This question was put to Mr. Witherspoon, who answered:
"The singer of course hears himself, and with study learns to hear
himself better. In fact I believe the lack of this part of vocal
training is one of the greatest faults of the day, and that the singer
should depend more upon hearing the sound he makes than upon feeling the
sound. In other words, train the _ear_, the court of ultimate resort,
and the only judge--and forget sensation as much as possible, for the
latter leads to a million confusions.
"Undoubtedly a singer hears in his own voice what his auditors do not
hear, for he also hears with his inner ear, but the singer must learn to
hear his own voice as others hear it, which he can do perfectly well.
Here we come to analysis again.
"The phonograph records teach us much in this respect, although I never
have considered that the phonograph reproduces the human voice. It
comes near it in some cases, utterly fails in others, and the best
singers do not always make the best or most faithful reproductions."