Why your voice is like a fingerprint

The features that make your voice unique.

Most of us use our voices every day to communicate one way or another, but the way we produce sound is so much more than the words we say. Our voices are about as unique as fingerprints — similar instruments, but with endless variations.

As humans, we each essentially produce sound in the same physiological way, but it’s not as simple as plucking a guitar string. And when we talk we’re dropping clues about who we are, what we do, and where we’re from. A dialect can hint where a person is from. An expressive range might suggest a person is a singer or actor. A slow and quiet tone could mean a person is feeling sad or tired. Check out the video above to learn more about the ins and outs of how we produce sounds and why no one else sounds like you.

For more on the ins and outs of how we produce sound:

Note: The headline on this piece has been updated.
Previous headline: Why no one sounds exactly like you

[Salted_Potato]

Vox has the greatest array of journalists I have ever seen in any channel. Serious talent all around to cover so many versatile topics with high quality!

[DSQueenie]

This is interesting because my sister and I have very very, I’ve always been told identical voices, similar voices. Even our parents can’t really tell
them apart if we speak to them from another room.

The only way we are told apart is by our word choice.

[Imbatmn]

My mom and i sound really similar on the phone, if its analyzed you could probably see the difference but most people cant tell who's actually calling.

[boy]

But just like how there are non-twins that look uncannily similar to each other, there must be people's voices that sound virtually identical but we just have yet to find it?

[mmleehan]

When you sound like somebody that I used to know

[Davi_L]

When I was in 8th grade a classmate of mine moved 5, 000 miles across the world. 7 years later I was visiting that country sitting in a lobby talking on the phone and some random person walked over and said "Davi, is that you?" It was him.

[Dr.Kraig_Ren]

*Why no one sounds like you*

_Even I don't sound like myself when I hear my recordings...._

[nateridgely]

I’ve always noticed that people who look alike don’t always sound alike, but anybody who sounds like someone almost always looks like them

[RarelyAChump]

"There will be no one who will ever sound like you", but there will be technology that can already 😅

[paulcarlachapman]

As others have commented, sometimes a vocal imprint seems to run in families. I sound like my mother did and my daughters sound like me. Both my brothers sound like Daddy did. Then you will see sibling singing pairs or groups who can achieve amazingly close harmony because they sound so much alike. Voices are interesting.

[Hawk]

I love this! I’m a Speech-Language Pathologist! This is my jam! So happy to see more education about these areas 🤗

[nikkitronic]

This was very interesting. I used to sing a lot and be pretty good at it too. I sang in choir all through school, used to do musical theater and just sing for fun at home or in the shower. Then I became addicted to drugs for many years and never sang, it was a sad, terrible time in my life. I’ve been sober for four years now and when I try to sing, it comes out as a shadow of my former singing self. I thought I’d try to get back into choir but I can hardly hold a tune anymore. I can just feel that my muscles have atrophied down in there. I wonder if with practice it’s something that can come back? Because it’s pretty bad lol, I sound awful now lol

[kfemme]

I do know one thing that changes things... for me it was being in a major car accident and having tubes in my throat for so long or so many (I'm not sure which was the culprit for sure) but it damaged my vocal cords and makes it very hard for me to sing at all anymore. But being alive after that accident wasn't a guarantee so I'm just thankful I'm alive.

[nsolly]

Is there an explanation for people who can do impressions really well?

[jasminek]

What’s creepy is when sisters sound almost exactly the same

[stellarsyd]

When we think about this musically, it is just so beautiful

[AudreyYun]

voices might not sound EXACTLY alike, but plenty of voices sound very very similar so as to be practically the same to the ear.

[sonnychoi]

Just so you and the other presenters know, none of you sound annoying or weird!

From my personal experience, people who comment on how "irritating" or "unattractive" on another person sounds, are the people I want to listen to the least.

[gradientcube]

Vox has been making some amazing videos lately.

[AxeSoul]

PLEASE do more videos on voices/vocal stuff!