My alien is about to speak for the first time in the novel. He's adapted to human speech and his 'voice' is a projection, so he can sound like anything, but the deep/melodious/throaty alien voices all seem too cliched when I write them.
So over to you . . . if you were an alien and you could sound like anything or anyone you wanted, and you didn't particularily care whether or not anyone trusted or liked your voice, what would you sound like? (They have to be able to understand him, so 'sounding like barking dogs' is out . . . )
----------
-------------
"I never travel without my notebook. One should always have something sensational to read on the train."
-Oscar Wilde
-------------
50,005 / 50,000
Nov 18, 2009 - 16 37
Give them the voice of your favorite voice actor from your favortie cartoon. They would not sound quite realistic, but at least it would sound familiar.
50,197 / 50,000
Nov 18, 2009 - 16 44
ADAM WEST.
If I couldn't do that then Patrick Warburton.
If neither of those I think I was a failen and go cry in a corner.
----------Does not read and follow label directions.
53,130 / 50,000
Nov 18, 2009 - 18 56
The kids voices from South Park.
----------109,398 / 50,000
Nov 18, 2009 - 21 43
How does your alien view humanity? What are his goals toward it? Does he want to unsettle and intimidate? Are his motives even that simple to comprehend? If you understand what he wants, and he has a working knowledge of humanity and its history, I'd pick an iconic voice that inspires an emotional response. If I was talking to an alien that sounded like Hitler, I'd get pretty unnerved.
Personally, if I were an alien, and I didn't care what the humans thought of my voice, I'd pick something that would make them take me seriously and underscore the fact that I am not one of them. Maybe a voice that sounds like many different ones, all talking at the same time? I did this with an alien species of mine, giving them two-toned voices. Of course, you don't have to stop at two. :)
50,108 / 50,000
Nov 19, 2009 - 00 50
A couple of ideas: CS Lewis in the planetary romances described the eldil voices as being bloodless, as if the words had been played on an instrument instead of spoken by a person.
My Laxanae have four resonant cavities in their heads, so every word sounds like a four-note chord. Humans can't reproduce this so initially they think we are non-sentient animals. However among the aliens there are teenagers who speak a one-note slang to annoy their parents. This is something that the humans can copy, and contact is established.
Also, to complicate matters, since they have no vocal chords they think that the noises we do make indicate breathing problems and call for a vet.
50,031 / 50,000
Nov 19, 2009 - 04 11
perhaps the alien uses the voice of the person they are talking to, basically hijacking the person's subvocalisation, making it quite confusing because it makes it harder to tell the difference between hearing the alien, and thinking! perhaps the human could request a different voice, and it is the person, but with a funny accent, to help distinguish. or someone close to them's voice
----------If a picture is worth 1000 words, would 50 pictures win NaNaWriMo?
65,600 / 50,000
Nov 19, 2009 - 04 11
If the voice is a projection, maybe it's tailored to sound EXACTLY like the person the alien is speaking to, or the person it learned the language from (assuming it's some sort of telepathic projection, this could be quite unnerving).
Or, perhaps the alien picks something, say, neutrally inoffensive - a calm or cheerful voice, something friendly or soothing. And then keeps that voice and tone absolutely regardless of whatever it might be saying. Those voices tend to creep me out the most. :-)
----------"You appear to have fallen into a hole in the floor. Do you require assistance?”
...Stupid AI...
50,031 / 50,000
Nov 19, 2009 - 04 37
lol, great mind's think alike!
----------If a picture is worth 1000 words, would 50 pictures win NaNaWriMo?
65,600 / 50,000
Nov 19, 2009 - 06 10
LOL, that's actually a bit creepy. Are you an alien? ;-)
----------"You appear to have fallen into a hole in the floor. Do you require assistance?”
...Stupid AI...
50,031 / 50,000
Nov 19, 2009 - 06 19
maybe, maybe. :-o
----------If a picture is worth 1000 words, would 50 pictures win NaNaWriMo?
51,027 / 50,000
Nov 19, 2009 - 09 02
Thanks for all the ideas . . . I like the two-tone (or more) but it won't work for my alien. (Next year's Nanowrimo?) I think I'll give him my MC's voice, since he's already using his face, and pop an English accent on it! Great ideas!
-----------------------
"I never travel without my notebook. One should always have something sensational to read on the train."
-Oscar Wilde
-------------
50,031 / 50,000
Nov 20, 2009 - 01 32
remids me of the movie dreamcatcher, that's exactly what the alien (Mister Grey) does to the MC! don't let that put you off though,
----------If a picture is worth 1000 words, would 50 pictures win NaNaWriMo?
51,027 / 50,000
Nov 20, 2009 - 14 18
Funny thing, every time I mention a plot point to my boyfriend he says 'reminds me of . . . ' So I've stopped worrying about it before I go insane! Is it possible I have no original ideas ? Yaaaaaaagh.
-----------------------
"I never travel without my notebook. One should always have something sensational to read on the train."
-Oscar Wilde
-------------
0 / 50,000
Nov 20, 2009 - 15 15
Depends......What do the aliens look like? Small, Tall, Short, Fat, Lean, Mean?(Couldn't help the ryme....) But seriously, you know how tall people have deep voices....same thing