Do you like hearing your own voice?

[Howie22]

I despise it - I'm overly critical. I hear every nuance that the average person wouldn't even notice - every shaky note, every pitch problem, every volume change, every poor pronunciation, etc.

Wondering if this is a universal thing?

[ToneGrail]

I don't mind the sound of my singing voice, but I despise the sound of my talking voice.

[cherri]

I'm used to hearing myself. We use recordings of gigs as learning tools.

[eeglug]

I'm not happy with it but have come to just deal with whatever results I can attain. I'm more used to/comfortable hearing my singing voice than I am of hearing myself speak on a recording, which I'm repulsed by.

[search now]

I like some of it and a lot of it I dont.

[pmtrub]

The more I record myself and work through the things I don't like, the more I grow to like my voice. Knowledge and experience are power.

[Bryan316]

I've recently done my vocals for a 5-song EP. First time I could ever stand hearing myself. Live, I always hate watching the videotapes afterwards.

[Howie22]

I've recently done my vocals for a 5-song EP. First time I could ever stand hearing myself. Live, I always hate watching the videotapes afterwards.

Did the engineer use Autotune/Melodyne, or was it just the difference of recording in a relaxed studio environment with high quality mics?


I actually don't mind the overall tone and sound of my voice, it's just that I hear the imperfections.

[SevenString]

I'm going to go against the grain here, and say that I like my recorded voice. :idk:

[Music Calgary]

I like the sound of my voice on finished recordings which are well done -- other than that no. In particularly voiceover work. I'm getting used to it but for a time the sound of my ads was unbearable. In the past I did some radio ads for stations I listen to and had to turn them off during the day until the run was over because it just irked me.

Irrational I know... Nature must have built in a dislike for our own voices for a purpose. :)

[ZeppelinPie792]

I like listening to myself when I talk, but I hate hearing myself on recordings.

[search now]

I'm going to go against the grain here, and say that I like my recorded voice. :idk:

You can sing then. Or you are tone deaf bad.

[SBF3000]

I don't like my voice until I hear it in the mix....when I am on. When I am off I want to give the microphone to Gibert Godfrey and walk away.

[SevenString]

You can sing then. Or you are tone deaf bad.

You pick...

cofwlYBXng4


:lol: :wave:

[search now]

I dont like hearing my own voice. I do like smelling my own shit.

[Miket156]

I don't care for my tone very much, especially when I hear my recorded voice. I sound OK live, especially if I'm well rested and in "good voice". Some nights my voice is right on, other times I sing out of key a bit. That makes for a long night for me as well as the audience.

Nothing are perfect.

Mike T.

[search now]

I don't care for my tone very much, especially when I hear my recorded voice. I sound OK live, especially if I'm well rested and in "good voice". Some nights my voice is right on, other times I sing out of key a bit. That makes for a long night for me as well as the audience.

Nothing are perfect.

Mike T.

you dont like your singing but are willing to expose other people to it ,as long as you dont have to hear it? Thats cruel and selfish.

I dont like being mean but sometimes someone has to be the prick

[search now]

You pick...

cofwlYBXng4


:lol: :wave:

I think you sing good and have a natural ability. You shouldnt lock your jaw like that.

[SevenString]

I think you sing good and have a natural ability. You shouldnt lock your jaw like that.

I'm not sure what you mean by "lock my jaw". :idk:

My mouth is opening and closing, my jaw is moving so... :confused:


Now Peter Cetera... THERE'S a guy with some lock-jaw. :facepalm:

[search now]

I'm not sure what you mean by "lock my jaw". :idk:

My mouth is opening and closing, my jaw is moving so... :confused:


Now Peter Cetera... THERE'S a guy with some lock-jaw. :facepalm:

jaw hung open loose,not clenched open like you are at the dentist ,I think the word was "fall' or something you were doing that on. You sing better than me so who am I to tell you.

[Miket156]

quote by search now:

"I dont like hearing my own voice. I do like smelling my own shit."

Smelling your own shit sounds more like the "Cruel and unusal punishment" you said that I do when I sing. You're a very strange person.

Mike T.

[311thewiser]

I think I sing ok, I love to sing but i wish my tone was better. My strength is in my range, vibrato, and ability to sing in tune. My tone could be better tho.

[Jersey Jack]

I hate the sound of my voice, but I've worked hard to desensitize myself by regularly recording and listening back to myself:) Now, it's not so bad, but it's taken a while.

The fact is most people do not like the sound of their own voice--though some here express greater dismay at their speaking voice, the bottom line is that most of us are, well, repulsed when we encounter recordings of ourselves.

It was always paradoxical to me that my recorded voice is what I really sound like and yet others don't hear it the way I do and routinely say I'm better than I believe myself to be. How could my experience be both more accurate and less accurate at the same time?

Then I discovered the answer: I sound bad because I inevitably compare my recorded voice to the sound in my head, where internal bone resonance makes the sound richer. Because other people can't hear the sound inside my head, they don't have this comparison interfering with their judgment. Hence they don't have to deal with the immense drop-off in resonance that the singer himself has to deal with.

So, because we are burdened with the comparison to internal resonance, we will always to some degree hear ourselves as worse than we actually are--even as we hear ourselves as we actually are. ;)

[ChordGirl]

Then I discovered the answer: I sound bad because I inevitably compare my recorded voice to the sound in my head, where internal bone resonance makes the sound richer. Because other people can't hear the sound inside my head, they don't have this comparison interfering with their judgment. Hence they don't have to deal with the immense drop-off in resonance that the singer himself has to deal with.

So, because we are burdened with the comparison to internal resonance, we will always to some degree hear ourselves as worse than we actually are--even as we hear ourselves as we actually are. ;)

Exactly. It's just like hearing your voice on a raw track as opposed to slapping some reverb and EQ on it.

I used to HATE how my recorded voice sounded. Now that I can sing better and have gotten used to it, I am very happy with how it sounds~~So long as it's properly EQ'd. However, I recently recorded a song for another writer who thought it best to completely overprocess the vocals. I absolutely hate that recording.

[Silverfox]

At the moment: No, only when I growl

In the future: Maybe I will improve, who knows? :)

[Dr.Innovation]

I have vocal narcissistic tendencies...It's why I continue to sing.

[BlackHatHunter]

I despise it - I'm overly critical. I hear every nuance that the average person wouldn't even notice - every shaky note, every pitch problem, every volume change, every poor pronunciation, etc.

Wondering if this is a universal thing?

I have the exact same problem.

[strat2]

I guess :o I'm more nasalistic:lol: than narcissistic, but a fair mix of both overall...... :eek:

[tim_7string]

I don't like to hear my speaking voice recorded, especially answering machines. I sound very monotone and dry.

It has taken me years to actually enjoy my recorded singing voice. The first time I recorded a take of one of my original songs on a four-track, it was an unpleasant experience. But a few years later, I belted out a halfway decent vocal on another song and I learned to accept how I sounded. I hear my songs a certain way and unfortunately, I wasn't born with the right voice to do them justice (reality as a baritone vs. idealization as a tenor), so I sometimes have to strain just to get the notes I want to hear. Years of pushing into these falsetto modes has yielded some results. I still consider myself a musician first, vocalist second though.

[careful now]

You pick...

cofwlYBXng4


:lol: :wave:

wow, i love love love your voice. :love:


so when are we going to work on some music? :mad:


:wave:

[WowieZowie]

I have vocal narcissistic tendencies...It's why I continue to sing.

:thu: I call it confidence.

I like the way I sing, when I sing the way I like. Strange huh?

Sometimes, it is like, cool, I did it right.

By the way, Sinatra could not listen to his own recordings. And, people would like push it on him like all the time.

And SevenString, you have a nice voice man. Really nice to listen to. I am not so sure about the jaw thing that some were talking about?? It just sounded good man.

[Dr.Innovation]

wow, i love love love your voice. :love:


so when are we going to work on some music? :mad:


:wave:

Wow:idea: I can has idea?

[Prages]

It depends. If I'm 'on' then I can enjoy hearing my own voice. If I'm 'off' it makes me cringe. Luckily, I have more good nights than bad.

I absolutely hate to hear myself speak though.

[SevenString]

wow, i love love love your voice. :love:


so when are we going to work on some music? :mad:


:wave:

Okay, okay! :lol:


I thought I had to go out of town this coming weekend on business, but it looks like I'm going to be around after all.

So name a time, from this Friday evening to Sunday afternoon, and I should be available to come over and do some playing. :thu:

[careful now]

Okay, okay! :lol:


I thought I had to go out of town this coming weekend on business, but it looks like I'm going to be around after all.

So name a time, from this Friday evening to Sunday afternoon, and I should be available to come over and do some playing. :thu:

cool! i have some time on saturday. :)

do you mind if i monopolize your time for a while? can we start at 4pm on saturday, break for dinner, then keep going?

[nixonjacket]

hate the sound of my voice

[SevenString]

cool! i have some time on saturday. :)

do you mind if i monopolize your time for a while? can we start at 4pm on saturday, break for dinner, then keep going?


I can do that. :thu: Just PM me with directions to your place before then.

I'll bring a guitar and a small amp if you want to work on instrumental as well as vocal parts. :wave:

[careful now]

I can do that. :thu: Just PM me with directions to your place before then.

I'll bring a guitar and a small amp if you want to work on instrumental as well as vocal parts. :wave:

great! check your private messages, and yes, please do bring a guitar and amp. :thu: :wave:

[grace_slick]

I used to HATE my voice so much. I thought I could sing ok, and sounded good in my head, but...everytime I heard it recorded...*gag*

Now I've gotten more into recording and trying to write/make my own music, and this includes some singing, and am using a proper mic instead of singing into a measly tape recorder, phone or mp3 player recorder (which I do still use to record random ideas and inspirations), I have begun to tolerate it a lot better. It even sounds...almost nice sometimes. SOMETIMES. Now instead of *gag* it's just *cringe*

Anyway, you have to deal with it if you're serious about improving, because you can't possibly judge and see what you're doing unless you can take hearing yourself.

I think my big thing is I don't like my own individual voice. I love others' voices like Grace Slick, Stevie Nicks, etc...but not my own. For years and years, since I was 12, I've been imitating others' voices, and am pretty good at it, but I don't like my own distinct voice. Blegh.

Apparently this is quite common, even among people who are really well known and who some consider to have beautiful voices. They hate listening to themselves.

[Jimmy Chaos]

I hate the sound of my own voice but that doesn't stop me from being a motor-mouth!

[Phait]

I always hated it outside my head. Inside my head I like it much more. But as I'm looking to develop my voice so I can be happier with delivery, I'm finding something there I might like. But it's untapped. I was wondering today if it's possible to EQ/effect a vocal track to sound like my head voice -- but that wouldn't be honest, esp. if I were to ever perform.

[moqi]

Yeah, right. Outside my head, my singing voice is blah and my talking voice is horrible. Inside my head, I kinda like my singing voice though my talking voice is still blah :[

[zemaster]

I hate when I hear myself sing, but after I record a take or something I actually do slightly enjoy it. I don't know, it's probably because I take in a lot of influence in from my favorite singers. So when I sing like them, I enjoy it in turn because it sounds something like them.

[Pankot]

I was wondering today if it's possible to EQ/effect a vocal track to sound like my head voice

Take an impulse response of your skull and use a FIR VST? :idea:

More seriously, I have noticed that when eq'ing my own pitiful efforts at singing I am subconsciously bringing it closer to the "in my head" sound. I don't think there's anything wrong in that - you usually have to EQ the vocals anyway in a band context, and the much-loved SM58 is far from a ruler-flat response...

[grace_slick]

I've never 100% understood EQing...I've played around a bit with it in my Ableton software, but whenever I apply it to anything (vocals, instruments), it is such a huge difference...I would never be able to get my recorded voice to sound how it does in my head using EQ that way!

I've actually found in some ways, since I've been recording myself, I've started to sound more like how I do in my head...which is really pleasing to me. It doesn't happen all the time though, and I have to really watch certain things I do. It's annoying.

[Jersey Jack]

I've actually found in some ways, since I've been recording myself, I've started to sound more like how I do in my head...which is really pleasing to me. It doesn't happen all the time though, and I have to really watch certain things I do. It's annoying.

Not unusual! There is a slow process of acclimation, and as you keep recording you'll find that you like your voice more and more! :cool:

The point: While it's fairly easy to judge your own voice in terms of pitch, be very wary of judging your tone until you've come to accept the sound of your voice on recordings. Until then you're not likely to be an adequate judge--too optimistic about the internal voice, too pessimistic about the external. I think it's best to be guided by others at the beginning.

Record, listen, record, listen, rinse, repeat! :cop: Yes, one more time... and again....

[Mamma Cat]

I have a sort of love-hate relationship with hearing my own voice.
When I was first starting some 7 years back (I'm nearing 21 now), I started by singing the whole day and by recording myself with a crappy mic I had at home. A bit by bit I started liking it, got rid of the shyness when hearing myself and started taking it objectively - this I need to improve, this i good but needs more work, this was nicely done.
In the meantime I started classical training and was advancing rapidly because I already had a lot of background.


Then I got sick. It was nothing grave, just mononucleosis, but it got complicated with a sever throat infection, dehydration and I ended up in hospital, lost a lot of weight in a very short period (one or two week), and was generally very weak. Took me a lot of time to recover generally, but my voice was gone - the volume, the range, everything. The throat infections kept reoccuring, and my coach had no understanding for it. She actually got angry when I missed one performance (and I was totally repacable for that one, so I don't really get it).

That was the end of my classes with her, and the beginning of my voice going to the stage of a total wreck. I turned to rock and blues, with no vocal training whatsoever, and what was left of the technique was slowly going to hell. Again it took me a lot of time to start liking my voice over the speakers, but I got used to it.

Then last year I decided to go for classes again. Then began a period of banging my head against the wall because all I had left was a really fat tone with poor range and the technique I just remembered in theory, but the body just wouldn't listen. I had to re-learn it all. Luckily I ran into a great singing coach who had patience and worked on "peeling off" the fat crust around that nice tone I once had. Still along way to go, but I finally sound decent again. It was really hard starting again, especially when I'd remember how good I used to sound and how the coach had very high hopes for me in the world of classical singing. It was hard hearing myself sounding so miserable and it was more an issue of psychology, dealing with the fact that I have to start over and now I'm not a fresh 16yo whose body is still developing and learns things very quickly.

So there we go.


Sorry if this turned into a huge rant :D

[blue2blue]

I despise it - I'm overly critical. I hear every nuance that the average person wouldn't even notice - every shaky note, every pitch problem, every volume change, every poor pronunciation, etc.

Wondering if this is a universal thing?When everything is going well, I don't, so much.

When it's not... it's a tough voice to love.

[XgowiththeflowX]

I hate it! (singing, not talking) I always think it sounds bad, and I notice every little mistake, including the ones that everybody else missed.

[SoundFondler]

jaw hung open loose,not clenched open like you are at the dentist ,I think the word was "fall' or something you were doing that on. You sing better than me so who am I to tell you.

You should absolutely lock you jaw - as in force it down. If you don't you'll close the throat up. At least when you're making open sounds and going high.



That's what I've been taught at least...learning to do that was actually painful on your jaw hinges.