What causes a deep voice in females?
The harmonics are hormonally dependent. This is illustrated by the changes that occur during male and female puberty: In the female, the impact of estrogens at puberty, in concert with progesterone, produces the characteristics of the female voice, with a fundamental frequency one third lower than that of a child.
For women with a voice that sounds like a man, it could be because of the size and thickness of their vocal cords, in which case, they'll need to develop full resonance too, to make their voice sound warmer, an essential quality of a female voice.
So it tickled me to discover my voice was referenced in a recent dating study from the University of Sussex which found that men find a lower tone more attractive.
Notably, voice pitch has also been found to reflect a person's real characteristics, with lower pitch correlated with being stronger, taller, and having a higher level of testosterone.
Your voice can be altered surgically so that it no longer makes low pitched sounds. This is called voice feminization surgery or feminization laryngoplasty. During voice feminization surgery, the voice box is made smaller and the vocal cords are shortened. Trans women sometimes undergo this procedure.
Contralto: this is the lowest female voice, ranging from F3 below the central C to F5. It is exceedingly rare, and often contralto roles are given to mezzos with dark tones.
Research confirms that deep voices give men an aura of power and sexual allure. Men with low, resonant voices are more likely to be perceived as attractive, masculine, respectable, and dominant.
Their study revealed that males find female voices that indicate a smaller body size—high-pitched, breathy voices with wide formant spacing—most attractive. Females, on the other hand, prefer to hear a low-pitched voice with narrow formant spacing, reflecting a larger body size.
After puberty and well into older adulthood, some people's voices may change, but not everyone's. Men's voices tend to go up in pitch. Women's voices tend to go down.
"However," he says, "evidence suggests men evolved deeper voices mainly for intimidating other men rather than attracting women." Studies show that men with deeper voices tend to have higher testosterone levels (an indicator of dominance) and a more athletic body type.
What is a sultry voice?
A sultry voice oozes with seductiveness. Sultry voices are most often associated with femme fatales, bombshells, and others who sound deliberately sexually inviting. Although sultry voices are usually low and smoky, that can vary, as seen (or rather, heard) in Marilyn Monroe's iconically breathy voice.
'During menopause, the amount of oestrogen diminishes and affects the vocal cords, sometimes leading to a decrease in the pitch of the voice. That's why you'll often hear women in their 50s and 60s whose voices sound lower than they used to in their 20s and 30s. '
If your man has a deep, sexy voice — he might cheat on you
Indeed, while females largely find lower acoustics more arousing, masculine-sounding men are also “more likely to engage in infidelity” than “feminine men,” researchers said.
Lowering the pitch of your voice makes you feel more powerful. Much in the same way that certain 'power poses' boost confidence and reduce anxiety, researchers found that “participants who lowered their voice pitch perceived themselves as possessing more powerful traits”.
As the body goes through puberty, the larynx (or voice box) grows larger and thicker. It happens in both boys and girls, but the change is more obvious in boys. Girls' voices only deepen by a couple of tones and the change is barely noticeable.
Speech perceived to be more feminine typically does not have this, but has more “softness” or what we call light articulatory contact. This entails lightly touching your tongue, lips, and other articulators very gently when producing consonant sounds in conversational speech.
There is also abundant evidence that women prefer men with a deep voice, while men prefer women with a high voice. Attractive male voices are around 96 Hz and the most attractive women voices are up to 280 Hz.
Contraltos are arguably the rarest of female voice types and they possess a tone so dark they often give the men a run for their money. If mezzos are like clarinets, contraltos are more like bass clarinets.
There are six main vocal ranges: soprano, mezzo-soprano, contralto, tenor, baritone, and bass.
What Causes My Voice to Change? At puberty, guys' bodies begin producing a lot of the hormone testosterone (pronounced: tes-TOSS-tuh-rone), which causes changes in several parts of the body, including the voice. For starters, a guy's larynx (pronounced: LAIR-inks), also known as the voice box, grows bigger.
Can a woman have a bass voice?
The Contralto is the lowest of the female voice types and like the Basses and Countertenors, they're quite rare. The Contralto has a tessitura of around an E3-E5 and a good amount of vocal weight. The contralto tone of voice types almost sound like men when they speak or sing lower notes.
As a result, women find men with lower-pitched voices more attractive. It's the opposite for men, who are more attracted to women with higher-pitched voices, which is perceived as a marker for femininity. Attractiveness in the voice is important for the impressions we give our potential partners.
The most common reported symptoms are dryness, frequent throat clearing, vocal fatigue, roughness, loss of range, and deepening of the voice.
On the flip side, losing weight may lighten your voice if you're a female and deepen your voice if you're a male. If you're not losing a dramatic amount of weight, likely, you won't notice a difference at all in your voice. If you were severely obese before the weight loss, you might notice more clarity in your tone.
Girls' voices typically change (much less drastically) between the ages of 10 and 14. Between the ages of 18 and 21, your voice stabilizes because the vocal folds and larynx have reached their full growth.
Some women with high testosterone levels develop frontal balding. Other possible effects include acne, an enlarged cl*tor*s, increased muscle mass, and deepening of voice. High levels of testosterone can also lead to infertility and are commonly seen in polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).
Testosterone also increases the size of laryngeal cartilages, muscles, and ligaments and the overall effect is a drop in vocal pitch of about an octave.
A flirty voice is playful and light, sometimes sarcastic and witty. It gives you that tingle down your spine, and it makes the listener feel special, maybe even shy. It's the kind of voice you might hear on a TV network promo or commercial spot.
Conclusions: Female speakers with vocal fry were rated as less attractive and intelligent than female speakers without vocal fry, but perception of male speakers did not change whether or not vocal fry was present in the acoustic signal.
Try inhaling deeply through your nose, bringing the air all the way in and as far down as possible; then, while exhaling slowly, say something. You should feel a vibration as you speak. This technique—popular among singers and actors—might be able to help you control the pitch of your voice.
What is the secret to a deep voice?
Belly breathing, also known as diaphragmatic breathing, helps you access a deeper pitch. This breathing style lets your diaphragm reach its lowest position, which helps slow down vocal cord frequency. Try standing straight, breathing in deep through your nose, and feeling your ribs expand.
In a new study, U.S. researchers say your deep-pitched voice makes you sound more dominant and intimidating to other men, but it does little to impress women – over the long-term. This all goes back to evolution, according to Penn State University doctors.
With a speaking voice, pitch refers to a higher or lower frequency. Interestingly, studies show that the most trusted voice is a woman's voice with a deeper-than-average pitch. A deep-pitched man's voice can be viewed as overly forceful, while a high-pitched woman's voice can be dismissed as unserious.
The deepness of a voice is primarily determined by the length and thickness of the vocal cords. Longer and thicker vocal cords produce lower, James Earl Jones-like pitches.
Feminizing hormones don't modify the voice for transgender women. Anti-androgens and estrogens have no effect on the voice. Targets of speech therapy might include: Pitch.
"However," he says, "evidence suggests men evolved deeper voices mainly for intimidating other men rather than attracting women." Studies show that men with deeper voices tend to have higher testosterone levels (an indicator of dominance) and a more athletic body type.
Lowering the pitch of your voice makes you feel more powerful. Much in the same way that certain 'power poses' boost confidence and reduce anxiety, researchers found that “participants who lowered their voice pitch perceived themselves as possessing more powerful traits”.
The mezzo-soprano is the middle female voice and the most common of the female singing voices, which tends to dominate in non-classical music, with vocal range that typically lies between the A below "middle C" (C4) to the A two octaves above (i.e. A3–A5).
As your larynx grows, your vocal cords grow longer and thicker. Also, your facial bones begin to grow. Cavities in the sinuses, the nose, and the back of the throat grow bigger, creating more space in the face that gives your voice more room to echo. All of these factors cause your voice to get deeper.
As with the strings of a guitar or piano, when vocal folds are longer and thicker, they tend to vibrate more slowly and so produce a lower-pitched voice, whereas shorter and thinner vocal folds vibrate more quickly and thus produce a higher-pitched voice.
Do women's voices deepen with age?
Men's voices often deepen up to an octave, while women's voices usually move about three tones lower. After puberty and well into older adulthood, some people's voices may change, but not everyone's. Men's voices tend to go up in pitch. Women's voices tend to go down.
There is laryngeal edema due to the high estrogenic state before the ovulation. However, the relative excess of androgens after menopause may lead to a slight drop in the pitch of the voice. Other voice changes observed after menopause include huskiness, vocal fatigue, and inability to reach high harmonics.
This is significant, as some women on testosterone therapy will experience 'hoarseness' or 'voice changes' at some point during treatment and many will assume that testosterone is causative, as will their physician.
