Philotic Web

The topic of what people sound like has popped up a few times for me in the past couple weeks, so I figured I'd bring it on the board and see what others had to say.

I love how my voice sounds to me, but when I hear it over a mic or in a recording, I cringe. It sounds higher-pitched and obnoxious to me and it always takes me a good week or two after hearing what other people hear to get comfortable speaking to anyone in any way (in person, over the phone).

Tangentially, I've altered my laugh over the years because people mentioned liking it, which made me think about it and get self-conscious, and this went on for so long that it just...changed. And now I hate that, too.

Love your voice, hate it, indifferent? Talk to me.

I don't really like the way my voice sounds when I hear it played back, it sounds totally different. and it makes me realize I'm not nearly as good at VO even temp, as I think I should be, and that my timing and emphasis aren't nearly as good as I had thought. Also hearing my accents back, except one, pretty much suck.

My voice always sounds weird to me, hearing it back - no matter how many times I hear it.

I hate hearing my voice recorded. I sound relatively grown up to myself normally, but apparently I sound 10 years old when recorded. But I keep telling myself that it's the mics and voicemails that distort my voice, and that I actually sound okay in normal conversation.

My voice sounds really terrible on a recording. The bad thing is, apparently that's what it sounds like normally.

And my laugh has the ability to make others laugh at its stupidness

My voice always sounds weird to me, hearing it back - no matter how many times I hear it.

Same here.

Also, people constantly keep mistaking me for my father on the phone, and only when I hear myself (in my low, bass voice) I realize how right they are; I sound really like him.

Quite frankly my voice stinks, but I like it because it is mine. Can't sing worth of anything. People have a hard time understanding me because of my Philadelphia accent. But I like it.

Don't like it when it played back, but then does anyone? I mean it just sounds so different then I'm used to hearing.

I have a speech impediment where I slur on my S's and Z's and I am very self-conscious about that. And then it has affected how deep my voice is. It isn't high but it isn't deep enough.

I don't like it. There is no problem when I talk but when I hear a recording I cover my ears because I don't want to ruin my idea of what I really sound like.

Verdict: Hate it.

I never realize how deep my voice is, and how squeaky my laugh is until I hear them played back to me. Evidently other people like hearing me read out loud though, because I actual am conscious of reading the punctuation and emphasizing words the way they should be.

I have a speech impediment where I slur on my S's and Z's and I am very self-conscious about that. And then it has affected how deep my voice is. It isn't high but it isn't deep enough.

I don't like it. There is no problem when I talk but when I hear a recording I cover my ears because I don't want to ruin my idea of what I really sound like.

Verdict: Hate it.

You practically wrote my post for me. I have a bit of a lisp myself and similar issues with hearing recordings of my voice because of it.

I like the way my voice sounds in my head, but I'm not fond of playback...

Why does everyone hate playbacks? I like hearing my voice played back to me...

Why does everyone hate playbacks? I like hearing my voice played back to me...

For me, it's because it doesn't sound like I do in my head. It's just... different. And not me. It sounds higher, and faster, and just not quite right. And I'm even trained in controlling my speech pretty well (yeah 5 years of competetive speaking) and I still don't like the way I sound to myself in recordings. Well, it does depend on the situation. I'm pretty ok with my in-a-debate-round voice playback. But just listening to voicemails or something is sort of cringe-worthy.

(Also, have you noticed some people have different voices doing different things? My boyfriend has a very different normal voice v. talking on the phone to family/friends voice (well, those two aren't too different) v. talking on the phone to work people v. on TV.)

The reason our voices sound different to us is because when we talk, we hear our voices from our middle ear where as everyone else hears our voice from our outer ear. It affects how deep we hear our voices.

Nothing quite like bone conduction.

Tangentially, I've altered my laugh over the years because people mentioned liking it, which made me think about it and get self-conscious, and this went on for so long that it just...changed. And now I hate that, too.

My laugh has changed a million times too, and even when it stays consistent, I feel like I have a different laugh for different situations.

I'm totally vain about my voice, both my speaking voice and my singing voice.

Voices are also a huge turn on (and turn off) for me. There are people I cannot converse with because the sound of their voices are so toxic to me. Luckily most of these were people I wouldn't want to converse with often anyway.

I love how my voice sounds to me, but when I hear it over a mic or in a recording, I cringe.

This.

I remember on one of my other forums, we had this whole thing going where we record ourselves saying whatever we want to say or what others wanted us to say - just to give others a taste of our voice.

Of course, since you guys all hate your voice, I'm guessing the idea won't take off here.

I've thought of the same thing. I would love to hear a sampling of pweb voices. And you all would hear that I do NOT say ABOOT.

I do, however, say eh.

sometimes i like my voice, sometimes it annoys me. same goes for when its been recorded. i do like hearing my singing voice recorded.

when my band was still alive and kicking, we would record our practices from beginning to end (so we wouldn't miss anything) so we got a lot of both singing and talking... you get used to hearing it the more you listen to yourself. you tend to not hate it so much after awhile. now i think i like my voice recorded better then in my head.

plus with recording and software or at least a mic and an effects loop, you can make yourself sound fantastic by picking and choosing filters and compression and such like that. it takes some work to get that right so that it sounds natural.

I recorded myself reading a short summary of Ender's Game... figured it was most appropriate.

http://vocaroo.com/?media=voGlJaLYCWnRvFIev

I must have recorded myself ten or more times doing this, each time making a little mistake or sounding just a bit congested. Also, I think the mic is cheap. Whatever. It's not that awful, now that I've had to listen to it a dozen times.

We had to use voice recordings for the AP Spanish test. I think the best part of it was my voice. But that's probably because my Spanish is terrible when I'm making it up on the spot like that. I generally like the way I sound in my head and on a recording. But sometimes I just can't stand this tone my voice takes. It sounds very arrogant, I think, and I try to change it whenever I find myself talking with it. People usually say my voice sounds really soft over the phone. I'm not sure if that's good or bad.

I must have recorded myself ten or more times doing this, each time making a little mistake or sounding just a bit congested. Also, I think the mic is cheap. Whatever. It's not that awful, now that I've had to listen to it a dozen times.

It sounded just fine to me.

Wow, Wil, you sound EXACTLY like I imagine.

ETA: This is mine: http://vocaroo.com/?media=vVigJENJAJERtM34f

Wow, Wil, you sound EXACTLY like I imagine.

Is that good or bad?

Good, I guess. It means your online personality and your pictures match your voice.

When you started talking aboot saying aboot, you sounded like Robin from HIMYM... who is Canadian (both the actress and the character)... so I guess that means you have a Canadian accent.

Also, you don't sound how I expected you to sound. Which isn't good or bad, just how it is; I'm not good at matching faces and voices at all.

This is Paul and Ginny: http://vocaroo.com/?media=vD9GYR7ylIvrQgX7n

It gets cut off at the end, and it's important to note that Paul is holding Harry Potter book.

Wow, Wil, you sound EXACTLY like I imagine.

ETA: This is mine: http://vocaroo.com/?media=vVigJENJAJERtM34f

Thank you for sounding so un-Canadian Jan. The Americans need to realize that this whole "aboot" thing is nonsense.

Personally, I think Paul has the stereotypical Canadian accent (and I've thought this since hearing it in some youtube video).

Brilliant idea. I've heard quite a few Pwebbers over the phone but this is nice for the ones I haven't heard, assuming more people do this.

http://vocaroo.com/?media=voGlJaLYCWnRvFIev

I have to say, you don't quite sound how you look to me. You have a nice voice and lest you think I'm insulting your looks somehow, you're also not hideous. No, you're a nice looking fellow; this is simply a case of me thinking it would be a little deeper maybe but ultimately deciding your voice is just right as it is.

http://vocaroo.com/?media=vVigJENJAJERtM34f

I do not quite know how to respond to this one...I mean, you basically have the ideal female voice to me. It's obviously female but not ditzy, not questioning/timid, not too high pitched. It is intelligent-sounding (credit to the brain here, too), friendly and soothing without being boring.


Maybe I have a Pweb bias, though.



ETA: More have popped up since I started this post. I'll take a listen at home, as I do have work to do today. Fancy that...work to do at work.

Yes, Paul definitely sounds like a Canadian. To be honest, at first I thought he was trying to sound that way. hahah

Heehee. He got all "No I don't!" at that.

Paul and Jan, I'm sorry, but you sound Canadian to my ear. And Paul is exactly how I imagine all of his posts, and I even forget that he's Canadian. So read into that how you will. And Will... I don't know. I guess I tend to read your posts in "generic male #1," for some reason, and you almost fit that description.

I should record one for me, this sounds fun.

http://vocaroo.com/?media=v1782xzkaGfqwUiRy