I think I saw it in a movie once, but there was a guy who had a very sensitive microphone (I think it was inside his throat) and the microphone could distinguish what he said even if he spoke without opening his mouth.

So I got curious, is it possible to do so in real life? (And preferably with the microphone near the throat, not inside it. Yuck)

 

It's possible I suppose.

Isn't this sort of thing used for people who have had their vocal cords removed for one reason or another?

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Considering speech is vibration in the vocal cords, modulated by the mouth, I would suggest that it would be completely inaudible - don't forget, it was only a film, that doesn't mean it actually worked.

Funnily enough I was involved in an enterprise a number of years ago, making different leads up for a guy trying to sell ear-phone microphones for radio transceivers. Instead of seperate microphone and earpiece, it used just an earpiece - switching the earpiece to be the microphone on transmit. It worked by conduction through the bone, and was perfectly acceptable speech quality.

One of the customers I made some leads for was the SAS, who were interested in the system for parachuting.

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Well yeah, it's called a throat mike:
http://search.ebay.com/search/search...tle=throat+mic

They used them a lot on WWII bombers because there was so much ambient noise the mike was less than audible.

I've never tried one myself. I know a lot of speech's features originate in the mouth, nose, tongue, and lips and I don't see how they propagate back down to produce a really accurate rendition of speech.

Sounds like it'd be like trying to determine whether a cake or pancake was created after measuring that flour, eggs, and milk went by.

I should get one and see how they sound.

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I thought what I'd do was I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes.

 

I think a throat mic sounds horrible. Just grunts and groans. I suppose it could be used to bark Morse code.

Ask a friend to talk to you without opening their mouth. Like humming.

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There's no fiction in this science, there's already commercial products. Costs about 120 bucks.

http://jawbone.com/demo.php?utm_sour...ium=promo_demo


Google and Wikipedia are your friend, that information was found in less than 45 seconds.

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The Jawbone probably uses a noise-cancelling circuit with two mics.
One mic is close to the mouth or is directed towards the mouth and picks up voice plus noise.
The other mic is far from the mouth or is directed away from the mouth and picks up noise.
The audio transmitted is the difference which is the voice.
It muffled the voice a lot.

The actor cheated. He opened his mouth to talk.

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Uncle $crooge

 

congrats audioguru on your 10000th post! Whether its in this topic or another..

I agree, not feasable. even ventriloquists have their mouth open (albeit slightly) its all about movement of air. You can blow air through your nose but it doesn't go through the mouth which manipulates it to form language...otherwise its just a 'tone'.

Sceadwian, he is talking normally in that clip, it just removes external noise.
Am I just re-iterating what others have said?

Its late...tea and bed.

Bluteeth

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Can I have a dollar for each post?
A beer?
A glass of water?
Nothing but the nice congrats??

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Uncle $crooge

 

Audioguru, you're only half as old as our most venerable Nigel in post life.
Even us half assed wannabes can only modestly understand how long you've appeased the senseless idiots over the long term.

We should only all wish we could have answered half the posts you have at least half as well as you have.

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But you still need to open your mouth and talk fairly normally, as with the suggested throat mikes as well.

The original question was for a solution that didn't require opening your mouth - which I consider complete fiction.

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One does not need to open his mouth per se to make intelligible sounds. Words can essentially be hummed. Of course, air is exiting through the nose or other os (see: article on artifical larynx, below). The open mouth, as mentioned for ventriloquists, aids in getting a natural sound.

Patients who have had laryngectomies learn to speak without vocal cords, such as by using the esophagus. This article describes some of the options and may be of interest:
http://www.emedicine.com/ent/topic312.htm
It is amazing how well some patients adapt after the surgery given proper training and modern prostheses.
John

 

DANG!!! I wish I'd read those last few posts yesterday! I experimented by placing a strip of duct tape firmly across my mouth and pressing it solidly in place. I saw that done in a movie once, where a kidnapper wanted his quarry to be quiet. Anyway, I tried talking. Then I realized that I'd put the tape over my nostrils, too, and I couldn't breathe ... took me about five minutes to figure that one out ... and so I pulled it away from my nostrils and when I spoke, I didn't. I tried singing the U.S. National Anthem (The Star-Spangled Banner by Francis Scott Key), but I ended up humming the thing. I couldn't get the words out. The humming sounded a bit weird, but I couldn't distinguish any words at all.

I ran to my wife to see if she could understand my speech. She looked at me as though I'd lost my mind and did check to see if my arms were tied behind my back. I asked her again and again what I was saying and she finally grabbed a loose corner of the duct tape and ripped it off my face. Let me say here that nurses are very good at ripping bandage-like things from skin. Anyway, after she got me calmed down -- apparently I was writhing on the floor for several minutes clutching my face -- I totally forgot what I was wanting to ask her.

The next day at work, several folks asked me if I'd gotten too near a fire or something. Seems that the red across my mouth and the moustache that was now missing sections was bothering them. It bothered me pretty much last night, too, but today I have to decide if I'm going to shave the moustache off or try to let it grow back in.

Dean

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R.I.P.

 

Ventrilloquism An Art To Deliver Speech Without Really Speaking!!

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Sarma.

 

Did anyone happen to Google "throat microphone"? ... 1,460,000 hits. They must work since companies like Motorola sell them. Though, I doubt that they work with the mouth closed. My guess is that they not only pick up the sound of the vocal cords, but also the harmonics produced in the mouth and throat by the tongue and lips. I was hoping to find a wav file of an example, to hear what it sounds like...but no luck.

Ken

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