[NFBWATlk] Why do we hate the sound of our own voices? - TheConversation - May 17, 2021

Fri Jun 25 20:45:13 UTC 2021

Thanks for this. I have been fascinated by recording most of my life. I bugged my parents incessantly to get them to buy me a tape recorder when I was 9 or 10 years old. You know, the reel to reel tape recorder. When I got it, I was extremely puzzled that I didn’t sound like I spoke. I was amazed that I sounded so different when I was listening to myself. Having done a lot of recording for radio programs like the NFB of Washington’s radio reading service program that occurred once every month for an hour, and some live stuff when I was my high school’s host on a local radio station, ETC,   I got used to hearing myself and it didn’t seem so bad after all. Appreciate this article as it explains a lot I never realized about how we hear.

/s/

Bennett

From: Kris via NFBWATlk
Sent: Friday, June 25, 2021 1:31 PM
To: NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List
Cc: Kris
Subject: Re: [NFBWATlk] Why do we hate the sound of our own voices? - TheConversation - May 17, 2021

Thank you for the article! I completely empathize with this feeling.

I have an occasion to record my own voice and then have to listen to it. It is difficult to do this because I think I sound not that great. So I concentrate on the con tent instead of the sound. Other people tell me I sound fine. I guess I’m just too critical of my own products 

😃 Kris 

“To succeed  you have to believe in something with such a passion that it becomes a Reality.”
Dame Anita Roddick
Founder of The Body Shop
www.thebodyshopathome-USA.com/kriscolcock

> On Jun 25, 2021, at 11:25 AM, Becky Frankeberger via NFBWATlk <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> When I get hearing aids, especially this last time, I tell them to turn down
> my voice, yeak. You are hearing yourself like the article says plus a tiny
> non precise amplifier. Oh, trust me I don't sound like my hearing aids tells
> me I do. Turn the darn things down and record yourself. You do sound
> different, but not that tin tiny swelch sound through the hearing aids, eak!
> 
> 
> Thank you Noel for the wonderful thoughtful articles you send us, warm
> smile.
> 
> Becky    
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NFBWATlk <nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Nightingale, Noel
> via NFBWATlk
> Sent: Friday, June 25, 2021 10:34 AM
> To: nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org
> Cc: Nightingale, Noel <Noel.Nightingale at ed.gov>
> Subject: [NFBWATlk] Why do we hate the sound of our own voices? - The
> Conversation - May 17, 2021
> 
> The below article is not blindness related, but I found this interesting or
> somewhat disconcerting, and it is audio-related, so I'M passing it along.
> 
> https://theconversation.com/why-do-we-hate-the-sound-of-our-own-voices-15837
> 6?mkt_tok=MTMxLUFRTy0yMjUAAAF91B8D58xjfzePHOYBpLAFgyGT60TSsdVKRD8Z_LEXOgCjw_
> Xlz83hobzqgWMWFZ2up7IW1kKBV2qJNCg3Q4HguY2SPwtQwB2LKQo4vy-BlFk
> Why do we hate the sound of our own voices?
> By Beth Daley
> The Conversation
> May 17, 2021
> 
> As a surgeon who specializes in treating patients with voice problems, I
> routinely record my patients speaking. For me, these recordings are
> incredibly valuable. They allow me to track slight changes in their voices
> from visit to visit, and it helps confirm whether surgery or voice therapy
> led to improvements.
> Yet I'm surprised by how difficult these sessions can be for my patients.
> Many become visibly uncomfortable upon hearing their voice played back to
> them.
> "Do I really sound like that?" they wonder, wincing.
> (Yes, you do.)
> Some become so unsettled they refuse outright to listen to the recording -
> much less go over the subtle changes I want to highlight.
> The discomfort we have over hearing our voices in audio recordings is
> probably due to a mix of physiology and psychology.
> For one, the sound from an audio recording is transmitted differently to
> your brain than the sound generated when you speak.
> When listening to a recording of your voice, the sound travels through the
> air and into your ears - what's referred to as "air conduction." The sound
> energy vibrates the ear drum and small ear bones. These bones then transmit
> the sound vibrations to the cochlea, which stimulates nerve axons that send
> the auditory signal to the brain.
> However, when you speak, the sound from your voice reaches the inner ear in
> a different way. While some of the sound is transmitted through air
> conduction, much of the sound is internally conducted directly through your
> skull bones. When you hear your own voice when you speak, it's due to a
> blend of both external and internal conduction, and internal bone conduction
> appears to boost the lower frequencies.
> For this reason, people generally perceive their voice as deeper and richer
> when they speak. The recorded voice, in comparison, can sound thinner and
> higher pitched, which many find cringeworthy.
> There's a second reason hearing a recording of your voice can be so
> disconcerting. It really is a new voice - one that exposes a difference
> between your self-perception and reality. Because your voice is unique and
> an important component of self-identity, this mismatch can be jarring.
> Suddenly you realize other people have been hearing something else all
> along.
> Even though we may actually sound more like our recorded voice to others, I
> think the reason so many of us squirm upon hearing it is not that the
> recorded voice is necessarily worse than our perceived voice. Instead, we're
> simply more used to hearing ourselves sound a certain way.
> A study published in 2005 had patients with voice problems rate their own
> voices when presented with recordings of them. They also had clinicians rate
> the voices. The researchers found that patients, across the board, tended to
> more negatively rate the quality of their recorded voice compared with the
> objective assessments of clinicians.
> So if the voice in your head castigates the voice coming out of a recording
> device, it's probably your inner critic overreacting - and you're judging
> yourself a bit too harshly.
> 
> 
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