[ANON POST] Transgender Opera Singer

[orange_fell]

My character is a transgender man (which means he was born with a female body, and thus a female singing voice). A lot of the focus of the story is on classical music, and I want to know how an ordinary female contralto voice could be used as a tenor. I know the ranges are very similar, but would he be able to sing a certain way and simply sound

Comments

[ladybretagne]

There would absolutely be an audible difference to anyone with a fair amount of knowledge about or exposure to classical vocal music. Women on average are going to have comparatively smaller vocal chords than men, even frequently irrespective of their apparent physical size (physically smaller people do not necessarily have higher voices, for example). The biggest difference is going to be a lack of typical falsetto and a generally "smoother" sound throughout women's vocal range. There's some disagreement about this amongst vocal coaches, but if you listen to a man sing through his range top to bottom, including falsetto, there's going to be a distinct jump most likely at the point where he goes from his "normal" voice to his falsetto. A woman, by contrast, is going to have a much more gradual transition and not have as sharp a delineation between portions of her voice.

The best example I can offer is to listen to the difference a countertenor and a contralto. To start you off, here is Andreas Scholl, a countertenor, singing "Ombra mai fu", and here is Nathalie Stutzmann, a contralto, singing the same piece.

I think what it comes down to is that it's not a MASSIVE difference, but it is the kind of difference that a teacher or conductor or collaborator would notice. Depending on when/where your story is set is probably going to determine what people say about it and whether they say anything at all, really.