Who's That Girl?

Dear Tin,

       

     I love singing to the tune of my favorite songs. Nope, I’m not a singer, but that doesn’t stop me from recording my voice. It’s also my way of checking if I sound thaaat bad. Lol. But anyway, this entry has nothing to do with my voice quality or whatsoever. What I want to know is why I don’t recognize my own voice on recordings. Maybe you could help me understand why it sounds so different? I know that I’m hearing my own voice but I wonder why it doesn’t seem like me at all. It’s so weird!

-Frustrated Singer

Dear Frustrated Singer,

            Relax! You’re not alone. Everyone who has ever heard their own recorded voice probably had the same thing in mind. Perhaps you’ve also wondered why it’s easy to discriminate the voices of other people but it’s hard to identify your very own. Personally, I think my own recorded voice is more high-pitched than my ‘actual’ voice (and yes, it feels awkward listening to my own voice). To answer your question, we have to go to the basics of the auditory process and the pathways that the sound goes through.

            In normal conversations, we usually hear our voice as a product of both air-conducted sound and bone-conducted sound. But when we listen to our voice recordings, we only hear the airborne sound and not the bone-conducted one (Stenfelt, 2011). Clearly, this ‘missing’ stimulus is what accounts for the difference in sound that we perceive. According to Békésy, the two pathways of our own voice are approximated to be equally important (as cited in Stenfelt, 2011). The two ways of stimulation--- air-conducted and bone-conducted sound--- excite the same sensory cells involved in auditory perception (Stenfelt, 2011). To give you a clearer picture, let me tell you how the auditory system works. Auditory stimulation, through air-borne sound, involves the transmission of sound into the ear canal, the production of mechanical vibrations in the eardrum which goes through the middle-ear ossicles, and eventually, the change in sound pressure in the cochlea. When the auditory sensory cells become excited, sensation of hearing occurs.  

            

            Now, let’s focus on the ‘missing’ part that makes it hard for us to recognize our own recorded voice.  Bone conduction is the way by which sound energy becomes transmitted to the cochlea via the skull bones, and sound perception greatly results from the vibration of the basilar membrane (found in the cochlea) (Stenfelt, 2011). The main difference between air-conducted and bone-conducted transmission is that the outer, middle and inner parts of the ear play a big function for airborne sounds (as explained earlier) while bone-conducted sounds are more directly sent to the cochlea (inner ear). Interestingly, bone conducted vibration does not only pass through the skull but it also goes through other body parts, and thus, perception is not only limited to auditory means. Try placing your hand on your throat area, and notice how it vibrates when you talk.

            When other people hear your voice, they only have access to the airborne sound, and thus, they don’t receive the same stimulation that comes from bone-conducted sound. The same goes when you listen to another person’s voice. So that’s why it doesn’t bother you when you hear your friend’s voice as you chat or when you listen to a voicemail of your friend. You don’t find it weird because in both situations, you are only hearing the air-conducted sound. As for your own voice, it does sound different. If you’re still conscious about the way you sound to others, then you might want to check out this video for some tips. Hope you could link your SoundCloud (if you have one) to me some other time. I'd be happy to hear your recordings soon! :)  

Senserely yours,

Tin

Reference:

Stenfelt, S. (2011). Acoustic and physiologic aspects of bone conduction hearing. Advances in Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, 71, 10-21.

Photo credits:

http://www.primebuyersreport.org/files/images/recording-woman2-000006006293XSmall.jpg