Why does your voice sound different than you expect it to sound?

... like, when you hear it on playback from a tape recorder.

Sound can reach the inner ear by way of two separate paths, and those paths in turn affect what we perceive. Air-conducted sound is transmitted from the surrounding environment through the external auditory canal, eardrum and middle ear to the cochlea, the fluid-filled spiral in the inner ear. Bone-conducted sound reaches the cochlea directly through the tissues of the head.

When you speak, sound energy spreads in the air around you and reaches your cochlea through your external ear by air conduction. Sound also travels from your vocal cords and other structures directly to the cochlea, but the mechanical properties of your head enhance its deeper, lower-frequency vibrations.

More.

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Many of my SciBlings have been doing posts on "basic concepts" in their fields of expertise. As I am studying hair cell regeneration as a therapy for hearing impairment, I thought I might do a 'basic concepts post' on what hearing is, how humans hear, and why we lose it sometimes. The most…
The cochlea is the snail-shaped organ that mammals use to perceive and transduce sound, and is located deep in the inner ear. Hair cells lie on a membrane in the cochlea's interior, and sound waves disperse through the fluid-filled spaces which contact the hair cells (for more on this go here).…
If you read the 'About' page, or anything about me, you probably noticed that I work on hair cell regeneration in the cochlea. But, perhaps, some readers are not familiar with the machinations of the inner ear. So, I'll make a quick post with some relavent info to help in understanding future…
This week I've been talking a bit about deafness and human hearing. A human cochlea is tiny, and is located in a bony stucture near in the skull called the bulla of the temporal bone. The temporal bone is oft said to be the hardest bone in the body. Predictably, almost all other mammals share this…

RE:JanieBelle/South Carolina: gosh, I guess our esteemed Vice-President had better watch his f---ing mouth while there, huh!
and I'm with you- I detest hearing my recorded voice. gives me hives and seizures.

I have a great voice. My only regret is that y'all don't hear it right.