Voice (Timbre)

Voice.

The word made me shudder at one point. Would I ever be able to alter my bass voice into something usable?

Lucky me, my voice was the first to change in my class. Because of that I was brought into the older choirs in Junior High. I learned to sing.

I did impersonations.

When I finally brought my transition into social situations I didn't know what to do. I put myself into what I would call 'throw away' positions. These are places where I did not feel any danger if I were outed and if I screwed up bad enough - I could walk away. No harm done.

Video 1

I had Melanie Speaks. The video tape that really started it all. I paid my money and received a poorly copied video cassette with priceless knowledge. Melanie went through a series of anecdotal exercises (cartoon voice!). They looked like they would be helpful.

It didn't really work.

Lesson

I went to a local voice therapist and went to an intro lesson. It was the same as a normal one just cost 1.5X and lasted 1.5X the standard one. I got some good information. She gave me exercises. She sent me on my way.

It didn't really work but I was starting to see a pattern.

Video 2

Deep Stealth put out a DVD/CD set. I expected it to be like Melanies. In many ways it was but for some reason things started to fall into place. Andrea gave very structured exercises and I found that her way was good for analyzing the components of voice.

The lightbulb was dimly glowing.

All this time I was still engaging in 'throw away' social situations.

My trick to timbre.

Timbre is the fingerprint of voice. It is what tells us the difference between a trumpet and a clarinet. It is also very very hard to work on. But timbre is not all one piece, there are components. For me, I like to call them buzz, tone, and breath.

Buzz - make the sound of a radio controlled airplane. This is the force, the penetrative force of the voice. Without buzz, it may sound good, but it doesn't go anywhere.

Tone - Sine wave. Pure sound, like the old end of day broadcasts after the national anthem and before static. Sounds fake. Falsetto is almost pure tone.

Breath - The edge to the voice. Almost pure breath is a whisper and the lack is pure tone.

Timbre is the balance of all three. So I learned to balance them two at a time.

Breath/Tone - without buzz you get what I call the 'phone sex voice'

Buzz/Tone - think of a 50's stereotype robotic voice. The voice of the computer in Wargames.

Breath/Buzz - probably the hardest of all. They are almost contrary. Practice with pure breath and pure buzz and try to average them.

Practice discerning between these ranges. Remember to record yourself. Your voice sounds different in your head than it does to others. This is a time for caricature. Play with the sounds. Have fun! Record your falsetto then try to add breath to it.

Learn the components of timbre. Learn how to control them. Don't stress your voice but instead, stretch it.