Proximity Effect Experiment

DISCUSSION

When we speak, vibrations from our vocal folds travel to the throat and mouth through air passage, while some get transmitted and conducted by the bones in the neck and head. It travels to the temporal bone, which is situated at the sides and base of the skull. The temporal bone transmits the vibrations to the basilar membrane in the inner ear and tiny bundles of hair, each finely tuned to detect sounds at different frequencies, transmit the vibrations to the brain for decoding. The inner ear responds to these just like any other vibrations, turning them into electrical signals and sending them to the brain. Whenever we speak, our inner ear is stimulated by internal vibrations in our bones and the sound coming out of our mouth traveling

When sound is generated at the level of vocal fold, it is obviously transmitted through air and these cartilages, muscles and bone to reach the inner ear. Travelling through this structure provides more bass energy as mentioned earlier or might damp high frequencies which ultimately result in low pitch perception of our own voice.

Similar kind of effect is seen during recording of an audio sample, known as “Proximity Effect”.

Proximity effect is a change in the frequency response of a microphone, having a directional pickup pattern, which produces an emphasis on lower frequencies. It is caused by the use of ports to create directional polar pickup patterns.Depending on the microphone design, proximity effect may result in a boost of up to 16 dB or more, depending on the size of the microphone's diaphragm and the distance of the source.

Thus, the proximity effect in audio, is an increase in bass or low frequency response when a sound source is close to a

The main purpose of this study was based on trying to quantify the pitch change in self perceived voice and through recording.

This study showed that we perceive our own voice at a lower fundamental frequency than through recording or what others may be hearing. Precisely we can say that we hear our voice differently than what other people hear it to be.

The main implication of this study might be in the area of professional voice users. Somatosensory feedback is important for singers to control the pitch of their voice to reach specific notes. In amateur singers, it is difficult to master the control over the lower notes. Hence it is important to establish and maintain this internal representation to master the art of singing.

Another usefulness of this study is in explaining why some persons with puberphonia are not aware of their problem. If we consider this pitch correction factor, a person with puberphonia having fundamental pitch is at the border of male pitch range e.g. 165Hz., applying correction factor he perceives his voice to be of the frequency 150Hz., which comes under the male pitch range. Thus, the unawareness. A research regarding the same is the need of the