Experts say there's a simple reason why we dislike the sound of our own voice: it's not what we expect. “The voice we hear when we talk isn't the one everyone else hears,” explains Dean Burnett, a neuroscientist and author. “Obviously, we hear through our ears and the sound is processed through our brain.
It's a common phenomenon among singers and vocalists to feel like they don't quite sound the way they want to when they hear their own voice. This feeling of dissatisfaction with one's own singing or speaking voice is often referred to as “voice shame,” and it can be incredibly difficult for singers who experience it.
Bhatt explained that the dislike of the sound of our own voices is physiological and psychological. First off, audio recordings translate differently to your brain than the sound you are used to when speaking. The sound from an audio device goes through the air and then in your ear (also known as air conduction).
Question : Is it normal for a singer to dislike the sound of their own voice? Answer : Yes it is totally normal — and not just for singers, but most people don't like the sound of their voice when they hear it on a recording and you are definitely not alone if hearing your own voice makes you cringe.
The auditory perception of a person's own voice is different when the person hears their own voice live and through recordings. Upon hearing a recording of their own voice, a person may experience disappointment due to cognitive dissonance between their perception and expectation for the sound of their voice.
The anatomy of the skull makes it so that if we are hearing our own voice live, we truly do hear it differently than a recording. The cognitive dissonance of hearing a voice that your conscious brain knows is yours but not automatically recognizing yourself is perfectly natural: but it makes us uncomfortable.
Dr Silke Paulmann, a psychologist at the University of Essex, says, “I would speculate that the fact that we sound more high-pitched than what we think we should leads us to cringe as it doesn't meet our internal expectations; our voice plays a massive role in forming our identity and I guess no one likes to realise ...
Vocal abuse, misuse, and overuse all can lead to strain and fatigue. If these behaviors do not change, individuals may experience serious vocal damage or even a voice disorder.
If a singer is singing correctly, the voice should not tire. Singing should feel good. If it does not, then your body is giving you a signal that something is not right with the way you are producing sound. A singer should never feel fatigue after a voice lesson.
When recorded, you might hear your voice sound shallower than you're used to. This is because the recordings are not affected by the internal resonance and bone conduction that affects how your voice sounds. However, the way your voice sounds on recordings is the way people perceive it in real life.
Yet for those who believe they “can't help it” when they find some voices more irritating than others, science suggests they may in fact be right. Responses in the amygdala (emotion processing part of the brain) that correlate with acoustic features and rating of unpleasantness.
In a rare moment of self-effacement, Bono has admitted that he hates his own singing voice and cringes when he hears U2's songs on the radio. Yet he is far from alone in disliking his own voice. John Lennon and Jimi Hendrix hated how they sounded on records.
Plus, studies have found that people tend to rate their own voices far more negatively than others do.
Later life – sadly, like the rest of your body, your voice can start to decline in later life. Your voice can start to thin, wobble, and change pitch. This doesn't spell the end, though, plenty of singers continue singing into their later years!
“The quality of the voice is dependent on many factors; however, barring a physical vocal disability, everyone can learn to sing well enough to sing basic songs.” While some factors are genetic, Rutkowski says growing up in a musical environment strongly influences whether someone sings well and confidently.
As a singer or musician in a band, you can grow tired of playing your “old material” and performing can sometimes feel repetitive and monotonous! However, there are strategies you can use to keep your performances fresh and engaging, no matter how many times you've sung the same song.
“Singers have a distorted concept of what they actually sound like, because they hear themselves inside their own heads as well as outside.” “So much the better,” said I, “ they get to hear themselves twice.”
So while, on the one hand, we hear our voice all the time, we also tune ourselves out on the regular. It's kinda funny to know that we even ignore ourselves sometimes. So, yes, many singers hate their voice. But not because they sound bad; rather, they are not used to the sound.
The vocal cords or vocal folds need to coordinate intricate muscle adjustment not only for pitch but also for the correct amount of resistance to the flow of air coming up from the lungs. Another issue for the vocal cords is the almost automatic involvement of muscles that are meant for swallowing, not singing.
To protect your voice, you may have felt the urge to whisper. But many otolaryngologists advise against this, warning that whispering actually causes more trauma to the larynx than normal speech. Singers in need of vocal rest are often given the same advice: Avoid whispering. It will damage your pipes.
What are the best drinks for your singing voice? The best drinks for your singing voice are water (especially room-temperature water, perhaps with a squeeze or two of lemon) and tea, but be careful about consuming too much caffeine, which can dehydrate you. You can find wonderful herbal teas designed for singers.
For men, an attractive voice is fairly straightforward: a lower one is good, as it indicates size, strength, and reproductive prowess (or does it?), while hints of breathiness also seem to be preferable. But for women, it seems to be more complicated.
Sorry to tell you but your voice is not as deep as you think it is and the higher recorded voice is a lot closer to how you really sound. In this case, everyone else hears your voice more accurately than you do.