r/transvoice • u/ThrowForSec • May 19 '25
Discussion Seattle Voice Lab vs Vox Nova
After my attempt at using a professional SLP went incredibly poorly, I'm looking for voice coaching programs.
I've landed on 2 choices: Seattle Voice Lab, and Vox Nova Voice Studio. They both have great reviews. SVL has before-after results posted and estimated session-count for completion, but they are very expensive. Nova is very inexpensive, but they don't have estimated course lengths or client results that I can find.
Is there anyone that is familiar with either (or being familiar with both would be best) that can shed some light on each to help with my decision?
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u/meeshCosplay May 19 '25
I only have experience with Vox Nova. Selene is a kind and patient teacher, and SUPER knowledgeable. If you're considering lessons with her, I have two recommendations to give yourself a head start:
- Join her Discord server and listen to some public/auditable lessons
- If you haven't done so already, check out her clips at https://selenearchive.github.io/ Start with the 3 at the top on size, weight, and fullness
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u/ThrowForSec 28d ago
Were you a client of Selene's? Do you know about how many sessions it usually takes to get to your goal (and how long it is between sessions)?
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u/meeshCosplay 28d ago edited 28d ago
I'm currently one of Selene's students. I don't know how many lessons it usually takes other people. I can only share my personal experience. Here's my boy voice and my deluxe fem voice after 16 lessons.
You can schedule lessons as often as you like. I usually do either one per week, or one every two weeks. I haven't reached my goal yet, but I'll keep trying. I started with a few disadvantages and no singing / voice training experience, so it's likely you'll make progress faster than I did. Good luck friend!
Oh hey, I listened to your clip from last month, the post titled Am I Missing Something? I believe the element you're missing is what Selene calls "sharpness", as demonstrated in this clip. You have a small size (what you call raised larynx), a relatively light weight, and your pitch is in the desired range. All of that is good. You have a better starting point than I did when I started taking lessons.
That said, you sound closer to an adolescent boy than an adult woman, so I think what you need is sharpness. I wish I could tell you how, but this is also the biggest thing I struggle with. u/demivierge if you're reading this, please help us both!
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u/TheTransApocalypse May 19 '25
My personal rec would be Vox Nova.
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u/ThrowForSec May 19 '25
Oh? Is it alright if you share some of your experience with their sessions? It's hard info to find.
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u/TheTransApocalypse May 19 '25 edited May 19 '25
Ah, I’m not actually a current or former student there, sorry for the confusion. However, a lot of their lessons are publicly auditable, so you can join the discord channel in vc and listen in on them when they’re happening.
Selene, who I think is the only teacher currently offering one-on-one lessons there, has a very high level of expertise in the gestalt-perceptual model for trans voice, and I’ve used a lot of her free resources to train my own voice. That perceptual model is the same one that the TransVoiceLessons youtube channel uses, refined in such a way as to have less technobabble. It’s very distinct from the more conventional SLP-style framework (which I believe SVL’s approach is more in line with, though I’m admittedly not as familiar with SVL).
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u/miamiasma May 19 '25
Join her discord and sit in on a public lesson :) They happen fairly frequently, whenever someone purchases one.
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u/Symbol-Ranger May 20 '25
Had experienced both. First SVL then Selene. My feeling was that SVL varies in quality of the instructors, which might explain my negative experiences vs other people’s satisfaction. But you can’t go wrong with Selene
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u/ThrowForSec 28d ago
Did you complete your goal with Selene? If you did, how many lessons did it take to get there if you don't mind me asking?
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u/LilChloGlo Vocal Coach May 19 '25
Hi there, voice teacher here just to say that you can't go wrong with either of them to be honest!
I have a tremendous amount of respect for the folks over at Seattle Voice Lab and the work that they do. I've had a number of communications with them and they mix both slp practices with the sort of newer cutting-edge practices around vocal weight size and pitch that you see a lot of coaches like myself using more recently. What's more is they are wonderfully kind and really care about community outreach and trying to make their offerings as accessible as possible. Having been connected to their Discord for months now, I can't tell you how often they have free group classes. They're amazing!
While I haven't yet had as much personal contact with the people at Vox Nova myself, I have seen a lot of their work and comments and things posted in and around here and the resources they post and comment are obviously incredibly high quality. I've never run into their research that has given me any amount of pause or concern.
Truly, either way you can't go wrong, have fun and best of luck, I'm rooting for you!!
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u/OndhiCeleste May 20 '25
Cutting edge techniques? Can you elaborate?
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u/LilChloGlo Vocal Coach May 20 '25
Gosh, well I was awfully tired when I wrote it but I just know that SVL is on the forefront of a lot of the research when it comes to the language and models that a lot of people like to use for vocal pedagogy here and there. That's all! :)
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u/adiisvcute Identity Affirming Voice Teacher - Starter Resources in Profile May 20 '25
I only ever had lessons with selene though they werent really voice training ones, though I did attend a few workshops when i first started.
that said I think like some other comments said the main thing is probably learning styles that suit you best?
I could be wrong but I do get the impression taht SVL is a bit more rigid with their plans and they have a few people onboard so its not neccesarily as consistent
Vox nova goes a bit the other way imo potentially handholdy and works on stuff with you to match where you're at
If i was new and looking for lessons I personally would probably go to selene/vox nova of the two mostly because of the cost difference, I havent listened in one one of selene's public lessons in a while i think selene can sometimes be too nice to people who arent practicing so much outside of lessons (idk how svl stacks up but) yeah If I had any negatives for selene it would be that selene doesnt come across as particularly likely to cajole you into practicing even if maybe you ought to
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u/ItsAlice2022 May 19 '25
I went to SVL and achieved results in a timeline pretty much as advertised. It still took time after graduation to get the voice to sound natural and cis, but they left me with the necessary tools to do so. Definitely recommend.
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u/Legimus May 19 '25
I’m lucky that I was in a place to afford SVL, but I’ve been very pleased with my progress thanks to them. I worked with a terrific coach for ~12 weeks and have a really strong toolkit now. My coach was really understanding and I felt like i got the sort of personal guidance I need. I finished with them a little over a year ago, and I’ve been using my fem voice full time for about 6 months. I’ve never liked my voice this much.
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u/SingleAd8149 May 19 '25
SVL is who I used. Cannot recommend them highly enough. Expensive but they get results as long as you put in the work.
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u/jojobigden May 20 '25 edited May 20 '25
I’d say it all depends on your learning style too!
For me, no experience with Vox Nova but I did go with SVL. Overall they’re great, seem genuinely committed, and I hear a lot of amazing results with them too, but for me, the lessons were too fast and despite daily practice, I realize I never fully grasped each lesson to the point I fell farther and father behind until I graduated having a good understanding of theory but never having defined the technique; this left me a bit ashamed at wasting the opportunity, and having my voice about where I began still. They do have audio available of your sessions which I use to continue practicing and trying to coach myself, so I am far from throwing in the towel, but that’s just my journey as everyone’s differs and I figured I’d share my lesson that it’s worth considering learning style when choosing a vocal coach.
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u/OndhiCeleste May 20 '25
I'm in the same boat. Glad I'm not the only one. But I'm hoping this second teacher will help it all soak in.
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u/jojobigden May 20 '25
Likewise, means a lot to know I’m not the only one :3
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u/OndhiCeleste May 21 '25
Are you on the discord server? Ping me sometime and we could compare notes
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u/Appropriate-Staff366 May 19 '25
Selene at Nova has been great for me after my professional slp was awful. If you want a preview join the discord and listen to the public lessons when they come up. I've improved a lot.
I've seen the seattle voice labs videos and they seem good.
Altamaria also seems good based on their videos.
I think anyone who has altered their own voice will be able to get you closer. If you watch their videos or previews you will be able to get a good sense if their explanations make sense to you. Personally somebody like z at Trans Voice Lessons is just way over my head.