Trans Women Sing: Rie Daisies on ‘owning’ the transfeminine voice
This is the companion article to Trans Women Sing — Ten Lovely Noises.
The Rie Daisies interview follows this introduction.
For many a trans woman, it is probably her voice, more than any other single thing, that is the monster. Many despair in the face of what they perceive as an insurmountable hurdle in their transition, to being accepted as the women they are. But they needn’t. So much more can be done with the transfeminine voice than most of us realise. Look no further than the increasing number of trans women who have professional singing careers. Many of these artists, from Anohni to Namoli Brennet, started out with deep, resonant voices…and just listen to what they have accomplished.
Voice modification techniques include shifting resonance from the chest to the throat, head and mask (lower face), shifting the position of the larynx, development of the falsetto and passaggio, and stylistic modifications of inflection and emphasis.* The transfeminine singers I know use a mix of these techniques, and many use all of them. What most have not pursued is surgery — I know of no professional transfeminine vocalist who has had her voice modified surgically.
While voice surgeons continue to experiment and advance their techniques, results thus far seem spotty at best. Listening to the many samples available online, ‘good’ voices seem the exception rather than the rule. To my ear, most surgically modified voices I’ve heard either already sounded feminine prior to surgery or, to be blunt, the outcomes sound rather like squeaky, raspy men — hardly an improvement. Raising pitch, alone, does not a feminine voice make. To complicate matters, the surgical voices currently being produced are often unstable over time.
With education, practice and time, trans women are generally able to achieve a feminine voice, often a beautiful voice, regardless of where they start out; as the current roster of transfeminine singers demonstrates.
That said, some transfeminine vocalists are now choosing not to modify their singing voices, most prominently Laura Jane Grace and Jordan Raskopoulos.* This is an interesting and seemingly recent development, which may perhaps be placed under the new rubric of ‘trans is beautiful’ — a welcome potential shift in our culture. It will be interesting to see (hear?) if this trend expands and gains acceptance.
Back in the 1980s, before my own transition, I was a singer, songwriter, instrumentalist and occasional recording artist of little note.* I was a classically trained vocalist, and that was a core part of my identity as an artist. I gave up singing, in the belief that I could not carry on with the voice I had. What I lacked, back then, were role models — I knew of no trans women singers — and an understanding of techniques and possibilities.
Oh, I tried like crazy, for a year, working with both a speech therapist and a voice coach, but never got to a place that I felt I could move forward from. Sessions would often end with me in tears and my trainers in exasperation. So little was known then, about what could be done with the transfeminine voice, and how to do it. Defeated, I gave it up — not just singing, but music altogether. I never considered continuing with my voice unmodified: passing was just too important then, and I needed to avoid jeopardising that in any way. And if I couldn’t sing, well, then I didn’t want to play either.
In retrospect, quitting music was an unfortunate and diminishing choice. Today, the potential of the transfeminine voice is understood to be so broad that there is no longer any reason for a trans woman not to carry on with her music career. As it happens, I never sold my instruments, and recently got a couple of guitars out of storage and dusted them off. Right now it’s all pretty discouraging, to be honest — I have no wind, my voice is weak and out of training, and my hands no longer know what to do — but we’ll see what happens. I am writing songs again.
Looking outward, I am amazed and delighted by the number of trans women musicians now working professionally. I am in awe of the range and quality of their work. Much of it is very, very good.
Of the dozen or so professional transfeminine vocalists I’ve listened to recently, the voice belonging to American singer, songwriter and composer Rie Daisies stands out. If you’ve watched the first episode of the Emmy-nominated video web series Her Story, you’ve heard Rie sing Too Good To, from her 2014 album On the Home-Front.
A vocalist with remarkable range and expression, Rie has developed a vocal instrument with an almost flute-like quality that moves smoothly from rich lower tones up into remarkable highs, transitioning through passaggio, from modal voice into falsetto and back, with no hint of a break and no perceptible shift in tonality or strength.
So I asked her the obvious question: How did you do it? Her answer is all-too familiar: practice. And specifically, practice with a rather brutal exercise I remember well from my own training. In her words —
Well I think first I’m going to give you the lame answer in saying ‘practice makes perfect’…but most importantly, I would like to credit that loss of ‘break’ to the most annoying vocal exercise known to mankind:
Once you’re nice and warm, with some good ol’ ‘oohs’ and ‘aaaahhs’, up and down the scales, as we do, you [then] ‘Woooooooooooooo’ from as high as you can get, and slide that down to as low as you can get….While trying to keep an even tone. I jokingly describe [it], but I really do credit that exercise a lot! …It’s not the prettiest, but I definitely think it works. And, of course, practice, practice, practice.
Point being that this is exercise, this is work. Development of the voice, whether for song or speech, requires effort and persistence. As with any physical endeavour, you need to accept that you’re going to be ‘bad at it’ until you’re ‘good at it’ — in Rie’s words, you need to ‘own it’ — be OK with not having it yet, with sounding awkward, with fatigue and frustration, with being humble and determined, with ‘practice, practice, practice’. And own it throughout.
As a singer and a songwriter, my voice is my instrument — any singer is going to agree with that — and you have to learn to work with what you have…as a trans woman, it took me a while to be comfortable…but [in time] I reached that point of comfort with my instrument.
I asked her what she would say to women who are feeling overwhelmed by ‘the voice thing’.
I think we have to find comfort with what we’ve got and learn to work it in our favour. One of my favourite musicians is PJ Harvey. She’s not the most beautiful singer in the world, but she owns her voice with force and power. Trans women need to harness what they have and own it. Convincing yourself of your own vocal power is the hard part…once you do, other people will respond to the strength behind the notes you are singing.
Or speaking. Speech, every bit as much as song, is an art and a practice; and it takes education, attention, effort, and time to develop strength, to develop one’s own style and expression. Persevere and stay the course.
Sometimes, as trans women, we feel that much more different… But we have the choice to use our voices and lend them to our cause…or to stay silent. I’m a loud bitch, so I always say ‘use that voice!’
Rie keeps coming back to her main point: ‘owning it’. When I mention that my own ‘natural voice’ pre-transition was 2nd bass (the deepest register), Rie’s response was —
Ooh, I’m jealous! I wish I could hit those low, low notes. How wonderful for you — own it, girl!
My immediate response:
‘Eeek, I don’t think so!’
Clearly I’m in for more personal growth before I can ‘own it’ like Rie Daisies.
Find Rie Daisies at:
riedaisies.com YouTube iTunes ReverbNation Soundcloud
Continue to Trans Women Sing — Ten Lovely Noises…
Click here for Rie Daisies’ complete discography and some listening suggestions, with links…
Click here for links to some voice training resources…
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