Listen to Me
I was listening to a video made by some friends of mine, and I started wondering what my voice would sound like recorded. And of course since it's late and I'm tired and I have a lot of work to do, I immediately started playing around and created an MP3. And then I figured out how to upload an audio file on WordPress, which required paying $19.99 for 5 GB of space, which seemed like a pretty good deal. And then I uploaded the audio file.
Here it is, an audio file of me reading the blog post I uploaded earlier today, "Thoughts on Love":
It's only my first attempt, and I made some mistakes. For example, the first time I tried to record something, I did not use a mic, so there was a lot of background static. I erased that recording, but the second time, when I did use a mic, I adjusted my voice based on the first recording. So I think that in the second recording, which is the one above, there is too much emphasis. In places, I don't sound quite natural.
The next time I do this, and I'm sure there will be a next time now that I've learned how, I'll read more naturally, with less emphasis. But honestly, I'm fairly pleased with the recording. I think I sound all right. It's obvious that I've been trained to read out loud – and that's true, I have been. In high school, I participated in speech competitions, was the captain of the debate team, and hung out with the drama crowd. I was the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland. In college, I was president of the Washington Literary Society and Debating Union. It's also obvious that I don't have a trained voice. A professional actor would do much better, I'm sure. But I like my voice well enough, I'm comfortable enough with how the recording came out, that I'll certainly post more.
I do notice one thing that is interesting to me – and rather strange. I recognize my cadences. They are the cadences of an Episcopal minister speaking from the pulpit. I haven't been to that many church services, although when I used to go it was always to the Episcopal church. (Although I'm a devout pantheist by nature.) But somehow I must have internalized those cadences. Somehow they must have crept into my reading voice and made themselves at home there.
What will you think of this recording? I have no idea, but feel free to tell me of course.
Next stop, music videos. (All right, maybe not. I'm not Loreena McKennitt. Although I'm having so much fun that I'm sure I'll think of something else to do.)
Anyway, I hope you like the recording. This is what I sound like. Really!
