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Why do we think our voice sounds so strange in recordings?
"The answer lies in our ears," says a researcher.
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Have you ever recorded yourself speaking and then played it back?
"Many find it absolutely terrible," says researcher Bodil Kvernenes Nørsett.
A quick search online shows that many agree:
'YUCK! I HATE my voice,' one Reddit user writes about their recorded voice.
"But it's not because your voice is shrill or ugly," says Nørsett. "The answer lies in our ears."
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Your ears are tricking you
When you listen to a recording of your voice, it can sound like it belongs to someone else.
That’s because you normally hear your voice in two different ways:
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- Through the air – just like everyone else does.
- Through your body.
"Since your vocal cords are located in your throat, you don't just hear your voice through your ears, but also through your skull," the researcher explains.
Some of the sound travels through the bones in your head. This is called bone conduction – the sound spreads through bones instead of just air.
This 'shortcut' through the skull makes your voice sound fuller and deeper.
In a recording, that effect disappears.
"Then you only hear your voice through the air, just like everyone else does," says Nørsett.
Had to double-check with others
On recordings, your voice can sound higher, thinner, and unfamiliar.
Tea Berg is a recording artist. She has heard herself on recordings many times.
"It has taken time to get used to how others hear my voice," she says. "I even had to ask people around me to confirm that my voice actually sounded good."
Over time, she has gotten used to both versions: the one she hears internally and the one others hear.
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Practice listening to your voice
"How can we get used to our own voice?"
"You can get used to it by recording yourself and listening back," says Nørsett.
This is something people who work with audio, like musicians and radio hosts, do regularly.
You can also try a simple trick without recording youself:
"Stand facing a wall and cup your hands behind your ears. When you speak, the sound of your voice will bounce back towards you," she says.
Why is it so strange?
Artist Tea Berg says it's quite common for singers to find it strange to hear themselves at first.
According to Nørsett, the discomfort comes from the gap between how we think we sound and how we actually sound.
Your voice is an important part of who you are. So when it suddenly sounds different, it can feel off.
But if you feel embarrassed about how your voice sounds in recordings, you're not alone.
"It's completely normal. Even I am sometimes surprised by my own voice, and I've worked with singing and recording for many years," says Nørsett.
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Translated by Alette Bjordal Gjellesvik
Read the Norwegian version of this article on ung.forskning.no
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