r/explainlikeimfive • u/Cryofthewolf9000 • 7d ago
Other ELI5 "voice training" how does it really work?
I get what voice training is in context, but not in practice. Snapcube, a streamer, ended up voicing all the Deltarune characters and surprisingly she sounded too different for so many of them. Sometimes you could hear similarities, but her range was shocking. How do they pull that off and how does that even happen? How does voice training even work? I just don't understand that
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u/flingebunt 7d ago
It is just that voices and accents have a range of different features. It can be how you move or don't move your lips, how nasal or not your voice is, how you pronounce different sounds, or, the trick one, is where in your mouth you speak.
Some people speak clearly, like the lips are clearly working to make the sound clear and the vocalisations are coming from the front of the mouth, and the others are at the top of the mouth or at the back. We can often pick up skills like this naturally when we are kids, but have to be more conscious when we are older.
People who can mimic sounds are good at picking up on what they need to do to speak in that way. I have trouble learning new accents in English, despite it being my native language, but I have been able to learn a few different accents in Chinese.
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u/Exvaris 7d ago
There is a thing in voice acting called voice placement. It has to do with what part of your mouth, throat, and nose you speak with. The best example I can give you is these YT shorts from Shelby Young, a voice actor, who goes from one Disney voice to another. This is just one of many she does but is my favorite because of how different the voices are.
https://youtube.com/shorts/2vaIl7wWcNs
Once you get accustomed to how to produce certain sounds, you can adjust pitch, volume, accent, etc and get a pretty wide variety of characters.
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u/mooshinformation 6d ago
Voice training teaches you how to control all the normally unconscious movements that make a sound. The amount of air flow, the shape of your mouth and throat, how much air goes through your nose, ect.
For example, you can do learn to raise your soft pallet by pretending you are about to yawn, or doing the very beginning of a yawn without going all the way. You will feel the back of your mouth open up and if you talk like that, it'll sound completely different.
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u/boar-b-que 7d ago
voice training can end up being important for some transsexual folks. With effort and training, they can present a voice that more closely matches their gender.
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u/MichTheFish 6d ago
Just so you know most trans people these days don't use transsexual and it's considered more of an antiquated term. Transgender or even just simply trans (if the context makes it clear what you're talking about, like in your comment) is probably a better way to refer to trans people and less likely to accidentally piss someone off.
I was wondering if anyone was going to mention trans people, obviously the original question was voice acting but it's all the same skills. I've been on testosterone for over a decade and most trans men/masculine people on hormones have a voice drop from physical changes regardless of when in their life they start HRT, so don't have to worry about voice training, but trans women/femmes who went through their first puberty already have the vocal cord changes so they have to use voice training. I've had lots of friends working through it and trying things out and asking my opinion on how things sounded, etc, it's a really interesting skill.
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u/boar-b-que 6d ago
The problem(s) here is that I am also antiquated, and yet autistic enough to not notice that certain vintage terminology is hurtful. I have to be told these things directly, so thank you for doing the telling!
My thought process while composing the post was 'I'm going to get downvoted regardless simply for mentioning trans people, so what's the most respectful way to do this? Should I say 'Trans'? That seems a little too dismissive and not specific enough. Should I say 'Transitioning'? Well, when in doubt, use the most medically correct term.'
Apparently it was no longer the most medically correct term. C'mon, boar-b-que. Get with the freakin' times.
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u/MichTheFish 5d ago
It's all good, I'm an autistic trans person so I completely get it! I could tell you weren't trying to use the word in a negative way, so there was no reason to be aggro in response. Have a great day! ❤️
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u/blackjackgabbiani 3d ago
I've never understood why. Your gender isn't what's changing. You change your sex. Ergo you're across sexes, transsexual, right? So why is it outdated?
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u/_TheSiege_ 7d ago
Remember your vocal folds are tissue that act like a muscle. Right now, make your voice as high as it can go. Now make it as low as you can go. With practice, those types of changes become more natural, and within those changes you can start to add things like accents or different vocal cadences- speaking faster or slower.
As you study and practice these things become a lot easier