If you’ve ever recorded your own voice on playback then you may have noticed that it sounds different. This is usually something newbie singers face when they record a song for the first time.
They always wonder their voice is different from what they’re used to hearing. This is perfectly normal.
So, have you ever wondered whether a recorded version of your voice is actually yours?
If the answer is yes, then you’ve stumbled upon the right post.
I’m going to discuss whether a recorded voice is the real voice so you get a better understanding.
With that said, is recorded voice real voice?
Your recorded voice is your real voice, the only difference is that the recorded voice doesn’t come from within you and isn’t bone conducted. This is why it may feel a lot different than what you’re used to. When you hear your on voice as you speak, it’s more lowered in pitch. But when you hear it on a recording it seems high pitched because its being conducted through air and not your body.
Bone conduction
Bone conduction is simply the conduction of sound to the inner ear primarily through the bones of the skull, allowing the hearer to perceive audio content or sounds without blocking the ear canal.
Bone conduction transmission occurs constantly as sound waves vibrate bone, specifically the bones in the skull, although it is not always easy for the average individual to distinguish sound being conveyed through the bone as opposed to the sound being conveyed through the air via the ear canal.
Intentional transmission of sound through bone can be used with individuals with normal hearing as with bone-conduction headphones or as a treatment option for certain types of hearing impairment. Bone generally generates and conveys lower-frequency sounds better than higher frequency sounds.
Is the recording really me?
Yes, the recording of your voice is you, because e recording doesn’t lie! Thats exactly how you sound.
You may wonder then, why does it sound so different than the voice that you’re used to hearing inside your own head?
Well, it’s all a matter of science.
The ear’s hearing mechanisms lie deep within our inner ear.
Sound reaches the inner ear in a number of different ways and most of what we hear is simply the result of air conduction.
These are basically things that make sounds cause sound waves that are then transmitted through the air.
Those sound waves reach your outer ear and then travel through the eardrum and middle ear to the cochlea, which is an organ in the inner ear that translates and converts those waves to the brain.
However, air is not the only way that sounds reach the inner ear.
Remember that you have bones and tissues inside your head that can also conduct sound waves directly to the cochlea.
For example, when you speak, your vocal cords simply create sound waves that travel through the air to reach your inner ear.
The bones and tissues in your head, however, also conduct those sound waves directly to your cochlea, for this reason, the voice you hear in your head when you speak is the result of both methods of transmission and you’ll notice a lower pitch in it.
When you hear your voice on a recording however, you’re only hearing sounds transmitted through the air or what we are referring to as air conduction.
And since you’re missing the part of the sound that comes from bone conduction within your head, your voice sounds totally different to you on a recording.
When you speak and hear your own voice inside your head, your head bones and tissues tend to enhance the lower-frequency vibrations like I mentioned which gives your voice a more fuller and deeper tone which is what you’re used to.
But your voice isn’t really like that if you take away bone conduction.
This is why when you hear your voice on a recording, it usually sounds a lot higher in pitch and weaker than you’re used to.
Your voice heard on a recording will sound different and strange to you but you shouldn’t worry because others perceive your voice differently.
The truth
If you’re a recording artist that’s new to recording then more than likely, you’re not going to enjoy the sound of your own voice.
Everyone experiences this and you shouldn’t beat yourself up about this.
The more you expose yourself to recording, the more you’ll come to terms with what your voice sounds like.
