Customer Reviews

Human Voice

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Animals of all different kinds busy themselves with making noises in order to feed or mate or protect themselves. Humans are no different, but have taken the use of their anatomical noisemaking devices to extreme utility. Of course, this is tied to our use of language, and language is full of puzzling aspects, but so is the human voice when considered as an instrument or tool rather than just an auditory word delivery system. In _The Human Voice: How This Extraordinary Instrument Reveals Essential Clues About Who We Are_ (Bloomsbury), Anne Karpf looks at the importance of the voice to human society, and the paradoxical way that we take it for granted. Karpf skillfully takes us through many surprising aspects of how we use our voices, and cites many curious studies that have used clever tricks to make the voice give up its secrets; this isn't an academic treatise, but there are eighty pages of footnotes with sources from Aristotle to The Simpsons. She has done fifty interviews with people about their own voices, what they think about other people's voices, and how much information a voice can give them. It's a perfect subject for a book: everyone has a voice, everyone has intimate vocal connections to others, and everyone has more to learn about how it all works.

She begins with an examination of how our anatomy works to make the voice. Among the complexities of our vocal systems is that all the components have other functions rather than producing voices, functions that are vital to life while voice-making is a mere option. Teeth and tongue modify the voice, for instance, but they are really there (as they are in voiceless animals) for purposes of eating. We are programmed to recognize voices even before we are born. A baby within the uterus can react to some sounds as early as fourteen weeks on, and quickly becomes attuned to the mother's voice, which some studies show has a calming effect, slowing the fetal heart rate. After birth, a baby reliably reacts more to the voice of the mother than to anyone else. It is a familiar phenomenon that if one baby in a group starts crying, other babies will be likely to start to do so themselves, indicating that even infants have some programmed sympathy for the distress of others. It is fascinating, though, that a baby tends not to start crying if played a recording of its own cries, indicating a knowledge at birth of the difference between me and not-me. In the sixties, the word "voiceprint" was coined, and it was thought that each individual voice might be visually represented with the fidelity of fingerprints. Forensic identification of speakers, however, has required subjective opinions of experts in ways that fingerprints do not, and often such evidence has yet to be declared admissible in state courts. Part of the problem is that age, mood, and situation change our voices in ways that vary voiceprints out of identifiability.

Karpf has just mentioned key findings of many studies, not all of which are conclusive. She does express her doubts on studies such as those of professor Albert Mehrabian who supposedly found that 7% of the information conveyed by a voice consists of words and their meaning, while the rest of the communication comes from vocal and facial expression. Karpf generally campaigns, however, that the voice is more important than we have thought, and she is convincing. Her enthusiasm for her subject is readily apparent; she is eager to make sure the voice gets the recognition it deserves, and all who read this book will gain an increase of appreciation for their own voices and what voices can do for us. Karpf takes note, for instance, that some large firms are promoting "e-mail free Friday", whereby for one day a week e-mail will be ditched, with the aim that employees will begin talking and listening to each other.

. . . is a Japanese proverb that British sociologist Anne Karpf uses, along with scientific data, to show how one culture values silence (especially for female speakers, or non-speakers, as the case may be).

But just across the Bering Sea, Karpf found that Alaska Native Americans who were convicted of crimes got longer jail sentences when they spoke slower and paused more when speaking to non-Native police and judges (vocal behavior that would have been interpreted as respectful in Japan).

The voice, like so much else, is partly determined by nature and partly determined by culture. Karpf also shows many other ways that My Voice is determined by Your Ear.

So much in this entertaining book is pertinent today. Just yesterday I saw a headline in The Drudge Report that said WOMEN TALK 3 TIMES MORE THAN MEN. (Drudge does like his caps.) But Karpf quotes evidence rather than impression proving MEN TALK MORE!!! AND THEY INTERRUPT!!!!!

The most interesting section of the book for me was on "The Public Voice." Here Karpf eviscerates British and American politicians. Karpf is fair, analyzing politicians of the the left and right. I'm not fair, so I'll just quote Karpf on Tony Blair, whose voice has been "emotionally incontinent" ever since Diana died. And Blair has also puposefully stuck an "Estuary-style mini glottal stop" in his speech to add "blokeishness" to his voice.

But Blair's political voice is just one example of the "new intimacy" evinced by politicians in Britain and the U.S. They want to "act sincere," which is, as Karpf points out, a contradiction in terms. That reminds me of the old joke (was it Samuel Goldwyn who said it?): "The most important thing is sincerity. Once you can fake that, you've got it made."

The Human Voice is full of fascinating facts. For instance, opera singers make THEMSELVES deaf from listening to the vibrations of their own voices in their skulls. (Margaret Thatcher apparently ruined her voice by shouting down opponents in parliament. Whether she listened to what she was saying is an interesting question.)

There have been several great books on linguistics lately (by scientists who write well, not language scolds like Lynne Truss). There's David Crystal's new book How Language Works (the section on phonetics is good to read before or in conjunction with Anne Karpf's The Human Voice), and also Australian linguist Kate Burridge's Blooming English and Weeds in the Garden of Words.

But I'm definitely going to read anything else by Anne Karpf.

This is quite a fascinating Pop-Science book on the voice. But the first thing you have to realize is the list of things that this book is not:

It is not on how the human body makes noises, although there's a little bit of that.

It is not on how the ability to speak separates us from the other animals on this planet.

It is not even on what words we use to express ourselves.

Instead it is a book on how our voice sounds. It's about the communication that takes place even when the words are removed. It's about how listening to politicians sound rather than listening to what they say. It's about how the way Churchill and Roosevelt, and yes, George W. Bush sound that got them elected rather than their opponents.

I was amused at her comments about Al Gore's stiff, sanctimonious monotone putting him at a disadvantage beside George Bush's vocal affability. Remembering back that was true. But now when you listen to Gore in his documentary 'An Inconvenient Truth,' he doesn't sound the same at all, like his comment about once being known as the 'Next President.'

Her reporting on the experiments where the actual words are removed from speech and people are asked questions about the speaker are especially interesting.

This is not a highly technical book, instead it is written for a popular audience but it lets you know what the pros are thing about and doing.

Who knew voices could be so interesting? This book provides a wealth of truly fascinating information about the human voice and its often under-appreciated role in our society while making it accessible to the average reader. The author conducted an impressive amount of research, and synthesizes the information in a way that flows well and inspires readers to "take a new look" at voices. It is interesting to learn, for example, that voice can even be affected by a sprained ankle, or that opera singers experience damage to their ears similar to that experienced by assembly-line machine operators. The extensive pages of notes and additional resources make this book an excellent springboard for learning more about voice. I would especially recommend this book to anyone who works extensively in an auditory environment, including call center managers, radio professionals, telephonic workers and others who spend a lot of time communicating with others using spoken language.

What a wonderful book. It is the kind of subject matter that we take for granted. This thing, this powerful thing we all (most, rather) possess is a gift. I was very happy with this author and this book, and have used it to my advantage. The unpleasant boss and the nagging mother are much more tolerable now, it's amazing.

"The human voice is the most beautiful instrument of all, but it is the most difficult to play." Richard Strauss

I could not preview the book digitally before buying it. I read 1 chapter and couldn't get interested.

It would be hard to express how irritating this book is. The human voice is indeed an amazing instrument, but it is ill-served by the pop sociology, psychobabble, and profound disrespect for science contained in this book (along with a number of errors of fact). A good work of popular science should find the interest in "dry" scientific findings and make them accessible to a broader audience, not disparage them in favor of man-in-the-street opinions. I suggest Ms. Karpf rein in her adjectives and look harder for what science has to offer in her future works. She will produce a more readable, more interesting product if she does.