Monday, March 4, 2013

The Human Voice

A cell phone sitting idly on the coffee table begins to vibrate and project out some obnoxious digital melody. The device is picked up and the phone icon is tapped with a casual, almost autonomic, motion of the primary index finger. With the phone brought next to the face, the word "Hello" is spoken in a soft, friendly manner. A familiar sound is then returned from the digital speaker. It is the voice of a loved one. The sound,  funneled through the outer ear canal, gently vibrates the ear drum, sending frequencies through the canals and spirals of the inner ear. In an virtual analog-to-digital shift, these signals are translated to nerve impulses by the auditory nerve and passed to the brain stem, ultimately processed in the auditory cortex of the brain. Feedback loops work throughout this rapid transaction, allowing a definitive sound to be recognized. Without knowing the physical and biological mechanisms at play, a smile it brought to the face and you think, Dad.

Sounds affect us in so many ways. Some are abrasive and assaulting, such as the sirens of emergency vehicles or the racket of a busy construction site. Some are exhilarating like the music heard at a local bar or concert venue. Others can be simply mundane: wind, fans, hums, background chatter, trucks and the like. Few, however, are as intimate as the human voice.

The human voice has such a signature quality to it. Sure, some voices can sound similar, naturally or mimicked, but no two human voices are identical. Each person's voice is as unique as their other features: face, body type, gait, smell, personality and so on. However, those other qualities may never touch us in the same intimate way as the voice.

A voice is so remarkably personal. It clicks into our mind from the start and before we realize it we are making judgments. The loudness of a voice generally relates to perceived confidence- a soft, meek sound being associated to a lack of such, or a boisterous sound being a sign of supreme confidence, to the point of possible arrogance. The pitch, or frequency, of a person's voice can affect us is many different ways. Perhaps the easiest example to relate pitch to is the reaction of arousal. A deep, bass-heavy voice exudes strong masculine energy, while a softer, gentler tone can cry out sensual or nurturing femininity. The clarity, or crispness of the sound might influence how intelligent we believe the person to be. Emotion can of course be detected very quickly through the rate or flow of spoken words: Shakiness betrays nervousness or fear; Strong, powerful and quick words throw up the signs of passion or rage; Gentle whispers are the ambassadors love and affection.

Accents play their own role. They effect the 'music' of someone's voice. Words or parts of words, such as vowels, can be sped up or drawn out (especially if you are Southern). Foreign accents can bestow comfort, intrigue, confusion or arousal simply because they sing a foreign or exotic melody in our minds. Accents are also adaptable. I find myself slipping into more of a Southern way of speaking when I'm around old friends in North Carolina. My accent accelerates around my new friends in the Midwest. Most of the time this is unconsciously controlled.

In terms of the power of  the voice (and by this I mean the staying power or affect in your mind), no voice will surpass that of a parent. You heard the voice of the mother and possibly even the father, resonating in muffled tones through the womb before the light of the world shone upon your small and fragile body. As you aged, your parents' voices were directing and guiding you. Additionally, these guardian sounds shaped the own way you speak and how you speak.

It is for the reason above that I feel so very sad and heartbroken to hear my fathers voice slowly morphing and disappearing as Bulbar Onset ALS takes his strength away. He conquers this hindrance with slow, thoughtful and forced words or with the aid of technology in the form of text-to-speech applications on his smartphone and iPad.

While technology assists those who otherwise cannot communicate, as with the example of my father, it also inhibits human interaction because it is taking away the sound of the voice. Emails, IMs, text messages and social media expand the reach and ease of our messages but remove some of the intimacy. When we don't hear each other's voices, we don't hear the strength, tones, accents, sexuality or emotion coming through in one beautiful, unique sound that is the human voice.

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