... but interesting :

http://www.msn.com/en-us/video/tunedin/why-you-hate-the-sound-of-your-own-voice/vi-BBp2mxc

I think that is very interesting. Thanks Tony

Allways tought it was common knowledge...

Thats why singers allways use earplugs to hear their own voice (monitor)

Well, I've never used ear plugs to hear anything, but I have listened to my own voice to determine what I needed to do to improve the quality, diction, etc... When I first got into radio news broadcasting, I practiced what was known back then as rip and read. Essentially, we would rip the news copy off a teletype machine, then walk into the studio, sit down at the mic, and upon a cue from the program director, would begin reading the news scrips. I taped every newscast, then brought the tapes home and listened to them every night for hours. I also brought home the news script and recorded it over and over until I felt comfortable with every word's sound and pronunciation. It took about two months of doing this before I could just step up to the mic and provide a 5 minute newscast.

When I was singing, I pretty much did the same thing. Additionally, I had my wife critique each and every song, which I still do. She has never been one to mince words, and lets me know what sounds good and what does not.

BTW: I've tried singing with ear buds, and the results were not good. I'm told that I have a great voice by lots and lots of people, including many highly skilled musicians, so I assume they know what they are talking about. However, I'm still very conscious about my vocals with every song I perform. And, I still ask my wife "did my vocals sound OK?" So, in response to Tony's post, I think about this all the time - maybe it's because I'm not a good musician and rely heavily on my vocals to get me through a job.

Good subject,

Gary

I always thought " ear buds " were used to let the singer hear the music so he could be on key when singing. JMHO

Interesting. I've always hated the sound of my voice, until very recent years. I still hate it unless I have e.q., effects and processing applied. I sound terrible singing in a room with no mic, but have become at least decent on stage. Maybe it has to do with the processing putting back some of that bone vibrating. Hey, maybe I'll tell my wife about that bone vibrating theory. (Sorry, the dirty old man syndrome keeps popping up). Popping up probably isn't good choice of words either. Somebody stop me.
Lately I find I am pretty drastically reducing the amount of reverb and delay I use on vocals, getting a somewhat cleaner sound. My equipment is automatically introducing compression, limiting, gate, voice optimization, etc. and perhaps this is making it sound better, and reduces the temptation to cover things up with reverb and extreme e.q.
This is a subject that REALLY interests me, as I sing almost every song, four hours every night.
I do record myself every night and am a consummate tweaker. Some say croaker, but ... you can't please 'em all.
Unlike Gary, who as he says was evidently born with a great voice, I've had to really work at it. Still am.

Love my singing voice,...............if you song off key that a big problem,...ear buds or not,.....personally I always preferred floor monitors on stage vs ear buds for sure..
either your a singer & let your soul into your voice or your not.

I would wear headphones every night if they didn't look funny.
I love the sound of your voice too, by the way! Problem is the sound of MY voice!

Thanx Buddy...........Thats the way I felt wearing a headphone mic....just not for me at all.

I actually made myself use my headphone mic last night for the first hour. It sounded "fine". I like the theory, but it's just not for me.

I hear ya Don..

Two Thoughts:

1-Using Effects for our voice is great. The over use of effects make it sounds vert artificial.

2- The Don voice. My question: Who is my worst cretic in the world” ME!

I have tried singing country songs since my early 30’s with very little success. My friend Don has a great country voice. Country and Don go together.
This is not a rah, rah, for Don; I have listened to song he posts (I hope he is not reading this) and I have tried to sing along with him hoping something would happen; it didn’t.

John C.

PS, Headphones on my head will singing ---Hmmmm, not for me. I need as much freedom as I can get. Anyone take off their jackets when things really got going?

John, you are very kind! Thank you. I do take my jacket off sometimes. Sometimes I tell the audience to stick around because later I will be wiping my brow with a used tissue and tossing it into the crowd!
I'm just listening to tonight's recordings and they are not bad at all. The PA4X inspires me to do better because it sounds so good. I didn't do much country tonight, mostly classic rock and blues. That kind of crowd.