Far be it from me to say that I am a musician.  I love listening to music.  I was a student of music in high school, and in the chorus in college.  I read music. I like to sing.  I wish I could play an instrument.  I encourage those who play an instrument to continue their craft.  Keep on keepin’ on.

Instruments aside, I once wrote an acronym for the word “SOUND”. ‘So Others Understand Notes Distinctly.’  This is the acronym I played around with one time, and I never forgot it. As someone who dabbled in broadcast radio (true: I was once a radio personality),  I always played around with sounds.

Never playing with the definition of sound, the dictionary defines sound as: mechanical radiant energy that is transmitted by longitudinal  pressure waves in a material medium (such as air) and is the objective cause of hearing.  (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

Of course, of the three definitions listed in the dictionary, I chose the most wordy, yet  poetic, and argumentative definition I could find.  I write argumentative, because the word ‘mechanical’  bothers me.  I use the word ‘bother’, because, as a wordsmith, I would never “trash-talk” the dictionary.  I interpret ‘mechanical’ to mean ‘synthetic’.  I know the dictionary had another intent, but as an mobile DJ who dabbles in ‘mechanical’ sounds I wonder if a better word could have been used.

‘Synthetic’ dictionary interpretations aside, as former on-air personality, I’m constantly critiquing others’ voices.  “His voice is too high for radio,” I always think.  “Her voice is just right,” I usually think.  ‘There is nothing mechanical’ about ‘natural’ human voices.

Diction, articulation and cadence are important things  to me.  I’m always listening to people tell me that I “should work in radio”.  Usually its a male friend with a voice pitch in a slightly higher register than mine.  I accept that as a compliment.  When a woman tells me this, I usually accept that as a compliment, as well.  Thank you to everybody.

However everybody perceives my voice, “deep”, “dark”, “radio-like”, “husky”.   Honestly, my voice sounds as if it is in a higher register in my head.  Now I find myself critiquing my own voice, and its sound.