A question for singers (videos, band, artist, song)

[jtur88]

Before Edison, no singers actually knew what they sounded like, nor were they even aware that their voice sounded different to other people than to themselves. So my question: How does a singer train his voice when he has no way to know what his voice sounds like? When you listen to your own playback, would you rather sound like your real voice, or like the one you think you sound like? Can you or do you make adjustments in your voice, to make it sound better to you in playback? Was the quality of music improved when recording became possible and people knew how bad they really sounded?

[desertsun41]

When I was a young whippersnapper back in school, I can remember a test or a trick we were taught. Put a larger sized books with the binder against your head in front of your ears. So the books are like wings forcing incoming sound to go around these books before reaching your ears. Now talk or sing. What you hear is exactly what others hear when you speak.

[jtur88]

That's very interesting ,and it does work. But the trick could not have been invented before Edison, because people could not have known that their voice sounded different to others than to themselves. Nor could they have surmised that the voice they heard coming around the books replicated what other people heard. That could only be confirmed after Edison. Do singers have a device they can strap onto their heads to create this effect, in order to practice singing as others hear them?

[bellalunatic]

Despite the fact the our voices do sound different, wether or not we are pitch perfect is more the issue and how it was determined that the singing was 'good or bad'.
I know that I prefer my speaking voice in my head, when I'm being my lazy vocal self, than my speaking voice recorded.
If I'm doing voiceover work or singing though, I have a better time controlling what my tone is, and how I sound.
I can make it sound more like the vocal sound that i hear if I am aiming for it while recording. It's not exactly the same but it is damn close.
Generally, though, the recording is not a task for me to see if I can make it sound like it does in my head, it doesn't matter at all, getting the tone, pitch, inflection and emotion are really way more important, I think.

Despite Edison, there are plenty of people who really shouldn't be singing at all, that still do! And they believe that they are AMAZING! Just tune into American Idol auditions coming up for further proof of that!

[TKramar]

I can remember seeing videos with the band in a studio, with the singer wearing headphones. I guess if you're listening to yourself through headphones, then you know what you sound like at the time.

My voice sounds different from song to song...depending on whom I'm trying to imitate.

[L Darnell J]

The question you are asking isn't even a big concern to real singers. We do hear ourselves and it is not a very big difference from how others hear us. Real singers just sing... that's all and we do it everyday just like any other artist. We sing and try new things with our voice so we can better learn our craft, and grow as a singer. When I read your question I thought about the mediocre singers that are cutting records these days, they are the ones that are worried about how they can better hear themselves so they don't sounds too much like a sub-par singer. Real singers just sing and don't give much thought about how they will be received by others when they know they have genuine talent.