This commenter on TikTok says, “So you know how “T voice” is something that is audible to other queer people? Could you explain what the features of that voice are?”

The “T voice” that this commenter is referring to is the voice that some people get as a result of taking testosterone. This is a bit of a misnomer because literally every voice that has been altered by testosterone could be considered a “T voice”, but what this commenter is referring to is the voice that is unique to some trans men and transmasculine folks who take testosterone.

This voice is characterized by a thick vocal fold mass, which you can hear as a buzziness, a slight drop in pitch from that person’s bassline, and a relatively bright resonance (watch the video above to hear an example of this)

This type of voice is more likely to result if a person starts testosterone later in life (like 30+) because later in life, it is more likely that the cartilage of the larynx will have ossified, which means it can’t grow with testosterone and create more space for the vocal folds to vibrate. This can limit how deep the pitch of the voice can drop.

In addition, older folks will have more ingrained vocal habits, which means they’re more likely to maintain the height of their larynx while speaking instead of letting it drop to create a darker resonance because that’s how they’ve always spoken, and it’s more comfortable for them.

I want to highlight that I said “more likely” because this is not always the case, and I definitely know people in their 30s and 40s who didn’t get a “T voice”.

But I also want to add that this type of voice is by no means a negative thing. I have had many students intentionally wait to start taking testosterone because they wanted a clockably “trans” sounding voice.

If you don’t like it for yourself, I have plenty of exercises on TikTok for voice masculinization that you can check out. I recommend starting here.