p. 734). Given that emphasis, I'm curious to see where and how frequently that technique crops up, whether overt or as more of an underlying idea.

Following up with the hopes from the last voice log, I can kind of feel a difference shortly after doing SOVT. Air moves differently through my throat for a bit.

Trans Voice Log №1

It's never too late to start voice training, so here we go!

After watching FairyPrincessLucy's video on Bubble Phonation, I wanted to find something to back that video up. Luckily without much difficulty I was able to find an NHS article covering this exercise. While the NHS article is probably not targeted towards the trans voice angle, it does provide clear instructions. Additionally, the NHS article references the cheek wobble, which I had trouble finding at all in any other video or article published on this exercise. Here's a quote from the first half of the article:

1. Half fill a cup with room temperature water.
2. Hold the cup in your hand, level with your chest.
3. Place a straw into the cup of water and bend it towards you. Do not rest the straw on the bottom of the cup.
4. Start to blow gentle bubbles through the straw. You should feel your abdominal muscles working and your cheek muscles wobble. (Check by placing your hand on your stomach and then on your cheek). It can also be helpful to look in a mirror to check this is happening. Try to control the bubbles and don’t let the water overspill.
5. Now make the sound ‘oo’ while you are blowing bubbles. Your cheeks should start to wobble more and you should feel a vibration around the front of your face. Repeat this ten times, prolonging the ‘oo’ for as long as is comfortable.

Another example I found that shows this exercise (but without cheek wobble) is Renée Yoxon's video on SOVT and Straw Phonation.

While I'm not sure I quite grasp what this exercise is trying to demonstrate yet, I'm going to keep playing around with it.