More on Coolness: Voice (with a Bonus Phone Post)

[lhynard]

It's that time of year again where the leather jacket comes out of the closet. I love my jacket. Apparently, so does sadeyedartist, which makes me love it even more. (Thanks, Mommy

Comments

[ambrosiaoferis]

In many circles, I'd think having a "cool" voice would have a lot to do with inflection and whether said inflection reflected the attitude which is "cool" to that group. Irony is big, and so is the ability to be deadpan, or anything else where some people will "get it" and others won't; a lot of what "cool" seems to be about is discerning those who are in the know from those who aren't. (Or is that "hip?" I lose track.) Also, about establishing some form of distance if not superiority.

I tend to like male voices of certain "textures:" with either a sort of resonance/roundness or else a gentle rumble or rasp to them. This is more common to low voices, but is something separate from tonal range. But then I'm weird--I tend to go for "interesting" over "cool." I have had people tell me that I have a cool voice or way of speaking, but none of them have been able to define why, so this doesn't make me stop feeling self-conscious about my "accent

[lhynard]

...I'd think having a "cool" voice would have a lot to do with inflection and whether said inflection reflected the attitude which is "cool" to that group....

You are probably correct that attitude is more important by far and that that is shown through things like inflection, etc.

This is more common to low voices, but is something separate from tonal range.

makes sense

I think the lower voice pushes more buttons in terms of implied degree of masculinity than in terms of cool. So, this might affect the cool factor more in groups of people who value machismo or traditional concepts of masculinity. (This is just a theory.)

It sounds liek a very reasonable theory.

thanks for the comments!

voice post

[ambrosiaoferis]

Maybe "not cool" if you think baritone or bass is cool, but well-enunciated; this tends to imply intelligence, and combined with the right ironic delivery, it can certainly add up to one kind of "cool."

Re: voice post

[lhynard]

thanks :)

(So you were able to hear the post? For some reason, I cannot hear it any more. It seems corrupted.)

[shadewright]

just thinking out loud....

Leonardo DiCaprio's voice is the only thing about him that is what I would call imposing--but I would say that it definitely is when he uses it to best effect, even though it is a relatively high voice.

And I think that "cool" is too hard a standard to apply to voices. At least, you seem to have translated movie voices for men from cool into tough. And a woman's voice is not -- I don't think-- usually considered cooler if it is deeper; a deep voice is usually linked more to adjectives like husky, sultry and purring, (think Catherine Zeta-Jones or Angelina Jolie) which would indicate to me that an attractive voice might be different from a cool voice.

To ramble: I think that Hugh Grant's voice is probably much cooler than Brad Pitt's. (The accent sure, but also the irony & detachment ambrosiaoferis was talking about.) But I would excpect there to be an equal fan base for Pitt's no-nonsense delivery. (And isn't Grant's voice the higher of the two?)

[lhynard]

I think you, along with ambrosiaoferis, hit on it more precisely than I. Voice seems to just be another way of expressing overall attitude, which seems to be the key behind coolness.