Question for the professionals

T

Twinhit

You gotta speak up!
For decades, I've shied away from recording of any kind because I never liked the sound of my own voice. (I don't like having my photo taken either - I look fatter than I am) One day, in the recent past, I thought to search the net to find out if there was any info on why I sounded different. To my surprise, there is info out there.

Why Does My Voice Sound Different? - Why does my voice sound so different when it is recorded and played back?: Scientific American

What can I do or what are the necessary steps that an sound engineer would take to
record the voice so it would sound similar to what the speaker/vocalist hears via their own ears and bone conduction?

In my case, and some of you may already know that I suffer from profound hearing loss, but not completely deaf, but... in my case, I would best describe that when I speak, it is as though I am in a sound proof booth or in a padded cell or something to that nature.
I don't hear common reverberation unless I shout and even then, the decay is real fast or reverb dies very quickly if not immediately, depending on the room acoustics of course.

The next part is my voice is noticeably nasal in a recording but not so nasal when I am not hearing through recorded media. I wish I knew how to describe my heainr so I can ask the question accurately.

The best analogy I can come up with is the effect that the wah-wah pedal produces
For a time, I thought a Compressor limiter and gate would be equipment to use in order
to change my voice from the nasal to what I actually hear myself, which is described as a baratone but I don't think those are the tools to do the job, though they may contribute a slight. I am thinking it would be eq and then that device I can't put my finger on.
Oh.. I am not talking pitch shifting in any way shape or form.

I hope somebody here could help me with this one. Again, sorry if I cannot ask the question quite right.
 
EQ will take some of the 'high' tones out of the recorded sound, or boost the lows and mids, as the case may be, but very few people LIKE the sound of their recorded voice compared to what we hear transmitted through our bones to the ear. There are many tricks to getting a sound we are more pleased with, including reverb, doubling, double-tracking, etc. Other than that, one must get a vocal coach to teach you how to sing from the diaphragm, rather than the nasal cavity and techniques to improve tone and range and diction. With your hearing loss, the biggest challenge is that you must remember others do not hear your voice (recorded or live) the way you do - seeking the knowledgeable opinions of others might be your best bet.
 
If you try to modify your voice to sound the same to you as it sounds "inside your head", it will likely wind up sounding like crap to everyone else. Unless you are the only one who will be listening to your recordings (in which case I have to wonder the point), it's probably best that you either get used to what you sound like recorded, get a voice coach, like mjb said, or find a vocalist who will perform/record your songs for you.

G.
 
I don't like the sound of my voice either--way too thin--I usually track it up to 4 times and blend the extra tracks in at a lower level and panned L and R to thicken things up.
 
That was a cool little write up in Scientific America about your how one comprehends ones voice Twinhit.
What bothers me is the fact that those sensitive people that hear their own Eyeballs rolling around in their heads to me that would be way worst than ringing ears!
 
The simple thing to do is just GET OVER IT and get on with recording.
All this shy crap is just that. :)

You are the one listening...it's your voice...embrace it or just STFU and don't sing. ;)
AFA others hearing your recording...well...they already hear your voice as it is...you're the one not hearing it as it is.
Don't try to "change it" via EQ & editing to match your internal head voice...it will sound stupid.
If anything, try to practice singing out of your gut and throat rather than your nose and head...it's amazing how many different ways we can naturally change the tone of our voices...you just need practice.
Maybe a vocal teacher is the way to go.
 
:D when you listen back to your voice place a reed in between your teeth and place it on the monitors ..... you'll hear something very familiar. ;)
 
miroslav said:
they already hear your voice as it is...you're the one not hearing it as it is.
Don't try to "change it" .
Click to expand...
^^^^^That^^^^^

Close this thread now. We're done.

Any further posts will be reported to the Redundancy Department of Redundancy. :eek:
 
Thanks fellas. When I stick my fingers in my ears when I sing, I perceive that I don't sound at all like I do
when I don't. This is, of course, due to the fact that I am still hearing a combination of sound-waves and the vibration of my own voice via bone conduction. When my fingers are in my ears, I sound like I am in a box, but
an acoustically treated box as it were..... anyway...

Here is a small sample of what I sound like.
YouTube - A Tree and a Swing
 
Twinhit said:
When I stick my fingers in my ears when I sing, I perceive that I don't sound at all like I do when I don't.
Click to expand...
When I stick my fingers in my ears, I perceive that nothing sounds at all like it does when I don't.
 
miroslav said:
The simple thing to do is just GET OVER IT and get on with recording.
All this shy crap is just that. :)

You are the one listening...it's your voice...embrace it or just STFU and don't sing. ;)
AFA others hearing your recording...well...they already hear your voice as it is...you're the one not hearing it as it is.
Don't try to "change it" via EQ & editing to match your internal head voice...it will sound stupid.
If anything, try to practice singing out of your gut and throat rather than your nose and head...it's amazing how many different ways we can naturally change the tone of our voices...you just need practice.
Maybe a vocal teacher is the way to go.
Click to expand...

Are you referring to Falsetto?
 
moresound said:
That was a cool little write up in Scientific America about your how one comprehends ones voice Twinhit.
What bothers me is the fact that those sensitive people that hear their own Eyeballs rolling around in their heads to me that would be way worst than ringing ears!
Click to expand...

I thought it was a good read too. And... I have to agree with you about the rolling eyeballs. I cannot even imagine that.
 
Twinhit said:
Are you referring to Falsetto?
Click to expand...

NO.

Some people get their voice mainly from their head & nasal cavities...I'm saying push out of the gut and through your chest and throat. The difference can be huge, and you can go from a nasally weak voice to a full/deep strong voice by using your gut chest and throat.
Of course, don't abandon the head voice...use all of your "voices" as needed when singing for getting a different effect.
Same as when you whisper and speak softly VS loudly...your voice changes and it's source changes.

Oh...the YouTube clip...what's with the heavily slathered on reverb?
Man, it's just a total wash...is that what you were going for, or was that the result of you trying to "hide" your voice because you don't like it?
From the little bit I could discern in that "reverb soup"...:)...I don't think you voice sounds all that "nasally and weak" or bad for that matter...so it may be just your self-consciousness that's got you spooked.

Just sing...let it rip. :D
 
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