Do other people hear my recorded voice or my voice as I hear it myself?
Asked by
rebbel (
35549
)
December 16th, 2011
When I hear myself on tape or video I hear a difference as everybody does, I assume.
Does a person that hears me talk, hears my voice as I hear it myself (too) or the ‘recorded’ version?
And as a side question and in case that the first question has the recorded voice as an answer: When an impersonator practises a new voice (of a celebrity, for instance) and he/she thinks that he/she nailed it, is he/she in fact way off (because he/she hears it different than the listeners/audience will hear it)?
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7 Answers
Other people hear more or less your recorded voice. That’s why it only seems strange to you. The people I know who do accents and impersonations record themselves and play it back after they think they’ve got it to check.
Neither. The voice that you hear as yourself has been warped by your jaw bone conducting the sound. The recorded version has been warped by the recording equipment. But, the real thing is much closer to your recorded voice.
Interesting phenomenon: When a person has her or his own hand hidden and is shown a rubber hand, and the person’s hand is stroked at the same time they see the rubber hand being stroked, if the rubber hand is subsequently stabbed, the person will experience genuine and excruciating pain in her or his hand. What we regard as “self” is a construct, an illusion manufactured in the mind. What you regard as “your” voice is no more your voice than your mental conception of your hand is your hand.
The difference in sound is what @PhiNotPi touched on. You hear your voice from inside your head, there is vibration in the bones of the skull and the sound is altered, while everyone else is just hearing your voice being carried through the air. Your recorded voice is accurate to how you sound to others, unless you are tensing up while being recorded. My husband tends to do that, he speaks a little higher on the phone and on recordings.
You cannot hear your own voice accurately. The recoded voice is closer, but it too may be distorted by the recording. I think that’s what @PhiNotPi was saying.
Your recorded voice is what you sound like to others. I am always surprised when I hear my voice on a recording, as I sound like my aunt. I sound, on a recording, nothing like I hear my words sounding like.
Easy to answer:
Get someone you know very well, and record his/her voice.
Compare what you hear on the recorder vs. what he/she sounds like in reality. You will find a difference, but not a major one.
The recorder’s sound is closer to your real voice than what you actually hear, although it depends on the recorder you’re using.
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