I heard my recorded voice recently and it sounds very displeasing. How do I go about getting a more resonant, less nebbish sounding voice?
Have some singing lessons. Perhaps you are constricting your vocal folds when voicing? You will also learn to control your velar port which helps your tones to sound less nasal. And singing is really fun! Singing makes you feel happy when you are sad!
What Rasberry, NOT Rhubarb said.
Nasality is caused when the soft palate (velum) relaxes, opening the nasal cavity and allowing your naso-pharyx to resonate. Voice lessons will help you learn to keep the soft palate up. They’ll also help you with all sorts of other things, like posture and proper breathing. Singing is good!
(Yes, I’m a voice teacher. Why do you ask?)
Look up one of Morton Cooper’s books. “Change Your Voice, Change Your Life” is his most popular one (all of them essentially cover the same ground). It’s not a substitute for a good voice coach, but it’s a hell of a lot cheaper.
zeno, one of my favorite actresses once had a very nasal voice. She was afraid that it would ruin all chances of a career. She worked hard at changing it. I don’t know what all she did do, but the results were astounding. She was known for her soft, feminine, aristocratic, slightly British voice. It could sound sultry and a little smokey when she wanted it to. Or it could be very girlish. But it was never nasal again! It’s a good thing since she became Her Royal Highness, Princess Grace de Monaco.
Continue to listen to yourself on a tape recorder until you are making sounds that are pleasing to you.
You may be able to find tapes on the internet about diction. You would never know that Steven Colbert is from South Carolina, would you? He decided that he did not want to speak with one of the Southern accents. I’m assuming that he studied with a diction or voice coach. I believe Mid-western accents are still considered the standard in broadcasting.
I hope that some of this information will be helpful to you.
It may be worth adding here that many people, upon hearing a recording of their own voice, think that it sounds strange or unpleasant, simply because it is not the same as the voice they hear inside their own head.
You may want to find a friend or family member that you can trust to be honest with you and ask them to frankly tell you if your voice sounds unpleasant to them.
fachverwirtt - I had thyroid removal surgery in July, and although my speaking voice has come back quite well (there was some question at the beginning if it would, and I had to have 4 weeks of voice rest), my singing voice still has trouble modulating, particularly with higher notes. Should I continue to try to sing, or let my vocal chords continue to heal and hope it’ll fix itself?
StG
I realize this was addressed to fachverwirtt, but I’ll jump in as well. This is definitely something you need to go back to your doctor about. He/she will be able to tell you whether or not it’s a good idea to put your voice under any stress. If you get the green light, find a voice teacher that specializes in rehab work for people such as yourself. Often ENTs and OTOs know people in the community with those specialties, so your doctor may be able to refer you.
Good luck!
With the caveat of IANAD etc., and with the explicit advice that you should see an ENT or speech pathologist, my guess would be that it has less to do with your vocal cords and more to do with various laryngeal muscles, particularly the cricothyroid, which is the primary pitch modulation muscle. It is not surprising that they would suffer some dysfunction after surgery; these are tiny muscles and rather susceptible to trauma. I’m not really willing to give you any more suggestion, since other than a basic knowledge of the anatomy and function of the larynx, I’m thoroughly unqualified to give you any advice. Talk to a doctor.
Does “Change your life” or other books deal with speaking voice when it comes to lecturing? I record my class lectures (just starting to teach) and can deal with my voice not sounding like the bass I head in my head, but it does sound more “muddled” than I would like and I can see why people often say (in noisy settings) that they cannot hear me well (although they can hear others in the same setting). Is there a term for this problem? I don’t know if it’s a lack of projecting the voice or of articulating the parts words and spaces in between?
Also, what do voice coaches charge and do all major cities have them?
Cool topic that I’ve always wondered about. Thanks the the OP. Sorry if this is a slight hijack.
My voice isn’t nasal, but it’s extremely whiney . . . the “ending” syllables are long and downward. To me, though, it sounds perfectly ok, and I often wonder why the *length *of that vowel should sound different to me. So it’s hard to correct something that I can’t hear, except in a recording.
Do you speak at a low pitch? (you mentioned hearing yourself as a bass…) If so, you might consider varying the pitch of your voice more when you talk – introducing more inflection, essentially – and deliberately elevating the pitch of your voice overall, especially when trying to project in a room. Not so high that it feels strained or uncomfortable, but just high enough to make your voice clear.
Costs vary drastically by region and by teacher, so there’s no real answer to that. I know teachers who charge less than half of what I do, and my own teacher charges more than twice what I do. And you’ll usually find quite a few voice teachers in any major city. Enough that you can shop around and find someone that you feel works well for you.
FWIW, my surgeon said that it would take a while for my voice to recover fully and I’m allowed to use it at will, just to be “sensible”. I take sensible to mean no shouting myself hoarse at concerts or sporting events, not no singing in church.
StG
Toastmasters is very effective for folks who need to learn to lecture better. They’ll help you with diction, projection, and pronunciation, as well as helping with organizing ideas into coherent prose. I tried them for a bit when I was having trouble at work speaking up for myself in expressing my ideas to my group and my boss. I stopped going when I finally figured out my problem wasn’t how I spoke (which was just fine), but how I felt about myself when taking a stand for an idea (“Oh sh*t, what if I’m wrong. I’d better not sound like I’m sure of myself.”) Once I got over that, I did a lot better at work.
If you hook up a pair of headphones and a microphone to your computer, you can hear yourself speak as others hear you. This is a decent way to get a feel for those little differences between your actual voice and how you perceive your own voice. This is a good way to make adjustments on the fly, and to practice speaking how you want to.
I’m actually a little curious about how much voice/singing coaches cost…and where to find a good one.
Any thoughts on how to find a good voice coach in your area? Is there some kind of master database of them with reviews by clients, or something? Something you should be looking for in one?
The computer/mic idea is a good one, but you need to be careful about the quality of mic you use. I’ve seen some really cheap crappy ones that distort to no end.
Nasley, whiney, voices, especially female, are like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.
If you ever want to be taken seriously in your personal or professional life, start learning how to lower the tone of your voice. Recognizing that there may be room for improvement is an awesome first step. Good on you!
There is no master directory of teachers that I know of, but there are several publications that maintain lists of teachers. Try this one for starters. The best way, though, is by word of mouth. If you live near a university with a music school or department, they may be able to refer you to some candidates. Also, if you know anyone who has taken lessons, or whose child has taken lessons, they may have a recommendation.
As far as what to look for…that’s tougher. There are lots of very knowledgable and gifted teachers around, but there are also a lot of poseurs. Don’t be afraid to look for someone with some educational credentials specific to the teaching of voice – although credentials don’t guarantee skill – or someone with extensive experience as a professional singer – same caveat applies. If you’re a beginner, you really have no choice but to try someone out and then see after a few lessons if you feel you’re benefitting from the experience. Don’t be afraid to shop around. Styles, skill levels, and degrees of expertize vary wildly from teacher to teacher, and some work better for some students than others.