When gourmets discuss blends, they are usually thinking of something tasty and stimulating. This being BCTS, the blend I am talking about has to do with gender. And it is gender blending that has become involved in, and has possibly even given rise to, a unique and possibly new sort of performance art that is gaining popularity in Asia.

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When I first discovered that I was not alone with my gender issues, Virginia Prince was publishing her books and Transvestia magazine, and developing her Society for the Second Self. At the same time, Doctors Money, Green, and Stoller were publishing findings from their work at gender identity clinics at Johns Hopkins and UCLA. Since nearly all M2F TG people back then passed through male puberty before they sought to transition or adopt a cross-dressing lifestyle, voice training was a major concern for any who wished to live or present convincingly as female.

Almost anyone can recognize a falsetto voice, because of the lack of resonance. Not all women speak and sing in an upper register (Cher is a good example) but, besides different inflections and mannerisms, we can usually distinguish between a natural female or male voice because of differences in the resonance. Efforts to disguise a falsetto by softening and otherwise modifying it can help to a limited degree, but a sharp ear will still hear it, with the result that the presentation is blown, and the person is “read” as TG.

Some years ago, I stumbled across Melanie Phillips’ voice training web page, where she describes how she discovered a different approach to producing a voice that sounds authentically female (and, of course, where she promotes her lesson plans so that we can learn how to do it, too). Her discussion made sense to me, so I bookmarked her page and added it to my TG resources folder.

Then, a month or so ago, I found Cliff’s blog post about T-Girl Bell Nuntita and her performances on Thailand’s Got Talent, where she alternately sings in male and female voice. What struck me immediately was that her female voice has a natural timbre that is definitely not falsetto. Naturally, I had to wonder if this was Melanie’s technique in action. I had to hear more of this, and my digging led me to discover this “dual voice” singing as an emerging performance art.

In the Philippine Islands (or, more specifically, in the comedy bars around Manila), what they call “doble kara” has become hugely popular. This Tagalog phrase translates literally as “two- or double-faced,” with all the same connotations of duplicity that it carries in English. But it has been applied to this version of dual voice singing, because the performers wear costume and makeup that is divided right down the center, from forehead to groin, into male on one side and female on the other. On stage, they stand in profile to the audience, and pivot when they switch voices to present whichever side is appropriate to the voice in which they are singing.

The comedy bars and other venues host amateur doble kara singing contests, M2F TG people perform dual voice singing professionally in the comedy bars, and other people perform dual voice singing demos in whatever public places where they can get permission. Some of them have successfully auditioned and performed on Pilipinas Got Talent.

Three of the TG comedy bar singers formed themselves into a group, and called themselves “Miss Tres.” Though they have changed their lineup a couple of times, they are always three (uno, dos, tres), and they sing in dual voice. Not too long ago, they auditioned and competed on Asia’s Got Talent.

Thanks to Internet social media (particularly streaming video services), this performance art is attracting a global audience. I put together a YouTube playlist to showcase doble kara, Miss Tres, and Bell Nuntita. This Google search will find other dual voice performances. Miss Tres have an older Facebook page for their Mariko, Mamma Mía, and Angel lineup, and a new page for their Mariko, Mamma Mía, and Mavy lineup.

If you know anything further about dual voice singing as a performance art, or the voice training that makes it possible, please do comment. Thanks!