Trans Voice Literature Review Part 6

This was supposed to be a much longer list of articles, but Huff [31] helped solidify the idea that I can’t read my way through voice training. I need to focus more on listening and doing.

  1. Courey, M. S., Rapoport, S. K., Goldberg, L., Brown, S. K. (eds) Voice and Communication in Transgender and Gender Diverse Individuals. Springer, Cham.

    TL;DR: A set of best practices for trans voice therapy. Chapters 6 & 7 are explored here.

    1. Schneider, S. L. (2023). Applying Flow Phonation in Voice Care for Transgender Women, Nonbinary, and Gender Nonconforming Individuals. In: Courey, M.S., Rapoport, S.K., Goldberg, L., Brown, S.K. (eds) Voice and Communication in Transgender and Gender Diverse Individuals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-24632-6_6

      Background: SOVT exercises listed from most resistant to least resistant - stir straw, drinking straw, fricatives, trills, nasal consonants, vowels /u/ and /i/. Breathiness, lowering vocal intensity, and avoiding vocal fry contribute to a more feminine voice. Flow phonation is related to airflow, which exists on a spectrum from increased (breathy), reduced (rough or pressed), or discoordinated.

      Steps for Phonatory Airflow:

      1. Consistent exhalation of air through rounded lips: Use a tissue for visual feedback. Remember to use an open/easy throat.
      2. Consistent airflow when phonating /u/: explore variations to find the right quality, move on to glides or sirens.
      3. Using /u/ in words, phrases, sentences. Stretch out the vowels and maintain airflow; reduce stretch once ease, quality, and pitch are achieved.
      4. Using /u/ in reading; maintaining ease quality, and pitch.
      5. Using /u/ in dialogue; maintaining ease quality, and pitch.

      Reduce overactivation in the throat, tongue, and jaw. Practice and maintenance: 5-10 minutes each morning, 2-3 in the middle of the day to reset, 5-10 evening more repetitions and reflections.

      Pitfalls: A breathy voice can sound unbalanced and be without dynamic intensity or pitch change.

    2. Babajanians, T. (2023). Resonant Voice Care. In: Courey, M.S., Rapoport, S.K., Goldberg, L., Brown, S.K. (eds) Voice and Communication in Transgender and Gender Diverse Individuals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-24632-6_7

      Steps for Forward Resonance:

      1. Introduce resonant hum: promote awareness of oral/nasal resonance. Cue an easy breath and hum on /m/; gently place fingers on either side of the nose, or cup nose and mouth while umming to sense vibrations; trial chewing movements, smiling vs not, forward tongue vs not, open jaw vs closed while humming.
      2. Expand resonant hum: produce varied productions of the hum. Varying lengths and intonations of humming; humming up and down the scale to explore range; trial /mi/, /ma/, /mu/.
      3. Produce resonance in single-syllable words with /m/ and /n/. Words: moon, mean, main, mine; high vowels to encourage high tongue position; lip spreading; tongue advancement. Check voice quality and ease of production.
      4. Produce forward resonance in short phrases and sentences
      5. generalization: conversations and role play.

      Use regular breaks and SOVT to relax participant voices.

  2. Huff, A. Z. (2022). Modern Responses to Traditional Pitfalls in Gender Affirming Behavioral Voice Modification. Otolaryngologic Clinics of North America, 55(4), 727-738. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.otc.2022.05.001

    TL;DR: Ear training is critical to voice modification, yet is missing in most methodologies. Clinicians should be able to model the shift from masculine to feminine resonance; Most cis clinicians have no personal experience with voice modification, and thus are unable to demonstrate the behavior they wish to instill in the patient. Somatic sensory approaches are not a replacement for ear training that focuses on hearing resonance. /i/-ifying a vowel is problematic: F2 goes up, but F1 goes down; It results in the same pharyngeal volume, overexaggerating the reduction of the oral cavity volume. We want all formants to go up. Perceptual size as a result of formant scaling forms a reliable basis for teaching the modification of resonance.

    Commentary on existing literature:

    Two primary educational texts in the field, Voice and Communication Therapy for the Transgender/Gender Diverse Client: A Comprehensive Clinical Guide by Hirsch and Adler and The Voice Book for Trans and Non-Binary People: A Practical Guide to Creating and Sustaining Authentic Voice and Communication by Mills and Stoneham, are both written by cisgender SLPs in which only direct accounts of the skill and process of voice modification are given through anecdotal citations of trans voices.