I like my voice, I have no real accents, but can fakr a few. I can sing, but no, my voice is not the ideal voice.
My idea of the perfert voice?
Male: Frank Zappa or John Lennon
Female: Grace Slick
The perfect male voice: Kelsey Grammer. I’d marry his voice if such a thing were possible.
As for my voice: to borrow from Pencepon, it’s somewhat low and very melodious. I’ve been told I should be a newscaster.
Do you like it?
Speaking voice is OK, I suppose. Good, mid-range baritone. It projects pretty well I think, but it’s a little too nasal to me, which may have to do with the fact that I’m not used to hearing recordings of my own voice. If any Dopers who have met me care to agree or disagree on the nasal thing (or how well it projects; egotistically speaking I’d be really interested in finding out what other people think about my speaking voice), feel free to do so.
Do you have an accent?
I guess, maybe, sort of, a little bit. I was born up North, grew up in the South, and now live in the Southwest. I find that it depends on where people who hear my voice are from. Michiganders and Californians (esp. NorCal) tend to think I have an accent, whereas people from Arizona, the midWest, etc. tend to think I don’t, with a few exceptions. My girlfriend’s sister (she lives near LA) described my accent as “Southern/desert”.
Any impediments?
Only when I get mouth ulcers.
Can you sing?
Yep. I sing baritone in a few choral groups. I also enjoy karaoke. I’ve been complimented on my singing although I don’t think I’m ready for classical-type solos yet. I’d like to increase my upper range.
Who’s got the ideal voice?
Tough to say. There are too many things I appreciate in a variety of voices for me to really pin one person, or even a few people, down.
I like my voice a lot. I’ve always liked the voice I hear in my head when I speak, but in the past few years, I’ve really started to like the voice everybody else would hear…before, it was too nasal, but it sounds nice now.
I’ve been told I have a really nice speaking voice by several people. My dad was in radio for a long time, so I suppose I picked it up from him.
I think I have a bit of what I have dubbed the East Tennesseean Hick accent. I use “y’all” and stuff like that sometimes, but I don’t have a truly Southern accent. It’s the Appalachian accent. Hard to explain.
I really can’t sing unless I’m singing along with someone because I have no real sense of pitch. Otherwise, I have gradually developed a decent voice.
Ideal voice? I really don’t have any in mind. There’s some people (ahhh, voice actors…) that I would pay to just talk to me for hours, but there’s not really a typical voice I would like to have or even one that I think it’s just the epitome of wonderfulness.
jessica
Do I like my voice? Well, I sometimes mumble too much and I sometimes slur a bit as well, but my voice is fairly pleasing to the ear when I speak, as long as I’m in a good mood and don’t have dry-mouth. Public speaking is said to be my strong point, but I don’t think so - I’m not loud enough and have more of a shifty-guy-in-back lilt, rather than a powerful politician’s boom. Think Kurt Cobain in a good mood, with the same distraced air to it.
I have a sort of neutral American accent - but I enunciate pretty clearly and pronounce some words a bit strangely. It’s not a newscaster’s accent - too rapid-fire and timid. I have no speech impediments, but was made fun of in elementary school for pronouncing my S’s a bit strangely - I tend to draw my S out a bit longer than normal, for some reason, and I tend to pronounce S as S all the way through as well - ‘houses’ doesn’t sound like ‘houzez’ whe I say it, but rather ‘houcess’. Weird.
I can sing a passable mid-tenor, but never in front of people - I sing when no one’s around, generally, but sometimes whisper song lyrics under my breath when bored. The ideal voice belongs to a lot of people - Blixa Bargeld, especially when he gets warm and fuzzy, John Lennon, David Gahan, Meret Becker, Maire Brennan, Beth Gibbons and Gry Bagoeien, to name several from my playlist.
Sample sentence:
“What was I thinking, going to an alligator farm for my graduation party?”
"What wass I THINK-ing, going (rhymes with ‘boing’ - one syllable) too anne AL-li-ga-tor farm fore meye GRA-ju-a-shen PAR-tee?
I like my voice, too. I have a slight (very slight, except when I am talking about home) Southern accent and a deep voice for a woman. When I used to answer a group phone, I got told a lot that the person on the other end asked “Who was that sexy-sounding woman???” Ya gotta love that. 
I have a deep, rich baritone. I work in the radio industry… but not as a DJ.
Here’s a sample of my voice; I’m interviewing the president of the Consumer Electronics Association.
Not my best work - the beer industry interview was more interesting but I can’t find it.
All my life people have told me I have a nice speaking voice. I even tried out for a Radio Broadcasting school once and they practically begged me to enroll (though I didn’t have the funds at the time). I really didn’t enjoy the sound of my voice until just the last few years.
I am a singer and have studied voice for a few years. Sometimes I don’t like to hear recordings of myself, but I’m learning to deal with it because I have to listen to see what I need to work on. I’m in a band and we record our rehearsals and I can hear the improvements week by week, so listening has become routine for me.
I think James Earl Jones has the most sexiest voice I have ever heard!! 
I’ve been told that my voice is deep and smooth. It sounds a bit high and nasally to me, though. With a bit of effort I can make it kind of velvety and force myself into a sort of accentless Standard American Broadcast accent.
When I get frustrated, my voice gets higher and I lapse back into the accent I acquired growing up in Fluffya, Pee-Ay. Of course, I will always say “addy-tood” and “wooder.”
I can sing passably and I enjoy karaoke. Most of my youth was misspent in choir but I never really got good at singing.
The ideal voice? David Janssen. Gravelly and authoritative, but smooth.
I have had many people complement me on my voice. I don’t speak monotone, and most of all, I don’t sound like a ditz. (not to say that I’m a total genius, but…)
Some girls, you know have, like this high-pitch squeeky voice that like, doesnt’ even sound real… like they’re just trying to sound…cute. And like if they get around a cute boy…OH MA GAWWWD…Let’s raise the pitch of our voice like 2 octaves (add hair twirl here)
But in all seriousness, your voice is one of the 1st and most important impressions someone gets of you. It’s also one of the most challenging personal characteristics to control ! Dress how you want, do your hair how you want, control your body language… people can detect the most subtle sign of irritation or annoyance in one’s voice. It hangs me everytime!! I think it is more impressive to be good at modulating your tone, than it is to have a “pretty” voice.
I suppose it’s ok… it’s hard to describe what I don’t like about it, I guess there’s something about my tone or inflection when I hear recordings of myself that bugs me. Still, a girl once told me that she really loved my voice, so what better a recommendation could I get? In any case, it’s a calm baritone that sounds alright, I think, as long as I don’t get too excited. A decent speaking voice if I don’t mumble.
As for accent, nothing strong, but I definitely have the short vowels and clipped consonants of a Yankee. I don’t have a Boston accent, but I do tend to glide over r’s and t’s in the middle of words, rather than emphasize them the way I hear people from other places do. At no time do I eliminate the sounds, though.
No impediments, and I suppose I can sing, as long as it it kept reasonably simple. I have a rather limited range baritone, which is frustrating - I can’t reach all the way down the bass scale, nor all the way up the tenor scale. I also get lost on the weirder keys, or even on simple ones. I’m not clear on what it is that makes something easier or hard to sing, but it seems to vary from day to day. Even if I improve my range, my singing will never be beautiful. Better than Bob Dylan or Leonard Cohen, maybe about as good as Neil Young (yeah I know, ick. But he’s usually on key, at least) but I’m no Freddie Mercury.
One of our fellow dopers is trying to put together a web page wherein you may hear the voices of various board personalities. I think it’s only waiting on “official sanction” before it goes public.
I’ll vouch for Strainger’s voice - not nasal. Pleasant sounding. I like it, anyway.
My own personal voice is mid-range female. I hate the way it sounds on recordings, but, “live” it sounds fine to me.
I don’t have an accent, but, like many here, I tend to unconsciously ape accents when I hear them. And, if I’m drinking, I find it very, very difficult to stop.
No impediments.
I was a voice major once upon a time, so, yes, I can sing. I used to be a coloratura Soprano, but, not having sung that way in a while, I can’t hit as many high notes as I could before. With practice, I could get my range back.
Ideal female voice - Rebecca deMornay.
*Do you like it? *
Sometimes, but not really. My voices changes too often depending on the situation. I’ve been told I sound like Kermit the frog sometimes (I have a perpetual ball in my throat). I don’t think it was a compliment. I think my voice is a lot more graceful when I’m speaking Korean.
Do you have an accent?
Like Simetra, my accent changes depending on who I’m speaking to and this applies to both English and Korean. I learned my English in Toronto, Canada and I’m not sure if there’s a noticeable accent from that region.
Any impediments?
I mess up the long and short vowel sounds every once in a while(reach vs. rich), and sometimes my korean accent slips, but I always thought the korean ‘accent’ was more of an impediment than an accent.
*Can you sing? *
I suppose. I think my voice is most similar to britpop singers, but I have this sneaking suspicion that britpop singers have really average voices so are easy to imitate.
Who’s got the ideal voice?
I don’t know. My father?
FWIW – I’ve been told I have the kind of voice kids would love to hear in school. Also, someone in an audience where I gave a speech said he could listen to my voice all day. So I guess it’s OK. I personally cannot tolerate high pitched, whine-sounding voices. An ex-bf said I sound like a news announcer. But I don’t think so. I don’t think I have an accent.
- Yeah, I hated how before my voice broke (freshman year)people on the phone thought I was a girl. Now I have a nice, deep masculine tone.
- A Southern guy once said I have a “Yankee accent,” but I think that just means I talk really fast.
- Sometimes I slur words, which can get annoying sometimes.
- Not at all. You should’ve heard my rendition of Still the One at the Macalester talent show (As a prospective student I was “volunteered” to do it). I wouldn’t be surprised if I made someone cry.
- Johnny Cash in his heyday. I’d love that voice.
**Do you like it? ** No. I had the misfortune to see a TV interview of myself. I sounded like Margaret Dumont. And now I think Mercedes McCambridge is creeping in. :eek: :rolleyes:
**Do you have an accent? ** I don’t think so.
**Any impediments? ** None, but when I’m tired, my tongue seems thicker than usual.
**Can you sing? ** Surprisingly, yes.
**Who’s got the ideal voice? ** I rather like Robert MacNeil’s voice. For women, one of my aunts has the voice I want. A little low, quick and melodious, with a hint of Minnesota.
Songs whose melody falls within a certain range I think I do pretty well with. But if they don’t, look out. I either start too low and that part sounds bad or start to high and get really bad when I have to go higher.
No living soul will ever be allowed to hear me sing Billy Joel’s “River of Dreams”.
I suppose if I bothered to have voice lessons I could work something out but I am so incredibly shy about singing, forget it.
I have an awfully low-pitched voice for a girl. Other people seem to like it, but I can’t stand to hear a recording of myself talking. It sounds okay from inside my head, but on tape I think I sound like an eleven-year-old boy with a head cold.
My singing voice, on the other hand, is a very nice contralto - I think I could probably hit the high tenor range if I tried. I’ve had very little in the way of formal voice training, though.
Other southerners don’t think I have an accent, but to a Yankee I think I’d have a very faint drawl/Cajun accent. My friends from home say my voice has changed since I moved to Tennessee for college; I really, really hope that doesn’t mean I’m developing an Appalachian accent.
Ideal voice? I’ll go with Anthony Stewart Head for guys, 'cause I’ve just been listening to mp3’s of the Buffy musical and…rowr. Girls, dunno. I’ll get back to you on that.
You, too? My mother cracked up once because she came with me on a vending machine service call and within five minutes I was speaking like the Greeks who owned the place.
Other that, I’m deep and sexy. Like Barry White, baby.