Introduction
Have you ever wondered why your voice sounds different to you than
it does to everyone else?
In this post, we’re going to explain how air and bone conduction
contribute to the difference in the sound of your voice.
Our Findings
First, what is air conduction and what is bone conduction?
Air conduction is the process of sound
waves travelling “to the inner ear through the ear canal, eardrum, and bones of
the middle ear” (1).
Bone conduction is the process of sound
waves travelling “through the bones around and behind the ear” (1).
How do air and bone conduction contribute to the difference
between how I hear my own voice and how others or recordings hear it?
When you think about it, the reason your voice sounds different to
you is pretty obvious: Since the sound comes from inside you, it’s obviously going
to sound different.
As you know, the human voice comes from the larynx, otherwise
known as the “voice box” (2). Since this
is located in your neck—which is connected to and in close proximity to your
head and ears—you not only hear the sound of your own voice from your mouth,
but you also “feel” it through vibrations in your body (2, 3, 4). As a result, we perceive both the air and
bone conduction (vibrations) of our own voices, whereas other people and
recording devices only perceive the air conduction (2, 3, 4).
And what is the result of adding bone conduction to how we hear
our own voices? We hear a much deeper,
fuller sounding voice. Why? Because the “human skull boosts low
frequencies and cuts high frequencies”—that is, the skull makes lower pitches
sound stronger and higher pitches sound weaker (3, 4). Simple as that!
So, it’s all in our heads…literally. :)
References
(1)- Definitions for air and bone conduction from The U.S.
National Library of Medicine:
(2)- Information about phonation from Eric Armstrong of York
University:
(3)- A study of air and bone conduction by Sook Young Won of
Stanford University:
(4)- Another study of air and bone conduction by Sook Young Won of
Stanford University:
Links to More Information
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