Subject: Re: own voice versus recorded voice perception From: "Kent Noel Walker, Mr" <kent.walker@xxxxxxxx> Date: Tue, 14 Apr 2009 01:06:32 -0400 List-Archive:<http://lists.mcgill.ca/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=AUDITORY>BEN'S FIRST QUESTION: "Why does one's voice sound different to them when they hear it played back from a recording?" Answer: It is different. Ben's question appears to address a conundrum that has faced the audio engineer since the era of Edison and Berliner. I am tempted to spew-on but instead will refer you to these gentleman: -"Stereo is an attempt to create the illusion of reality through the willing suspension of disbelief² Richard Heyser -http://www.stereosoundbook.com/pages/chapter4.html BEN'S SECOND QUESTION: "And why do people normally dislike the sound of their recorded voice?" Answer: Is this really true? I know plenty of folks that love the sound of their own voice, and plenty of folks that love the sound of their recorded voice. If this is true, perhaps this is because the voice is disembodied? Peter Lennox <P.Lennox@xxxxxxxx> wrote: > ³...In fact, the experience of "I surely don't sound like that..." is mitigated when one hears a recording of oneself via a Soundfield microphone. with ambisonic playback...² With regards to this affective response "dislike", it seems possible in this situation that the "naturalness" of the recorded voice might be negatively correlated (i.e. I would rather hear my own voice playback through my mobile phone than on a 5.1 surround sound recording). While tastes do vary, there is research that suggests the above "haute technologie" is not always the mitigator we hold it up to be: http://www.music.mcgill.ca/~kentw/wordpress/docs/aes_sweden_final.pdf I have often had success creating natural voice-overs in the studio using one high-quality microphone with is routed to the center channel (one high-quality loudspeaker). This is the industry standard practice. Just my 2-cents. -------- Kent Walker Tenure Track Lecturer Audio Engineering Technology Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business Belmont University, Nashville TN, USA ph. 615-460-5435 walkerkn@xxxxxxxx http://www.music.mcgill.ca/~kentw/