Deepening your voice can at times feel like you’re trying to hold a kickboard underwater just like when you were a kid. It’s wobbly, it feels off and then you lose your focus for a moment and BAM, it’s shot up almost as if from nowhere. I feel you. If you are looking for FTM Voice Masculinization Exercises or deepening masculinization techniques, let’s do something about it.

1) Thickening the Vocal Folds (The Source)

Simply put, how thin or thick your vocal folds are influences the brightness/ deepness of the sound. Vocal Fold Thickening is achieved through activating the TA muscle (while also learning how to relax the CT muscles), this causes them to shorten, thicken up and because of this- vibrate more slowly which to our ears is perceived as a deeper, more masculine voice. Here’s How to do it:

The Vocal Fry Transition

• Find Your Vocal Fry: Start by producing a low, gravelly, "creaky" sound, similar to the sound of a creaky door. This is your vocal fry. It should be produced with very little airflow and feel relaxed in the throat.

• Sustain the Fry: Hold a steady vocal fry on a low pitch.

• Gradually Add Airflow: Slowly and gently, increase your breath support (increasing vocal fold back pressure) to transition the "creaky" sound into a clear, resonant low note in your chest voice. The goal is a smooth transition without any sudden breaks or tension.

• Practice on Vowels: Once you are comfortable with the transition, practice it on the specific open vowels "ah," "oh," and "oo."

2) Modifying Vocal Placement & Resonance (The Filter)

Backward placement. It’s so simple and yet is often one of the most overlooked elements in vocal masculinization. Say out loud the numbers from 70-75. Where do you feel the sound being shaped? Does it feel sharp in the front? Do you notice your tongue and lips moving around a lot more to shape the words? Great, now that we’re familiar with this, this is what we want to try to unlearn (forward placement). Say the numbers again and this time try saying them in a flat and almost bored tone. I bet your lips and tongue relaxed and you noticed the sound become much lower. Those socialized as female tend to have ingrained into them this forward placement and times of happiness, excitement, etc can exacerbate this further so be careful. One more thing, you can also try speaking as if you have a small yawn happening in the back of your throat. This relaxes the tongue root and naturally shifts you toward a darker vocal resonance.

3) Let’s drop that larynx. The size, shape and length of the vocal tract influence your vocal resonance. A larynx thats up higher creates a shorter space for the sound to travel through, making the voice brighter while a longer lower larynx increases the length of the vocal tract, making it deeper. Here’s how we can change this:

• Start with making an ‘ng’ sound as in saying the word ‘sing’ but just holding that awkward little ‘ng’ sound at the end.

• Produce that same ‘ng’ sound (softly!) and drop it down in pitch. You should immediately your larynx drop a little lower and the sound to become lower as well. Remember, a lowered larynx should feel heavy/ neutral, never forced or clamped down.

• Do this technique followed by a few words, paying careful attention to that larynx, remember through this training were trying to keep this larynx resting at a lower state.

As with most things, accomplishing a task comes down to using the right tools. Whether you are navigating gender-affirming voice care or just looking for a more authoritative tone, these exercises will help you deepen your voice safely.

Use these techniques to accelerate your trans voice training and enjoy the road to a more authentic resonance.

As always, if you would like any help with your trans voice training, you know where to find me.

All the best,

Kylie