Is my girlfriend a robot?

March 26, 2008 9:52 AM

Why did my girlfriend sound like a robot last night?

I came home last night and my girlfriend's voice sounded odd. When she spoke there appeared to be an additional out of phase version of what she was saying that was also audible, and she sounded a bit like robot. Maybe a better way of putting is that she sounded as if she was speaking into a vocoder and I could hear her voice along with a slightly tinny mildly modulated version of her voice coming from the vocoder.
It was very strange and quite disconcerting. She could hear it too, so it was apparently not a hearing issue on my part. It lasted about 30 minutes I think (could have been longer - not sure).
Can anyone sate my curiosity and explain what might have caused this?

posted by chill to health (14 comments total)

I Am Not A Doctor, but sometimes when I have a sore throat, my voice sounds a bit like you describe. Something about constriction in the throat producing a weird effect.
posted by Zarkonnen at 9:54 AM on March 26

A bubble in her throat? Happens to me from time-to-time but max 5 minutes. Did she try fixing it... drink some water, cough, do a handstand...etc?
posted by bleucube at 9:57 AM on March 26

I don't know for certain, but I would think that the effect you describe would involve something with the vocal chords. Perhaps (not to be gross) some snot or other bodily fluid got in there causing a strange reverberation, but worked itself out. I know that about two months ago, something flew down my throat and evidently scratched the inner lining (mildly). While it was being looked at, shortly after the initial scratch, there was a reverberation going with my voice that, looking back in retrospect, might've been construed as robotic.

Long story short, maybe she scratched her throat and that created the effect.
posted by WCityMike at 10:31 AM on March 26

I can't explain it - but sometimes when I'm sick the same thing happens, and I definitely take advantage of it by saying as many robot-like things as I can manage.
posted by sluggo at 11:29 AM on March 26 [2 favorites]

WCityMike has it. This has happened to me in the past, and after the coughing, etc. I would always get a kick out of figuring out the resonance, harmonies, etc. of my "new" voice and singing along with myself.
posted by infinitewindow at 11:35 AM on March 26

> A bubble in her throat?

I, too, have experienced something similar with a bubble in my throat.
posted by datacenter refugee at 12:46 PM on March 26

It could also be phase cancellation in the room you were sitting in. If the room has a lot of flat surfaces that reverberate sound well (Glass, flat walls, wood paneled floors etc) then the sound waves can bounce back, be slightly out of sync and change the sound of the voice. I most commonly experience this in showers.

Though if its a room you are in all the time, I'd say you'd have noticed it before (unless you took off a wall hanging recently, or moved furniture around for example).
posted by Admira at 2:34 PM on March 26

Small tear or other relaxation of the vocal chords?

I'd recommend against stressing it by coughing or singing loudly or whatnot. Stay hydrated, talk softly (or not at all), and get a good night's rest.
posted by porpoise at 2:34 PM on March 26

My girlfriend and I can both do this at will; I assumed everyone could. We do it by limiting the air across our vocal chords, and can end up sounding like it accidentally when we're tired and sick. I guess that it comes from out-of-phase reverb from vocal chords vibrating just a little bit longer than they would if they were relaxed.
posted by klangklangston at 2:44 PM on March 26

It had gone after dinner so that would support the theory that it was something in her throat.
posted by chill at 2:45 PM on March 26

Or maybe she really is a robot? Although probably either a weird echo in the room you were in , or something going on with her vocal chords. I sometimes sound robot-ish if I have a cold and have a phlegmy throat.

Try holding a strong magnet near her head and see if she does anything else weird.
posted by robotot at 3:18 PM on March 26 [1 favorite]

I've had the same thing happen when I've been sick; a wee doubled voice. I, too, like to sing along with myself at that time. :) Or, make that, croak along.

It goes away when the cold/flu does.
posted by Savannah at 6:10 PM on March 26

Transient diplophonia (perception of more than one fundamental frequency component in a voice)? Can be caused by independent vibration of the two vocal folds (or other vocal structures) at slightly different frequencies. I would think that could possibly be due to 'stuff' in the throat affecting the vibration of the vocal folds independently ala 'bubble in the throat'. (Not necessarily the same, but see also throat singing).
posted by mimo at 10:58 AM on March 27

So, it turns out that it is a problem with my ears after swimming, because I've noticed other people speaking like this too since. I think when she said she could hear it too, she was perhaps humouring me too, or just not realising what I was getting at.
What a waste of a question! Sorry.
posted by chill at 3:00 AM on April 9