Here's the American version:

http://[video=youtube]http://www.youtube...l8[/video]

I agree with Aijin. It's natural to alter your voice depending on who your talking to, without even being conscious of it usually. I notice myself doing it - voice goes higher when talking to women (wish it didn't, would rather sound more masculine) and lower around dudes. I also notice accents change around other people with different accents, even to the point of self-embarrassment - I used to interview hip-hop artists for a radio show I did, and when I would play back the tape I would sort of cringe at the sound of my own voice - not that it sounded bad, but noticeably different then the way I ever sound in other situations. I would try to consciously keep my voice more normal as I got more experienced.

I also notice myself talking a little more deeper in Japanese (which I like LOL.) Maybe because I'm training it from a point where I have to be more conscious just to speak at all, and maybe it's because I try to imitate Japanese men, who usually sound fairly deep (though not always - some of the characters from 電車男 come to mind as exaggerated examples LOL.)

nest0r Wrote:If you mean idiosyncratic pop tropes, I think it's less that there isn't anything like a 'Japanese fascination with high pitched voices' and more that any instances of such a fascination or instances of attenuated and variegated cross-cultural parallels aren't as exoticized and conspicuous in the online 'audience' consciousness.

Uhh... yeah... that's what I mean. @_@

@IceCream

I think it's called timber.

kazelee Wrote:

nest0r Wrote:If you mean idiosyncratic pop tropes, I think it's less that there isn't anything like a 'Japanese fascination with high pitched voices' and more that any instances of such a fascination or instances of attenuated and variegated cross-cultural parallels aren't as exoticized and conspicuous in the online 'audience' consciousness.

Uhh... yeah... that's what I mean. @_@

@IceCream

I think it's called timber.

You mean TAMBER.

I do think maybe Japanese media has a better handle on vocal articulation (speech-wise), via the breadth and depth of 'anime' as a medium, so perhaps a side-effect of this is spoken voice-oriented expressions of certain tropes? It seems like in other cultures, voice-acting isn't as adept or saturated in folks minds, and instead all that comes to mind with regards to, for example, high-pitched voices, is choir or diva type music. That's speaking purely in terms of parallels to 'high pitch' in the pop domain.

Edit: And in case my dry half-hearted wit didn't come across, I just BS'd that theory extemporaneously, I stick with my original comments against acting as if there's a major Japanese difference with regards to high-pitched voices, backed by aforementioned studies and echoed by other responses.

I wonder if I can get my voice surgically altered, so that I won't have to keep remembering to raise it when men are around? Surely, it can't cost more than my boobs did. But I wonder if it would be reversible? I mean, what would I do if men started finding normal voices sexy?

I feel lucky to be around only powerful burly men here in Canada. It's rare that one of them forgets to flex and growl around me, but when it happens, it's almost disgusting. But they're so sexy when pretend they're really old and smart.

edit: I don't suppose you're a body-builder Bindajs? ;-)

IceCream Wrote:

nest0r Wrote:

kazelee Wrote:@IceCream

I think it's called timber.

You mean TAMBER.

what's a tamber?

you mean timbre? i just looked it up! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timbre

yeahhh this is probably it!!! Thanks!!!

In the Wikipedia articles on the 'human voice' there's a lot of specific terms and breakdowns of aspects of the voice beyond pitch.

bindasj Wrote:What argument? What point?

I think orange is the best color and blue is the worst! Argument? Point?

But sure everyone prefers different characteristics in people, I can respect that.

It was just kind of funny that usually nest0r has books, studies, science, evidence to back up everything. Then it was just "i like this-and-that type of voice. If you don't agree, then you're just a big stupid doo-doo head"

In a way, it was kind of a compliment saying that nest0r usually has really good arguments. I was being sarcastic when an actual -bad- argument was brought up (but do you really need to back up your opinions?)

tl;dr: nest0r is smart. nest0r usually has evidence. when 'your aesthetics are disgusting' is used as an argument (in jest, i presume), I say that it is a superb argument (in jest).

Asriel Wrote:

bindasj Wrote:What argument? What point?

I think orange is the best color and blue is the worst! Argument? Point?

But sure everyone prefers different characteristics in people, I can respect that.

It was just kind of funny that usually nest0r has books, studies, science, evidence to back up everything. Then it was just "i like this-and-that type of voice. If you don't agree, then you're just a big stupid doo-doo head"

In a way, it was kind of a compliment saying that nest0r usually has really good arguments. I was being sarcastic when an actual -bad- argument was brought up (but do you really need to back up your opinions?)

tl;dr: nest0r is smart. nest0r usually has evidence. when 'your aesthetics are disgusting' is used as an argument (in jest, i presume), I say that it is a superb argument (in jest).

My assumption was that you 'got' my point/tone via the 'key' I used in my phrasing, 'almost disgusting' (repetition of bindasj's words). Hopefully that assumption stands. ^_^

Must I bother thrashing every subjective comment with sources? ;p I pick my 'sarcasm attack' as SammyB calls it, rather carefully as a counterbalance to certain comments to varying degrees of humour/viciousness. Hopefully no one is ever too offended.

No, you are substantial when you need to be, and sarcastic when...perhaps not when it's needed, but when it comes off in a humorous manner.

and that's exactly what I was -in a backwards way, perhaps- complimenting.

Asriel Wrote:No, you are substantial when you need to be, and sarcastic when...perhaps not when it's needed, but when it comes off in a humorous manner.

and that's exactly what I was -in a backwards way, perhaps- complimenting.

Ah, okay then. *fist bump*

All Japanese women I know in real life have normal pitched voices. If you watch dramas there aren't many high voices either, except if there is a stereotypical 'cute' character.

The only really high voices I come across are on TV variety shows, the shopping channel and the girls trying to sell mobile phones.

[Katsuo]

Ajinomoto Stadium has a cure for those squeaky voices.

Katsuo Wrote:Ajinomoto Stadium has a cure for those squeaky voices.

Lucky I read to the end of the thread - I was going to link to the same thing

In terms of pitch, I actively raise mine a bit when I'm speaking Japanese, because I thought I sounded a bit blokey compared to Japanese girls on TV and in dramas and such. I've noticed my Japanese girlfriends tend to speak less squeakily when we switch to English, too. They definitely raise their pitch when they speak to guys, regardless of which language they're speaking. Not sure if it's a conscious thing, I don't want to ask them - I'm pretty sure they'd find it embarrassing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomoko_Kaneda

"In fact, it has been reported that her voice is capable of producing sounds at a frequency beyond that of human hearing."

This video of her is freaking hilarious - is she drunk??!

Language log had a piece or three on possible pitch differences between Japanese and English male and female speakers a couple of years back. The 'breakfast experiment' is also suggestive although there are a lot of cautionary notes in there.