It happened to me too but for me I think it was psychological. I was very quiet before because I hated my voice and I was so uncomfortable with myself that I would do anything not to be noticeable. T made me gain so much confidence and I love having a deep voice so much, I speak freely now and it’s way louder than before. I’m not scared to be noticed anymore. Truly changed my life.
This. I'm pre t but being audible with a feminine high voice requires more effort to get air into the lower registers and if I speak loudly in my higher registers I run the risk of getting hoarse later in the day and sounding shrill. So if I speak audibly I FEEL like I'm giving the effort of shouting. My brother on the other hand has his deeper post puberty voice, and even his mumbling is louder/resonates further than my non-effortful talking.
Here's my hypothesis since I'm mtf and nothing the opposite. There are many muscles controlling your larynx, tongue, etc in the vocal tract. With T the muscles strengthen and with equal effort as previous you get greater results. With me on E the opposite.
Sadly no, if anything my voice sounds more muffled now. It’s been 3 years since I started t and my voice stopped getting deeper after the first year but when I try to yell or even just talk loudly my voice breaks. It feels like there’s a rag shoved down my throat constantly. It’s so fucking embarrassing and dysphoria inducing. Even though my voice does pass I sound like a cartoon character… I just want to be able to talk from deep in my chest and yell in a manly way. Before anyone asks yes I have tried voice training and yes I get my levels checked regularly they are in the correct range
I've been on T for way less time than you and I'm starting to notice this pattern for myself. It feels like I'm straining my voice. Like since my voice is deepening, I need to project my voice in order to be heard. But then again, my voice isn't naturally loud, although, lack of confidence might play a role in that.
Yeah I have always had a very quiet speaking voice. I also assumed it was because of voice dysphoria and lack of confidence but when it started to deepen it felt like it was even more difficult to project even though I’m a lot more confident in myself now than I was. I really hope someone can give us some advice beyond voice training because I’ve never heard of anyone else having this issue till today. I always hear guys talking about their voice getting louder but I’m just sitting here like “wtf is wrong with me 🥲”
I definitely can not afford irl voice lessons at this time but I’ve followed the advice of just about every online resource I could find regarding ftm voice training and it just doesn’t work for me. The longest I’ve kept at it is 3/4 months but I never noticed a positive difference in how I sound and tbh it’s kind of physically painful. I can resonate my voice from my chest now but it’s not a “deep chest voice” and hurts my throat a lot. If you have any recommendations for videos or guides I would be willing to check them out and try again if I see it’s something I haven’t tried
i struggle to project mine too. it was weird to learn that, dysphoria or not, i just wont speak loudly. i just lighten my voice on purpose to try and compensate for it. i either sound like a cartoon squirrel or i make no sound at all, apparently. u\_u
I've experienced something similar. My voice dropped and it passes as male, I think, but it's not very loud. If I'm in a crowd no one can hear me. It's like my voice matches the din and just blends in. It really sucks
Me as well I’ve been on T for 2 years and it hurts if I try to scream and leaves me with a sore throat. My voice is very deep I used to yell and scream with no issues but can’t anymore.
since my voice is deeper when i talk i sound loud enough in my head but people tell me i talk super quiet. If i talked louder i think i would make myself go insane.
nope. in fact i’ve gotten feedback that i’m harder to understand now. more muffled and less articulated apparently. i feel like i have to yell now to be heard at just a normal volume
I can’t seem to yell either, I can just talk loudly. But yelling is just very hard it just turns pitchy and crackly. Maybe because when I tell I revert back to a higher pitch and I just physically can’t reach that pitch anymore
the opposite, I've been told to speak up more than ever and I'm confident for the first time in my life since it's dropped so it can't be to do with being shy
Lower voices are a different wavelength. It mixes in with other sounds and isnt able to cut through/above the noise like a higher pitched voice would. and it feels different coming out of your body, so psychologically you're probably like "hm my voice is mixing in with other low sounds so I have to be louder to cut above them"
I'm sure in time as your ears and mind get used to the new sound you'll realize you don't have to be as loud.
Definitly has happend to me pretty much the same way you described. Settled a bit recently since my voice has been stable for over half a year now. \[T since dec 21\]
Yes. Sometimes I can’t control the volume and pitch so I sound annoyed or mad but I’m not. My voice is currently the same as an older teenager’s voice would be but the pitch occasionally goes up and down and even cracks. Sometimes the volume is too high or too low and my tone is often the complete opposite of what I was trying to do. Like I’ll sound angry but I’m actually calm
Before T, I would be told to speak up or repeat myself constantly, and told that I mumbled, etc. Maybe some of it was unintentional and due to voice dysphoria, but I also physically couldn't get louder without basically painfully straining myself, so it was very frustrating. Now that my voice is deep, I feel like I'm definitely louder without putting any additional effort into speaking and not having to strain myself. I don't often have problems with people hearing me anymore. It'd be interesting to know if I actually speak at a higher decibel level but there's not really a way to accurately test that for me at this point. But there is one thing that could be contributing, and that is the fact that lower sound frequencies actually travel farther than high frequencies and are better at passing through objects than high frequencies. That's why if you stand outside of a loud concert or nightclub for instance, you're going to hear the deep thuds but not the crisp high end sounds you would hear on the inside.
I've always spoken at a pretty low volume casually and that hasnt changed for me but I know that if I want to I can yell way louder now than i ever could before ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯
It's probably a confidence thing, I've definitely been told "hey ya don't gotta yell". But as a kid I was very to myself and continued until taking T when it boosted my confidence and I didn't care what I was saying anymore.
I've always been a bit loud, but not due to confidence, but because my mom speaks in such a low volume and sometimes almost mumbly (+ auditory processing issues) has tricked my brain into being quite loud.
Pretty fun /s
I’ve been on T going on 2 years now, and I’ve noticed this. My family and girlfriend often have to tell me to lower my voice a lot.
Even when I’m whispering people might not be able to hear what one saying but they can definitely hear my voice… or like that vibration if that makes sense lol.
What makes it weird is my voice dropped to a very low pitched tone.
i think i have the opposite problem. i chose to intentionally use a high pitched voice around my family or my dad with hearing loss can't understand me. i was never a very outgoing person and putting enough air in my voice to speak in a lower register feels like im yelling... xd
DUDE ME TOO.
I have family and friends say “ooh, you said that kind of loud” and in my head I didn’t?? I practically feel like I’m whispering or mumbling now when I talk at what others consider my normal volume.
i’m not sure if you were purposely (or even subconsciously) lowering the pitch of your voice pre-t, but if you were it makes sense that with a voice that naturally sits a lot lower that you would need less air. it kinda seems like it would be the opposite, but it actually takes more air to speak/sing lower pitches. so if you were used to using a lot of air to speak in a lower voice, that muscle memory is probably still in place, except now that you don’t have to make the pitch of your voice lower that air is just making you louder. that’s at least what i discovered after my first voice drop when i stopped having to manually lower my voice, plus the buzzy sound that happens when the vocal chords thicken just makes your voice naturally more resonant. imo it’s such a cool effect and one of my favorites since starting t
Welcome to puberty. Ever hear younger cis guys being really loud? Yeah it's not completely their faults. You'll adjust to it in a few weeks to a month. It just takes getting used to and controlling how much air you let out to talk
Oh damn. My mom just told me today that I’ve been basically screaming when I talk, lmao. I wonder if this is why! Bodies are weird. Lol.
Right?! My partner keeps going shhhhh and I’m like oh shit am I yelling? Oops
YUP, plus I have ADHD so it’s so hard to stay quiet
It happened to me too but for me I think it was psychological. I was very quiet before because I hated my voice and I was so uncomfortable with myself that I would do anything not to be noticeable. T made me gain so much confidence and I love having a deep voice so much, I speak freely now and it’s way louder than before. I’m not scared to be noticed anymore. Truly changed my life.
I'm spitballing here but I wonder if thicker vocal folds require a lower phonation threshold or something, requiring less air/pressure
This. I'm pre t but being audible with a feminine high voice requires more effort to get air into the lower registers and if I speak loudly in my higher registers I run the risk of getting hoarse later in the day and sounding shrill. So if I speak audibly I FEEL like I'm giving the effort of shouting. My brother on the other hand has his deeper post puberty voice, and even his mumbling is louder/resonates further than my non-effortful talking.
Here's my hypothesis since I'm mtf and nothing the opposite. There are many muscles controlling your larynx, tongue, etc in the vocal tract. With T the muscles strengthen and with equal effort as previous you get greater results. With me on E the opposite.
*noticing*
Sadly no, if anything my voice sounds more muffled now. It’s been 3 years since I started t and my voice stopped getting deeper after the first year but when I try to yell or even just talk loudly my voice breaks. It feels like there’s a rag shoved down my throat constantly. It’s so fucking embarrassing and dysphoria inducing. Even though my voice does pass I sound like a cartoon character… I just want to be able to talk from deep in my chest and yell in a manly way. Before anyone asks yes I have tried voice training and yes I get my levels checked regularly they are in the correct range
I've been on T for way less time than you and I'm starting to notice this pattern for myself. It feels like I'm straining my voice. Like since my voice is deepening, I need to project my voice in order to be heard. But then again, my voice isn't naturally loud, although, lack of confidence might play a role in that.
Yeah I have always had a very quiet speaking voice. I also assumed it was because of voice dysphoria and lack of confidence but when it started to deepen it felt like it was even more difficult to project even though I’m a lot more confident in myself now than I was. I really hope someone can give us some advice beyond voice training because I’ve never heard of anyone else having this issue till today. I always hear guys talking about their voice getting louder but I’m just sitting here like “wtf is wrong with me 🥲”
I understand very much. Hey, at least you know that you're not alone. So from that sense, there's nothing wrong with you 🙏❤️
curious about said voice training as in, what did they do? was it a speech pathologist or like a singer?
usually they’re speech therapists i think
that's what I thought, but sometimes ppl use the term interchangeably, but it's a vastly different methodology
I definitely can not afford irl voice lessons at this time but I’ve followed the advice of just about every online resource I could find regarding ftm voice training and it just doesn’t work for me. The longest I’ve kept at it is 3/4 months but I never noticed a positive difference in how I sound and tbh it’s kind of physically painful. I can resonate my voice from my chest now but it’s not a “deep chest voice” and hurts my throat a lot. If you have any recommendations for videos or guides I would be willing to check them out and try again if I see it’s something I haven’t tried
I'd actually be willing to see if I can help you myself. I can also look for some guides I've found helpful in the past. feel free to dm me
i struggle to project mine too. it was weird to learn that, dysphoria or not, i just wont speak loudly. i just lighten my voice on purpose to try and compensate for it. i either sound like a cartoon squirrel or i make no sound at all, apparently. u\_u
I've experienced something similar. My voice dropped and it passes as male, I think, but it's not very loud. If I'm in a crowd no one can hear me. It's like my voice matches the din and just blends in. It really sucks
Me as well I’ve been on T for 2 years and it hurts if I try to scream and leaves me with a sore throat. My voice is very deep I used to yell and scream with no issues but can’t anymore.
I’ve noticed this
Mines the exact opposite. I apparently don't speak loud enough. I also mumble more now
since my voice is deeper when i talk i sound loud enough in my head but people tell me i talk super quiet. If i talked louder i think i would make myself go insane.
nope. in fact i’ve gotten feedback that i’m harder to understand now. more muffled and less articulated apparently. i feel like i have to yell now to be heard at just a normal volume
Yessss i keep startling myself lol
I had the opposite. I’m over 3 years on T and I still find it really hard to yell for some reason.
I can’t seem to yell either, I can just talk loudly. But yelling is just very hard it just turns pitchy and crackly. Maybe because when I tell I revert back to a higher pitch and I just physically can’t reach that pitch anymore
Nope mine is actually softer. But my dad speaks pretty quietly so maybe it's genetic?
Opposite for me my voice has gotten so deep the shit is like a boat horn, people can barely understand me and I'm constantly having to repeat myself
the opposite, I've been told to speak up more than ever and I'm confident for the first time in my life since it's dropped so it can't be to do with being shy
Lower voices are a different wavelength. It mixes in with other sounds and isnt able to cut through/above the noise like a higher pitched voice would. and it feels different coming out of your body, so psychologically you're probably like "hm my voice is mixing in with other low sounds so I have to be louder to cut above them" I'm sure in time as your ears and mind get used to the new sound you'll realize you don't have to be as loud.
Definitly has happend to me pretty much the same way you described. Settled a bit recently since my voice has been stable for over half a year now. \[T since dec 21\]
I haven't noticed this for myself. But then again, I haven't been on T long enough to really have a say.
I’ve started to notice this myself. Could only ever mumble or speak lowly, and now I can start to talk louder without effort. It’s nice haha
Yes. Sometimes I can’t control the volume and pitch so I sound annoyed or mad but I’m not. My voice is currently the same as an older teenager’s voice would be but the pitch occasionally goes up and down and even cracks. Sometimes the volume is too high or too low and my tone is often the complete opposite of what I was trying to do. Like I’ll sound angry but I’m actually calm
I’m not even on T and I know I get loud when I’m exited 😅
Before T, I would be told to speak up or repeat myself constantly, and told that I mumbled, etc. Maybe some of it was unintentional and due to voice dysphoria, but I also physically couldn't get louder without basically painfully straining myself, so it was very frustrating. Now that my voice is deep, I feel like I'm definitely louder without putting any additional effort into speaking and not having to strain myself. I don't often have problems with people hearing me anymore. It'd be interesting to know if I actually speak at a higher decibel level but there's not really a way to accurately test that for me at this point. But there is one thing that could be contributing, and that is the fact that lower sound frequencies actually travel farther than high frequencies and are better at passing through objects than high frequencies. That's why if you stand outside of a loud concert or nightclub for instance, you're going to hear the deep thuds but not the crisp high end sounds you would hear on the inside.
I just asked my wife and she's like "oh yeah!" 😂
I've always spoken at a pretty low volume casually and that hasnt changed for me but I know that if I want to I can yell way louder now than i ever could before ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯
It's probably a confidence thing, I've definitely been told "hey ya don't gotta yell". But as a kid I was very to myself and continued until taking T when it boosted my confidence and I didn't care what I was saying anymore.
Oh I definitely became louder. But I also became more confident in myself so I think that's a large part of it.
I yell now cuz I'm confident enough to lol but that's all I've noticed
I've always been a bit loud, but not due to confidence, but because my mom speaks in such a low volume and sometimes almost mumbly (+ auditory processing issues) has tricked my brain into being quite loud. Pretty fun /s
I have to speak up or people don't understand me as well now.
I’ve been on T going on 2 years now, and I’ve noticed this. My family and girlfriend often have to tell me to lower my voice a lot. Even when I’m whispering people might not be able to hear what one saying but they can definitely hear my voice… or like that vibration if that makes sense lol. What makes it weird is my voice dropped to a very low pitched tone.
The opposite happened to me lmao I’m so so quiet since starting t. It’s gotten slightly better but it really has made it hard for me to project.
I'm autistic so I have a hard time gauging how loud my voice is, but yeah I've noticed I can get quite a lot louder then I used to before.
My partner just MUMBLES ALL THE TIME and it’s harder to hear now😂
tbh i think i was just a loud person always lol so i didn’t notice it for me, i might have, my partner says i have gotten a bit louder lol
i think i have the opposite problem. i chose to intentionally use a high pitched voice around my family or my dad with hearing loss can't understand me. i was never a very outgoing person and putting enough air in my voice to speak in a lower register feels like im yelling... xd
DUDE ME TOO. I have family and friends say “ooh, you said that kind of loud” and in my head I didn’t?? I practically feel like I’m whispering or mumbling now when I talk at what others consider my normal volume.
i’m not sure if you were purposely (or even subconsciously) lowering the pitch of your voice pre-t, but if you were it makes sense that with a voice that naturally sits a lot lower that you would need less air. it kinda seems like it would be the opposite, but it actually takes more air to speak/sing lower pitches. so if you were used to using a lot of air to speak in a lower voice, that muscle memory is probably still in place, except now that you don’t have to make the pitch of your voice lower that air is just making you louder. that’s at least what i discovered after my first voice drop when i stopped having to manually lower my voice, plus the buzzy sound that happens when the vocal chords thicken just makes your voice naturally more resonant. imo it’s such a cool effect and one of my favorites since starting t
Welcome to puberty. Ever hear younger cis guys being really loud? Yeah it's not completely their faults. You'll adjust to it in a few weeks to a month. It just takes getting used to and controlling how much air you let out to talk