Why We Hear Our Own Voice Differently In A Recording?

The perception of oneself and that of others sometimes differ widely. This becomes obvious when you hear your own voice from a recording. Many wonder and think that it’s not them. But why do you hear your own voice differently? Let’s find out.

It’s a phenomenon that everyone has experienced before. You watch a video of yourself and cannot avoid the question of what is suddenly going on with your own voice. It definitely sounds different there than usual. After the quality of the recording has first been critically checked, it must be admitted at the latest that you really sound like that. But how can that be?

As strange as your own voice may sound on a sound recording, it is actually your own. It is exactly the voice that everyone around you hears. All with the exception of yourself because you hear yourself like no one else.

Before you can hear anything, a sound must be made. In the case of the voice, this happens when speaking. The sound waves that we generate with the larynx and articulate with the mouth, especially the tongue, are wave-like vibrations in the air. One hears what a person is saying because the vibrations reach the eardrum through the air. One speaks here of the so-called air duct. The resulting vibration sets the eardrum in motion, which means that the vibrations are passed on to the inner ear via the ossicles.

By Double Hearing, We Hear Our Own Voice Differently

But how is it that you hear your voice differently than everyone else? The reason lies in the process of hearing itself. While outsiders only perceive what is being said through their ears, a second process also comes into play with oneself. Apart from hearing our own voice through the air duct that leads into our ears, there is a process that takes place exclusively inside our body and therefore cannot be understood by others.

When speaking, sound waves not only get outside through the mouth but also vibrate inside the body and are transmitted directly to the surrounding tissue when they are generated. More precisely, this vibration takes place in the skeleton of the skull bone, since the skull is closest to the human voice tool. Sound waves are transmitted via the skull bones and the soft parts of the skull directly to the middle and inner ear. These sound waves do not leave the mouth but reach the inner ear directly via the so-called bone conduits.

When your own voice is created, there is a combination of two different types of hearing that you can only perceive yourself. The ear on the one hand and the skeleton on the other hand report vibrations to the inner ear. So when you hear your voice on a sound carrier, the vibration inside the body disappears. Suddenly you hear your own voice just like the people around you. At first, many people don’t like their voices on recordings because it is very unusual. There is a habituation effect here. The more often you hear your recorded voice, the more you associate it with yourself.

Also Read: Why Do Our Feet And Hands Fall Asleep?

With old age, there is often a change in voice. It becomes weaker, loses its strength, and can even change its pitch. The reasons for this can be very different and individual. However, it is often related to the decrease in tissue elasticity and lung capacity.