FYI: Why Does My Voice Sound Different When I Hear it On a Recording?

By Amber Sasse Posted 06.25.2009 at 1:15 pm 6 Comments

Tone Deaf Your voice makes  vibrations that only you can hear iStock

It sounds different because it is different. "When you speak, the vocal folds in your throat vibrate, which causes your skin, skull and oral cavities to also vibrate, and we perceive this as sound," explains Ben Hornsby, a professor of audiology at Vanderbilt University. The vibrations mix with the sound waves traveling from your mouth to your eardrum, giving your voice a quality — generally a deeper, more dignified sound — that no one else hears.

Through a loudspeaker or recording device, you pick up sound only through air conduction. "The sound we're used to hearing has a lower frequency from the bone vibrations," Hornsby says. "We like that because it sounds rich and full." Many people cringe at the playback sound because our brain struggles to accept that this foreign voice is our own.

Try to stump us. Send your questions to fyi@popsci.com.

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6 Comments

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Cpt.Ishy

06/26/09 at 1:40 pm

well i just want to say the girl in the picture is flipping hot!!

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anonameat

06/30/09 at 3:47 pm

I want to see her oral that mic.

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ChronoCliff

07/01/09 at 3:57 pm

Wow. Keep it in your pants, slimeballs.

So my question is, and always has been, which is the voice other people hear? From this article it sounds like the voice we hear from a recording is the real voice others hear. But I'm pretty sure that's not what most readers want to hear, including myself!

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garthog42

07/02/09 at 9:04 am

Amazing maybe I am a bit less primal than you all but I fail to see what her looks have to do with the story.

Now on to the story. Having been a singer for 30 years I understand why your voice sounds different and in the beginning I was amazed at the differences and apparently the differences are oddly enough are unique for each person. In my case my voice sounds deeper on tape a surprising fact since to myself when I speak my voice sounds quite a bit higher. Makes you more appreciateive as a singer to know that the reason you made it is that millions of people like the sound of a voice you will never hear naturally.

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kiego

04/13/10 at 11:26 am

I am one of those people who has a terrific voice, in my head. I have listened to my voice recordings, I sound like a kid. If only I could broadcast my inside voice. Oh well.

30bcf4e2

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Kherzhul

07/15/11 at 9:09 am

1. Well, that explains alot...

2. What in the name of science are those two first comments?

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