UC-NRLF B M 113 SSM VOICE BUILDING ANfiTONE IMAGING: .HOLBROOK CURTIS MOOOOO MEDICAL Dr. Henry Horn Llemorial J Facsimile of a photograph of the vocal cords of a distinguished singer, taken by means of the improved apparatus of S. W. Bridgham, Esq. VOICE BUILDING AND TONE PLACING SHOWING A NEW METHOD OF RELIEVING INJURED VOCAL CORDS BY TONE EXERCISES BY c H. HOLBROOK CURTIS, Pn.B., M.D. FELLOW OF THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF MEDICINE ; MEMBER OF THE COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY; MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION; FELLOW OF THE AMERICAN LARYNGOLOGICAL, RHINOLOGICAL, AND OTO LOGICAL SOCIETY ; MEMBRE CORRESPONDANT DE LA SOCIETE FRAN9AISE D'OTOLOGIE DE LARYN- GOLOGIE ET DE RHINOLOGIE; MEMBER OF THE BRITISH LARYNGOLOGICAL, RHINOLOGICAL, AND OTOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION; MEMBER OF THE ROYAL MEDICAL SOCIETY, ENGLAND, ETC. THIRD EDITION NEW YORK AND LONDON D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 1914 COPYRIGHT, 1896, 1909, BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY Printed in the United States of America TO MY FRIEND JEAN DE RESZKE THIS LITTLE VOLUME IS DEDICATED IX TOKEN OF THE AFFECTION AND ESTEEM 4 OF THE AUTHOR. PEEFACE. THE tangled skein of theories which one must unravel in order to arrive at any simple conclusion in regard to the singing voice, makes our endeavour in the present volume an arduous one. We have tried to cling as closely as possible to facts, and make our subject scientifically satisfactory by the introduction of such of the elementary laws of sound and music, the thorough comprehension of which will enable the student to understand the conclusions deduced in our argument as to the proper production of tone. The chapters on anat- omy and respiration are intended to be of value to the physician as well as to the student of singing, and for this reason also, the subject of the vibra- tion of the vocal cords has been entered into in a way not treated of in any other work. The author has for a long time been convinced of the manv fallacies which have obtained in the theories as to the so-called ''registers' 7 of the human voice, vi VOICE BUILDING. and the absurdities of the deductions as to the man- ner of vibration of the vocal cords, made from photo- graphs taken during tone production. The writer's theory, that the overtones introduced by the proper method of placing tones in the facial resonators in- duce a new plan of vibration of the vocal cords, has been verified by the recent investigation with the stroboscope by Professor Oertel, of Munich. We have introduced several of his experiments to explain the true plan of vibration of the cords as seen in the stroboscope, and have tried to elucidate our theory as to the removal of singers' " nodules " by tone exercises, in a scientific way. We would have been unable to do this, except upon theory, had it not been for his experiments. The manner of vibration and the formation of nodes and seg- ments in the cords have been most carefully studied by Oertel as well as by Koschlakoff, Simanowski, and Imbert, but none of these investigators is evi- dently aware of the practical application of their discoveries. For several years many of our most renowned singers have been convinced of the effi- cacy of our method of tone exercises in overcoming serious affections of the vocal cords, and we trust that a perusal of this work will amply repay every laryngologist who will take the time and trouble to verify our assertions. We have included some of PREFACE. vii the simplest exercises for the restitution of cords injured by improper vocal method, which may be employed by the teacher as well as the physician. The general scheme of the building of the voice, on the lines of our theory of tone placing, is appended for the benefit of teachers and students, in the hope that some one may receive aid from a method which, if not elaborate, is certainly beneficial in furnishing a fundamental principle of correct tone placing to the serious student. This book is the result of a vast experience with singers. The ideas have been put together in a concise and simple way, without any attempt at elaboration or style. It is indeed pleas- ing to find that, in the space of twelve years which has elapsed since our first edition, so many of the principles of Tone Placing and Eespiration, as first demonstrated in this little volume, have been recog- nized as scientific truths and accepted as axioms of successful teaching. To Madame Melba I am in- debted for her generous aid in the chapter on voice building. To the members of the Metropolitan and other Opera Companies, who have honoured me with their confidence, and given me great assistance in my search for the truth, I am profoundly grateful. H. HOLBROOK CURTIS. 118 MADISON AVENUE, NEW YORK, January 1, 1909. CONTENTS. CHAPTTB I. THE ORIGIN OF MUSIC 1 II. THE ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OP THE LARYNX 15 m. RESPIRATION 46 IV. THE VOCAL RESONATORS 70 V. TONE AND OVERTONES 78 VI. THE REGISTERS OP THE HUMAN VOICE . . 109 VII. TONE PLACING 137 Vm. VOICE BUILDING 165 IX. VOICE FIGURES ....... 217 X. THE TONOGRAPH . 233 INDEX .... 239 LIST OF ILLUSTBATIONS. FIGURE PAGE 1. Arytenoid cartilages seen from behind .... 18 2. Side view of the vocal cord with the arytenoid car- tilage 18 3. Showing the intrinsic muscles of the larynx, seen from above. (Gray.) 21 4. Action of crico-thyroid muscles in tensing the vocal cords 25 5. Showing crico-thyroid muscles and relation of trachea to cartilages of larynx 26 6. Showing action of thyro-arytenoid muscle ... 29 7. Transverse arytenoid muscle 32 8. Showing action of transverse arytenoid muscle in ap- proximating cartilages 33 9. Form given to the glottis by the posterior crico-aryte- noid muscles 34 10. Fixed high chest or modified inferior costal respi- ration 65 11. Visible vibration of strings. (Tyndall.) ... 79 12. Visible vibration of strings. (Tyndall.) ... 80 13. Reflected sound. (Tyndall.) 81 14. Segmental vibration of strings. (Tyndall.) ... 84 15. Visible vibration of strings. (Tyndall.) ... 85 16-19. Organ pipes 87 20. Vibration of air in pipes. (Tyndall.) .... 88 21. The siren. (Tyndall.) 92 22. Helmholtz resonators. (Tyndall.) .... 96 23. Savart'sbell 98 24. KQnig's apparatus for producing manometric flames. (Blaserna.) . 102 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xi FIGURE PAGE 25. Showing regularity of rise and fall of flame . . 104 26-27. Vowel flames. (Tyiidall.) 105 28. Konig's apparatus for analyzing overtones. (Blaserna.) 106 29. Image of overtones in revolving mirror. (Konig.) . 108 30. Oertel's stroboscope 119 31. Oertel's stroboscope 120 32. Sectional vibration of membranes 126 33. Transverse section of vibrating (rubber) membrane. (Irabert.) .128 34. Damping a vibrating membrane, and showing influ- ence on pitch. (Imbert.) 129 35. Artificial larynx with rubber membranes . . . 131 36. Vibration of the vocal cords in the chest register in transverse section 132 37. Vibration of the vocal cords in the upper register in transverse section 133 38. Vocal cords, overstrained from coup de glotte . . 144 39. Singer's nodules, single variety 144 40. Xodules of attrition showing double glottis . . . 145 41. Insufficient tension of vocal cords, causing breathiness of tone 145 42. The same condition as in foregoing plate, showing faulty adjustment of the thyro-arytenoid muscles . 145 43. The compass of the human voice 165 44-45. Vibration of plates, nodal lines .... 196 46. Kaleidophone scrolls 197 47. Shadow of vibrating rod 198 48. Luminous scrolls of vibrating rods. (Wheatstone.) . 199 49-50. Vibrations of a bell glass 200 51. Visible vibration of a board 201 52. The eidophone 201 53. Seaweed or landscape form of voice picture . . . 202 54. Daisy form of voice picture 203 55. Pansy form of voice picture 204 56. Fern form of voice picture 205 57. Serpent form of voice picture 206 58. Cross-vibration figure of voice picture .... 208 59. Tree form of voice picture 209 xii VOICE BUILDING. THE TONOGRAPH. FIGURE PAGE 60. c" on the staff 234 61. c'" above the staff, sung by a coloratura soprano . 234 62. c'" above the staff, sung by a dramatic soprano . . 234 63. e" on the staff 234 64. g" above the staff 235 65. d'" above the staff 235 66. b' 235 67. a' on the staff 235 68. a" above the staff 235 69. f "ft on the staff 235 70. Miss Geraldine Farrar singing in the bell-jar tono- graph 236 71. Sig. Caruso singing in the tonograph .... 237 VOICE BUILDING AND TONE PLACING. CHAPTEE I. THE ORIGIN OF MUSIC. Music did not develop into an independent art among the cultured races of Asia, Africa, and the adjacent peoples of Europe, in either the classical or preclassical epochs. Among the Chinese, Hindoos, Egyptians, and Jews, the Greeks and the Romans, it was closely associated with poetry, the drama, and the dance. The Greek tribes of the Peloponnesus and Hellas, the Egyptians, Phoenicians, the Greeks inhabiting the isles of the ^Egean Sea, and more es- pecially those in the Island of Cyprus all had a primitive " Lament," which came originally from Phoenicia.* This was a funeral chant celebrating the death of the youthful Adonis, who symbolized the beautiful but short-lived spring. The Egyptians * Neumann, History of Music. Translated by T. Praeger. London, Cassell & Co. 1 2 VOICE BUILDING. changed the significance of this chant, transforming it into a lament of their own goddess Isis bewailing the death of Osiris. This " Lament " became the " Linos " of the Greeks and the " Maneros " of the Egyptians ; but, wherever it was found on the shores of the Mediterranean, it had the character of a plaintive wail at the mortality and frailty of all earthly things. Music, however, lent its voice to the expression of joy as well as of grief, and became the means of expressing a common sentiment, as in the war songs of the people or the emotional appeals to ancient deities and idols. It is a commonly accepted belief that war songs, to the rhythmic beating of drums, were the earliest form of music. The actual stage of development which music reached among the ancients can only be determined by a study of those specimens of their musical in- struments which still remain, the representations of them found upon tombs and monuments, and of cer- tain obscure records. The number of each of these is unhappily limited, but from them we have been able to obtain a fairly satisfactory idea of their mus- ical knowledge. Especially is this the case with the Egyptians, whose monuments show musical hiero- glyphs dating back to the fifteenth dynasty. Among the Chinese, as among all other nations, music owed its origin to religion. The Chinese, THE ORIGIN OF MUSIC. 3 however, never made any marked progress in their instruments or vocal art, and their preference to-day for instruments of percussion is an evidence of their low musical organization. As they are the only people who thousands of years ago possessed a system of octaves, a circle of fifths and a normal tone, and once had an elaborate theory of music, we must con- clude that the Chinese have retrograded in their musical ideas instead of advancing. The Japanese took their music from the Chinese, and, curiously enough, it has until very recently re- mained below the Chinese standard rather than risen above it. Their barbarism in music shows itself, as with the Chinese, in the number of drums, clappers, and bells used by them. The Hindoos claimed for their music a derivation direct from the gods. Their ideas on the subject were most fanciful and exaggerated, but the art of music under them was carried to a far greater state of development than among other nations. They invented the Vina, a seven-stringed instrument of very beautiful tone, sometimes described in ancient writings as the most charming of all musical instru- ments, but in reality inferior to the Japanese koto. The ancient Israelites, with their refined sensibil- ity and poetic temperament, naturally possessed ex- alted ideas about music, connecting it inseparably 4 VOICE BUILDING. with religion. They addressed the Almighty in hymns of praise and in penitential psalms, and as their religion was nobler than that of any other people, their music naturally sought higher planes for expression. Moses is believed to have acquired a knowledge of music as practised by Egyptian priests, for he gave directions for the construction of two silver trumpets, used in giving signals to the children of Israel during the forty years' sojourn in the desert. On the Arch of Titus in Eome is a bas- relief of one of these trumpets, and it is claimed that the trumpets themselves were paraded through Kome after the destruction of the Temple of Jeru- salem. The shofar, a trumpet of different shape, is found in every Jewish synagogue to-day. Miriam's song of triumph after the destruction of Pharaoh and his hosts was the first musical out- burst of the Israelites, and was probably regarded as of divine inspiration. In the time of David, an immortal poet and musical genius, sacred music attained its highest point, and there can be no doubt that in the reign of Solomon, like all the other arts, it reached a high state of development. The psalms were sung by the Israelites in various ways, antiph- onally by the priests and congregations, and by divided choruses, arranged and led by a precentor. Of the tonal system of the Israelites, and the struc- THE ORIGIN OF MUSIC. 5 ture of their scales, little is known. Keller,* how- ever, states that in 1890 a number of flutes were found in a grave, dating certainly before 3000 B. c., which, from their construction, give abundant proof that the Egyptians used our diatonic scale. Whether this be true or not, they certainly had harps with as high as twenty strings, and they seemed to have understood the harmony of voices, and of instru- ments and voices. Moreover, in the accompaniment of penitential songs they employed trumpets, drums, shofars, and timbrels. The " Maneros," or popular songs and general choruses, were sung on occasions of processions and religious festivals. The Greeks, in their theory of music and in their melody and rhythm, adopted Egyptian, Lyd- ian, and Phoenician traditions. Their innate sense of beauty and proportion saved them from those barbarisms which had marred the work of earlier nations. Music among them assumed a dignity and importance in its relation to the state un- dreamed of in earlier times. It became a factor in the education of the individual. It grew to be a part of the daily life of the people, though never as a self-sustaining art distinct from that which it accompanied. It was regarded as a strong incen- Keller, Geschichte der Music, Leipsic, 1893. 2 6 VOICE BUILDING. tive to virtue. It had a place in devotional exer- cises and in the public games, and was considered an essential accessory to that classical drama of Athens which was always produced with imposing surroundings, and which in its pure intellectuality has never been surpassed. The instrumental ac- companiment to it was probably made up of flutes and citharas. The music was sung in unison, careful attention being bestowed upon the rhythm. Nothing in the theoretical works of the Greek writers indicates that their knowledge of music in- cluded that of harmony, although the use of the octave, the fifth, and the fourth were common among them, and, indeed, their tonal art was prob- ably but the handmaid of Poetry. The modern composer manipulates the metres and syllables ac- cording to the music, whereas the Greek maestro shaped the melody to the words. Burney, in his history of music, remarks that, passionately fond as the Greeks were of all kinds of music, there is nothing in their extant treatises on the art, or in the fragments of their melodies which are preserved, to indicate that they had at- tained such efficiency in composition as would make their performances agreeable to modern ears. How far this statement may be modified, in view of the beautiful choral ode to Apollo, discovered a year TIII-: ORIGIN OF MUSIC. 7 ago at Delphi, and performed in Athens and Lon- don, to the intense delight of a critical audience, remains to be seen. That so cultured a people as the Greeks should not have developed the principles of harmony, might excite a certain wonder, until one remem- bers that the severest simplicity characterized their art, which was preserved in its purity to the end. When singers began to embellish their tunes we find Aristophanes, in his comedy The Clouds, com- ing down upon them thus : " Had any one for sport essayed such shakes and trills to practise, Like Phrynis has now introduced, neck-breaking skip and flourish, Of stripes he'd had a measure full, for holy art corrupting." Plato maintained that that music only which ennobled the mind should be tolerated, and that it was the duty of the lawgivers to suppress that which possessed merely sensual qualities. And so as music was, in a sense, a recognised factor in the preservation of public virtue, the jealous care with which its integrity was guarded closed the only avenue to its true and perfect development. That work was left to a later civilization. The Athen- ian youth in the meantime were instructed in both the art of singing and of playing on instru- 8 VOICE BUILDING. ments, such accomplishments being considered es- sential for an entree into the cultured society of Athens. Yocal songs called " Orthian," written only on the highest notes, and which had to be sung with great vigour and intensity, were very popular, and therefore much practised. We have nothing to prove that either oratory or the use of the voice were cultivated among the Egyptians. The political institutions of Greece, however, and the construction of her assemblies, led inevitably to the development of oratorical powers. In the schools of rhetoric young men were sys- tematically trained in the art of speaking. The Sophists, who presided over many of these, were the first to intone, a habit still practised by certain religious sects. Isocrates was the head of a celebrated school of oratory in Athens. His great aim was to perfect his pupils in the art of speaking and of appropriate gesture, and he may, perhaps, be considered the first model for Delsarte. Aristotle, to be sure, laid little stress on the rules of art, maintaining that the substance of a man's speech was of greater moment than the correctness of the form into which it might be moulded, the truth in an argu- ment being of more importance than any gesture of the speaker. THE ORIGIN OF MUSIC. 9 The purely professional voice trainers were the Phonarci. These Phonarci endeavoured to culti- vate the voice both for singing and speaking. They taught enunciation, and proper modulation and inflection of the voice. Most Athenian youths were given a course of training under them, and great rivalry in declamation sprang up in Athens, leading eventually to the establishment of public contests, where prizes were given for elocution. These contests took place in the open air, and from the endeavour to be heard at a distance the speakers and actors were led to such excessive vo- ciferation that Plutarch had to warn his pupils, lest they should bring on rupture and convulsions through undue effort. The Greeks, however, in addition to their knowl- edge of how a voice should be cultivated by exer- cises and training, understood as well how it should be preserved by dieting and hygienic measures. In speaking they were accustomed to use a demulcent liquid containing tragacanth. Onions and garlic were considered beneficial to the vocal organs, as were also leguminous vegetables, fish, and eels. Cubebs, too, seem to have been extensively used. Certain springs were visited as possessing properties beneficial to the voice, especially one near Zama, which seems to have been a sort of Greek Wies- 10 VOICE BUILDING. baden. The Greek physicians used such agents as gum arabic, tragacanth, extract of pine, oil of almonds, thyme oil, etc., for throat and res- piratory troubles. Cold drinks were studiously avoided by singers and speakers, who were also careful as to their mode of life, avoiding all ex- cesses in eating and drinking, keeping themselves in every way in the best mental and physical condition. Turning from Greece to Eome, we find that, notwithstanding the greatness of the Komans in all that relates to government and the constructive arts, the art of music never reached the same develop- ment it had attained among the Greeks, from whom they inherited it. Eventually it fell to depths of degradation, which fortunately have never been equalled in subsequent history. The Etruscans brought the traditions of the Greek school to the Romans, and the instruments used by them the flute, the cithara, and the lyre ; but, while Rome derived from Greece the basis of its musical theory, the life of the people was not one to promote any further development of the art. Rome was without a dignified drama of its own, and the stimulating influence of poetry. The best of her lyric poets, even Horace, lacked the passionate heart expression of the Greek THE ORIGIN OF MUSIC. H inuses, and their verses did not invite musical treat- ment. However, certain of the Romans did gain an in- sight into the true principles of music, for Diodorus, A. D. 50, introduced the major third into their dia- tonic scale as a consonance, and thus they established a prototype of our diatonic scale. The Greeks used the diatonic, chromatic, and what they called the enharmonic scale. The art of music hi Rome at one time received a beneficial impulse from the Dionysic rites, introduced into Rome by the Greek colonists in southern Italy. But the tendency to sensualism soon usurped the place of the pure love of beauty, the dance degenerated into voluptuous costuming, music was at best cultivated to increase the pleasures of life, and the divine art reached such a state of degradation that it fell into the hands of licentious women, and it was expunged, by order of the state, from the curriculum of Roman education. Oratory and the training of the voice, on the other hand, were as carefully practised among the Romans as among the Greeks. Rhetoric and oratory were taught systematically, and indeed The Institutions of Oratory, by Quintilian, is the most complete and systematic treatise of the kind we have inherited from the ancients, and superior to anything pro- duced by the Greeks on the same subject. This 12 VOICE BUILDING. work covers the whole question, from the education of the youth to his development into a complete orator. He gives minute and judicious advice on the management and treatment of the voice, and brings out clearly the difference between the aims of the speaker and the singer. He also advised the cultivation of the voice in the middle register, declar- ing that the deeper tones lacked force, while in the higher the voice is in danger of being cracked. He observes that, in speaking, the breath should not be drawn in too often, or the sentences will be unneces- sarily broken and jerky. He seems, however, to have believed, like so many of our throat specialists to-day, in heroic treat- ment of the vocal organs. Emulcent applications are advised by him. As is well known, oratory, as such, reached a very high plane in Rome. The Roman drama, how- ever, though resembling to a certain degree that of the Greeks, was but a poor imitation of it. The Romans never rose to any height in tragedy, and, in their disregard for music, they found it easy to dis- pense with the chorus. As a consequence, voice culture, as it existed on the Greek stage, was un- known among them. Interesting in this connection is the fact that there is good reason for believing that the Roman actors intoned or chanted their THE ORIGIN OF MUSIC. 13 speeches to a musical accompaniment, in a manner somewhat similar, perhaps, to the recitative of a modern opera. Passing from Rome to the middle ages, we find oratory preserved and eloquence cultivated by the early fathers of the Church. Between the fifth and twelfth centuries, however, oratory with the other arts slept, until in the latter century a revival took place in Italy, which has culminated in the enlight- enment of the present age. Throughout the eccle- siastical reign of scholarship the untutored people had a music of their own, which, in its tonal and rhythmical affinities to that of later date, commands present sympathy, and which, having the element of harmony, was the foundation of whatever science and art have together attained. A great musical resurrection took place in Flan- ders in the fifteenth century. The Flemings founded schools in Rome, Florence, and Naples, and the rise of art in Germany as well, was directly due to their influence. Adopted by the Church for the people, the principles of harmony were reduced to a system under the name of counterpoint, though counter- point was developed, according to some authorities, in England during the thirteenth century. It is in- teresting to note that the first choral service was instituted at Antioch about the time of Constantine, 14 VOICE BUILDING. whence St. Ambrose introduced it in the Western churches. The rise of popular music in Europe is intimately connected with the practice of minstrelsy. The public singer, reciter, and story teller appear, as we know, early in the civilization of almost every country. The representatives of this class, however, who have perhaps exerted most influence over modern music, are the Provencal poets or Troubadours, who arose in France toward the end of the tenth century. Finally, the crowning achievement in the musical development of the voice was the invention of the lyric drama, where the power of music to awaken emotions is applied to the systematic illustration of human passions. The first public performance of regular opera took place in Florence in the year 1600, when the Eurydice of Einuccini and Peri was represented in honour of the wedding of Marie de Medici and Henry IY of France. The further de- velopment of opera, up to the time of Mozart, Beet- hoven, and Weber, to Wagner and Verdi, need not be treated here. It is interesting, however, to re- call the fact that Greek tragedy was essentially lyric, and that it fell asleep with other forms of classic art, to be awakened at the end of the tenth century. CHAPTEK II. THE ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE LARYNX. YOICE consists of sounds produced by the vibra- tions of two elastic bands the true vocal cords situated in the larynx, an upper modified portion of that passage which leads from the lungs to the pharynx. This apparatus is not, however, in con- stant activity, but, on the contrary, allows the air to pass without imparting sonant vibrations to it. It is only, in fact, under certain conditions, which are dependent upon our will, that the vocal cords are put in such a position that the air driven past them is set into periodic vibration, causing them to emit a musical note. The lungs and respiratory muscles are therefore accessory parts of the vocal apparatus, the strength of the blast produced by them deter- mining the loudness of the voice. The vocal appa- ratus of the larynx itself is exceedingly simple, its character being that of a membranous reed instru- ment, consisting of two elastic plates stretched so as to leave a narrow fissure between. "When a current 16 VOICE BUILDING. of air passes through this fissure, they are thrown into vibration. The mechanism, however, by which these membranous reeds are adjusted for musical vibration, and the further adaptation of this adjust- ment for the creation of tones of various pitch, is withal very delicate and complicated. The size of the larynx primarily determines the pitch of the voice, which is lower the longer the vocal cords ; hence the shrill voices of children and the usually higher pitch in that of women. Every voice, while its general pitch is dependent upon the length of the vocal cords, has, however, a certain range within limits which determines whether it shall be soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto, tenor, barytone, or bass. This variety is produced by the delicate mechanism above referred to that is, by the muscles of the larynx which alter the tension of the vocal cords and the position of the cartilages of the larynx itself. The vocal cords alone would produce but feeble sounds. Those that they do emit are strengthened by the sympathetic resonance of the air in the thorax below and in the pharynx and nose and mouth above, the action of which may be compared to the sounding board of a violin. By the movements of the throat, as of the palate, tongue, cheeks, and lips, the sounds emitted from the larynx are altered or supplemented in various ways and converted into articulate Ian- ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE LARYNX. 17 guage or speech. The larynx itself consists of a framework of cartilages partly joined by true syno- vial joints and partly bound together by ligaments and membranes. Muscles are added which move the cartilages with reference to one another and bring about the various adjustments of the vocal bands necessary for the production of vocal sounds. THE CARTILAGES OF THE LARYNX. The frame of the larynx is composed of five chief cartilages, namely, the thyroid, the cricoid, the two arytenoids, and the epiglottis. In addition to these, there are two small cartilages on either side, the cartilages of Santorini and of Wrisberg. THE THYROID. The thyroid, the largest of the cartilages of the larynx, consists of two large quadri- lateral plates, which meet at an angle in front, but separate behind to include the laryngeal space in which most of the remaining cartilages lie. In front the upper junction of the two plates is marked by a notch, more distinct in men than in women. The posterior borders of the two plates are extended above and below into projecting horns. The upper cornua give attachment to the thyro-hyoid ligaments, the lower, however, form a joint with the cricoid cartilage. The cricoid can be rotated on an axis passing through its joints with the lower horns of the thyroid. By the action of the crico-thyroid 18 VOICE BUILDING. muscles its front part is brought nearer the thyroid, as will be seen later. Behind and below the thyroid notch is the attachment of the epiglottic ligament, while immediately below this, on either side of the median line, are the attachments of the ventricular bands, and below these, those of the vocal cords. Immediately without the point of attachment of the vocal cords are inserted the thyro-arytenoid muscles. THE CRICOID. The cricoid cartilage is practically the upper ring of the trachea, only modified and en- Fio. 1. Arytenoid cartilages seen from behind : a, Cncoid carti- lage ; ft, articular facet for ar- ticulation with the inferior horn of the thyroid cartilage ; c, arytenoid cartilage ; d, car- tilage of Santorini. (Meyer.) Fio. 2. Side view of the vocal cords with the arytenoid car- tilage : , Cricoid cartilage ; x, articular surface for inferior horn of thy ro id cartilage ; ft, vo- cal cord ; c, vertical section of thyroid cartilage ; ~ should be used by beginners. Such exer- <^ cises invariably force and strain the voice. When the pupil, by practising the above scales, has learned to carry the timbre of the head register through the descending scale without disruption of breath, and has learned to attack c' in the same manner as c", then a series of ascending scales may be used. VOICE BUILDING. 175 All exercises may be transposed to suit the com pass of each voice. = t- DA & fc When the voice has become comparatively smooth and even by the use of these scales, exer- cises should be practised to strengthen particular sections. The short five-note figure should be used, with more variety in the musical form, and with the tempo slightly slower than in the scales. 176 VOICE BUILDING. First measurement of Intervals. ASHFOKTH. ^-^- -- *s \) i r* i r L4: Extension of Intervals. VOICE BUILDING. Exercises to produce flexibility of the muscles of the cheeks, lips, tongue, and throat may now be studied. A dental consonant should be used, though the vowel may be changed to suit the condition of the voice. The attack of the first note must be in- cisive, while the second note is staccato and soft. legato. LAXKOW. Di di di di di. Di. I II PP PP -^- r ^g^ 178 VOICE BUILDING. LA.NKOW. do. do. do. legato. legato. P%&^^4J=J= i= ii j i n j i * j i n 3Z2 * * ^ Do Do -&. = 1 tr & } & IF 1 ' ^ 1 II Jf ~4- P^ r^ Q JS^ 1 R R R R~ ^ J J J J ^T J ^ J ~ J Di di di di v -^ di di di di di di di di di! ^ s i 3. T * The jaw, soft palate and tongue must be relaxed. The tongue, especially, must be loose and kept in the front of the mouth. ^ J -*ci Do do do do do do do do m VOICE BUILDING. 179 LANKOW. &= j^^=^=j ^ do 1 j I 1 j -1 t==x=^- [ rL -T Jr^ ^ do do do do do do do. Do do do do do do do do. Do-a, do-a, do-a,do-a,do-a,do-a,do-a,do. y-g^ Do do do do do do do, do do do do do do do. The consonant must be more accentuated as intensity of tone increases. 180 VOICE BUILDING. SPEECH-EXERCISES. Exercises for enunciation should accompany the above studies. These quick staccato speech-exercises make the tongue and lips supple and aid greatly in learning to enunciate clearly and dis- tinctly. At first they may be practiced in a whisper, and afterwards sung mezza-voce. LANKOW. fa do Do re do do do re do do do re do do do re do do - IP3T-' 1 _ . ?*- t-j _ lg2 I _J 5_JL_ k& ^ sol do la do do. All the exercises to be modulated chromatically, according to the range of voice. VOICE BUILDING. 181 Exercise for learning the quick breathing in " demi-respiration." Breath to be taken after the staccato note and on the sixteenth rest only. -ffj r j^^^S H | p 3 Do do do T do do ^*r | 5? X j y 2 - * S *j * 1 Ur 1 ^-g^fs^ ^n do do . do do do do. I + i If =J I 1 II Now may follow studies for a more complete development of the entire range of voice and in- tensity of tone. Long sustained scales, which, by their character, give impetus to the voice, should be practised to develop the upper head tones and to give flexibility. Arpeggios and exercises for sus- taining tones should be used as the voice develops. The upper head tones should be treated very delicately. They should be sung mezza^voce until the voice is well under control, and at first should never be sustained. Even after the voice has been placed, care should be taken to avoid fatigue by practising them too loud or sustaining them for too long a time. 13 182 VOICE BUILDING. EXERCISES FOR THE LATER DEVELOPEMENT OF THE VOICE. Exercise for developement of upper tones. ASHFORTH. To be transposed chromatically according to range of voice. VOICE BUILDING. Exercise for full octave attack. 183 ASHFORTH. -I J J I a *= =5=t : VOICE BUILDING. =? Exercises in sustained tones. ASHFOKTH. VOICE BUILDING. Studies in Minor Scales. 185 GABCIA. 186 VOICE BUILDING. Studies for facilitating correct intonation. CJABCIA. VOICE BUILDING. Exercises for correct intonatic 187 HADAM EAMES. Trou,tru,treu,tre, tri. tro. tr Examples of Randegger Scales. 188 VOICE BUILDING. Exercises in sustained tones. No. 1. No. 3. VICTOR HAKHIS. No. 5. No. 6. *^ ah ... ^s. -o g ^ ^^^^- - ^^u ah . >-. . M-aw M-aw. ow. J i J J IF-* * r * *=* jp [1 i F ; r i H NO. r. No. H. No. 1. Sustained Tone. I Xo. 5. Diatonic Scalf to the Fifth, No. 2. Susfcaiued tone and Third. X... . In fervnl of the Fourth. No. 3. Sustained tone, Tliird iiiid Fifth. No. 1. Interv:.! of the Sixth. No. 4. Sustained ton..TIiir stands for both accent and sudden decrescendo. ARENS. /7N - PP JPP JPP fPP JPP JPP fPP JPP JPP etc. ha-a-a-a-a-a-a-a- a -a- a- a -ah. II i I ; I i I \ 1^ ^j '"^ "^ ^ PP~~JPP JPP JPP fPP etc. ha- a - a - a - a - a - a - a - a - a - a-a- a- a-a - a-a- ah. PP JPP JPP JPP JPP etc. ha - a - a - a - a -a-a-a-a- a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a- ah. Continue this up and down, including scales, arpeggios, and various figures; for instance: 196 VOICE BUILDING. etc. PP ha. etc. Staccato Exercises. Precede each a with an aspirated (imaginary) h. ABKNS. (h) a, (h) a, (h) a - a - a - a - a - a - a - a - a - a - a - a - a. Apply this to 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8 tones and arpeg- gios. Sometimes it is well to sing arpeggios legato up- ward and staccato downward. 'At first only half as fast as downward. Later, equally fast up and down. Semi-staccato. staccato. a) Humming with open lips. b) ha - a - a - a - a - a - ah, ha, ft, a, a, a, a, ah. VOICE BUILDING. 197 Semi-staccato up. Staccato down. ha - a - a - a - a - a - a - a - a, a, a, a, a, a, ah. Ditto. > > > '^T '' j_-=i-,' ' i -* ^^nJ -I i I =z= IHtto. Diito. Lastly: Staccato up and down, both, scales and arpeggios. Throughout the above exercises, as indicated else- where, the apparatus should perform these feats au- tomatically, easily, spontaneously, always provided that conditions are perfect. Combination of Staccato and Legato. Some of the finest and most effective musical phrases, whether vocal or instrumental, are the re- 14 198 VOICE BUILDING. suit of judicious intermixing of legato., semi-stac- cato, and staccato elements in one and the same phrase. Thus, at the end of the Innammatus Aria (Rossini's " Stabat Mater ") we have a combination of legato and semi-staccato: VERDI. Con-fo - ve - ti '- a. Again, in Mozart's beautiful Eondo " Non mi dir" (Don Giovanni) we have a combination of legato, semi-staccato, and pure staccato: MOZAKT. etc. Still another favorite combination is found in the same aria three measures earlier: MOZART. etc. VOICE BUILDING. 199 i. e,, short legato phrases of 2, 3, or 4 tones ending on a staccato tone. Between these staccato tones the breathing apparatus suspends operations. This tem- porary suspension holds good, even where there is an actual rest, as for instance in Verdi's Bolero, Merce dilette amiche (I Vespri Sicilian!). VERDI. -^ I?E etc. ah! While a thoroughly developed breathing appa- ratus will attend to these and similar " feats " au- tomatically, always assuming a free throat and cor- rect tone-placement, it is well to prepare the pupil's mind for these phrases by simple exercises such as these : COMBINED LEGATO, SEMI-STACCATO, AND PURE STACCATO. ARKNS. Hah! etc. -ajflf 1 1 | -Jf IE ! | -X * X ft -1 $p ^ * ^ g fr^-ff * n i ;= cs 2 s 5 1 i | I I * Ped. # etc. 200 m VOICE BUILDING. rit. * a tempo. -W i ^g r w fc * i i P=-^*! F-^ 'U>^| ' fj ^-^ I -d 3 ! a tempo. j 1 \ s- J J J 1 1 H * t *i % * -m =t= Legato, semi-staccato, and staccato are indicated by the following signs: Legato s N, semi-staccato x""**> , pure staccato > > > * Swell Notes Crescendo and Decrescendo. (Messa di Voce.) This should be done absolutely by the breathing apparatus. Strictly speaking, it is wrong to open the mouth wider as the volume increases, or to close it as the volume decreases; for the crescendo or decrescendo which is gotten in this manner is illegiti- mate, not having its source in the breathing appa- VOICE BUILDING. 201 ratus. Opening the mouth after these exercises have been acquired may be added for dramatic effect. This naturally leads us to consider pianissimo and fortissimo singing. Here, again, it is the abso- lute control of the diaphragm and intercostals which renders the softest tone easy and efficient. // we imagine the degree of strength we wish, the well-trained breathing apparatus will furnish this degree of strength from the softest pianissimo to the loudest fortissimo without assistance, other than respiratory, on the part of the singer, provided the throat is free and tone-placement is perfect. Exercises to establish the correct idea of fortis- simo and pianissimo, with absolute sameness of throat attitude : (In a majority of cases pupils tighten the throat muscles, and consequently destroy the respiratory equilibrium when singing pianissimo.) ARENS. ^!\ V f*\ V SS\ m /T\ V /7\ f /7\ / ha, p ha, / ha, p ha, / ha, p ha. /ha, 202 VOICE BUILDING. /ha, p ha, /ha, p ha. etc., up to 4, 5, 6, 8 tones and arpeggios. . Echo. ., / Ship a-hoy, a-hoy, pj3 Ship a-hoy, a-hoy./ Ship a-boy., <^T~~ cud, lib. a-hoy. Echo. Ship a - hoy, .... a - hoy . The pupil must realize that the breathing appa- ratus alone should be employed to produce fortis- simo and pianissimo effects. Crescendo and Decrescendo Exercises. Insist upon pupil's mind being centered on the matter of increased and decreased respiration., or else he will gradually tighten the intrinsic muscles. ha, ha. VOICE BUILDING. 203 Gradually extend this to pp. and ff. It is well to combine " Messa di Voce" exercise with flexibility; thus: This is conducive to greater relaxation of the throat muscles. Exercise for Acquisition of Relaxed Throat. Take breath pantingly; gradually slower and deeper; after last and deepest breath, retain same, counting five. To avoid tightening throat muscles, while retaining breath, rotate head gently all the while, " realizing how very loose the throat feels." Establish funnel-shaped lips by simply allowing cheek muscles to push lips outward, without in the least contracting the lip muscles (puckering lips). Then, starting with a slight puff, blow out gently against palm of hand; regularly, inaudibly, freely, allowing the sensation of the blowing against the hand to regulate such blowing out. This estab- lished, blow out audibly on some convenient tone, 204 VOICE BUILDING. with exactly the same sensation of absolute freedom of throat and lip muscles. Retain funnel shape throughout; often move head gently. Let last tone continue until breath is nearly ex- hausted. Don't "hold" it. AUENS. /7s Who, who,. who,. who, | up to Bfy then : f who, . who, who, who, . . /T\ V s- who,. who, ... who,. who, VOICE BUILDING. 205 EXERCISES FOR SINGING UPWARD. ARENS. Who, who,... who.. Melody : S tones. who, . . who. who, who,, Jat who Melody : U tones. Arpeggio No. I. (5 tones). pi who, who, .... who, . Melody : 5 tones who, who, who,. Arpeggio No. IT. (6 tones). who,. 206 VOICE BUILDING. Melody : 6 tones. who,. 8*-- -+*- who, who Melody : 7 tones. who, who, who, who, Arpeggio : 8 tones. who,. who. who, These arpeggios, when taken faster, may be re- peated twice, three times, and until breath is not quite exhausted. Later the large arpeggios may be added : These exercises are given in their order on who, i. e., on the smallest funnel-shaped vowel ; often it becomes advisable to change vowels to ho, ha, lie, etc., or to ^prefix an hm as in hmoo, hmo, hmaw, lima. A compass of five tones, up and down, affords suf- VOICE BUILDING. 207 ficient means for a complete development of all vow- els. The opening between the teeth is slightly in- creased in going higher up. The length of time a singer should practise de- pends much upon the character and condition of the voice. Specific rules can not be given. Madam Melba, when asked how many hours of practice a day she would advise for a pupil, said : " Xo hours for a beginner, but minutes. I myself never practise more than an hour a day, and usually much less." Forty minutes or an hour of actual voice prac- tice is quite sufficient to develop most voices. This time should be divided into periods of ten or fifteen minutes each. Long hours of practice will not hasten the work of voice building. They only fatigue the voice and wear it out. Regularity in practice is the greatest aid to advancement. The voice develops gradually, and nothing will be gained in trying to force its natural growth by continuous hours of work. All the work of learning and memorizing music should be mental. When the mind is concen- trated upon learning the melody, rhythm, and con- struction of a composition the voice should not be used. The attention can not be given successfully to 208 VOICE BUILDING. the learning of vocalizes, songs, arias, etc., and at the same time to the proper use of the voice. There should be a thorough knowledge of the music before any attempt is made to sing it. The student, in usual daily practice, should not sing in full voice. The secret of fresh notes is the mezza-voce practice. The high tones in the voice, especially, should be practised piano. Songs should be sung quietly, and more atten- tion given to purely musical phrasing than dramatic expression. It might be well in this connection again to re- fer to the subject of respiration, treated in another chapter. As proper breathing is of utmost importance in phrasing, the pupil must constantly practise advanc- ing the chest and drawing in the abdomen. It should be impressed upon the pupil that this atti- tude must be assumed before a full inspiration is taken. At first this exercise is accomplished with diffi- culty, but after a time the high chest may be main- tained indefinitely without the slightest fatigue. The practice of high-chest breathing may be begun in this manner: 1. The chest must be raised, but not the shoul- ders. VOICE BUILDING. 209 2. A deep inspiration must be taken. 3. The alphabet should be said slowly and dis- tinctly, with the hands on the upper chest, until the chest is felt to fall; then the chest must be elevated again entirely by the muscles, not breathing until it is raised and fixed. At first only a few letters can be spoken before the chest is felt to give way, but after a time the alphabet can be repeated several times without another inspiration. In like manner the chest should be raised and kept in that position while walking a block, until, finally, this mode of breathing with a fixed high chest becomes so natural that for miles one can continue it without fatigue. It must not be understood that this method of respiration is a sine qua non for all singers, and that it must be used upon all occasions; but we must insist that these exercises develop the chest in a truly wonderful degree, and their employment gives to the voice a charm and quality which is es- pecially necessary in preliminary voice building. Any one who may take pains to observe will see to what an extent the De Reszkes, Maurel, and Plan- c,on make use of this method, as well as Nordica, Melba, Eames, Calve, and many others. Not a few of our male singers wear an abdominal belt, which they strap tightly during a performance; this is of particular service to one who is trying to cure him- 210 VOICE BUILDING. self of the bad habit of so-called abdominal respira- tion. These breathing exercises should antedate vocal training, as it is much easier to acquire a good habit than rid one's self of a bad one. Their use should also be accompanied by light gymnastics, much outdoor exercise, and, above all things, by plenty of bathing. In speaking of bathing, it is of the utmost importance that the skin should be kept very active, and this is best accomplished by taking a warm bath on rising in the morning, and, after a thorough scrubbing of the skin, one should dash cold water over the chest and neck with a sponge, while the feet remain in warm water. This manner of bathing avoids all disagreeable shock and imparts the greatest vigour to the skin. To pour a pitcher of cold water down the spinal column after a warm bath is of great value where an additional stimulus to the nervous system is necessary. These hygienic suggestions, as well as the im- portance of the above-mentioned respiratory exer- cises, should not be undervalued, as the bodily health of the singer is a great element of success in a life of necessary hardship and nervous strain. As this book does not pretend to discuss any theory of advanced musical training, but only to touch upon the elements of tone placing and the ru- dimentary principles of voice building, the later de- VOICE BUILDING. 211 velopment of the voice must be accomplished under the guidance of a teacher who will give attention to technic, phrasing, style, etc. It is in the prelimi- nary work that many voices are injured. If, how- ever, the proper attack and tone focus is employed, it will be found difficult to do but temporary injury to a voice, even by overwork. We trust that a care- ful study of the simple principles laid down in this little volume will at least have been an indication to the student that his path lies in the right direc- tion, or otherwise. The question has been asked so many times How r can one describe a perfect tone? While it is a question of ear in a great measure, there is a very simple experiment which may be resorted to, which will aid greatly in educating the ear to a proper appreciation of forward production and good place- ment. It may be described as follows: 1. Separate the teeth the thickness of the first finger without opening the lips. 2. Place the finger between the lips in front of the teeth. 3. Make a tone and " wabble " the finger up and down breaking the sound. If the voice is well placed, the tone will be interrupted by every vibra- tion of the finger. So, in every tone of a song, the finger may be used between the lips in the same 212 VOICE BUILDING. manner, and, if the tone is properly placed, the sound will be broken; while if sung in the throat, without employing the mouth as a resonator, there will be no interruption of the tone. EXERCISES FOR EXPANDING THE CHEST AND INCREASING EESPIRATORY CAPACITY. Experiment has shown that deep breathing done at regular intervals expands the chest and increases the capacity of the lungs. Any increase of lung capacity is of benefit to voice production. The greater the respiratory capacity the more homogene- ous the phrase. Shallow breathing causes a weak and jerky alignment with unnecessary inspiration during singing. A reserve supply of breath gives the auditor a reciprocal feeling of confidence and permits the enjoyment of the performance to the utmost. We must remember that our attitude in singing becomes the unconscious attitude of the lis- tener. If we sing "throaty/' the throats of the audience reflect the strain and become distinctly un- comfortable; so with incomplete and too frequent respiration, the auditors become unconsciously rest- less, and though they may be unable to explain the reason, the singer does not please them. The simulation of unconscious effort is the de- sideratum on the part of the singer. The audience VOICE BUILDINX*. 213 pulsates with you, if you appeal to its emotions, but anything you do to mar the sense of subjective co- operation offends the ear as well as the receptive sense, and the result is the failure to arouse any enthusiasm among the listeners. The following sys- tem of exercises has been found to be particularly beneficial to singers: Deep Breathing Exercises with Muscles in Tension. Attention: Stand erect with arms hanging. EXERCISE I: 1. Elevate chest by muscles alone; 2. Take a deep inspiration; 3. Say the alphabet as far or as many times as you can, without lowering the chest; 4. Expire; 5. Lower the chest and relax as in Attention. This exercise may be repeated until the alphabet can be said several times on one expiration. EXERCISE II: 1. Elevate chest; 2. Inspire; 3. Extend arms, thumbs up; 4. Tense arm muscles, cramping fingers; 5. Flex arms at elbows until fingers touch chest repeat two to four times; 6. Attention; 7. Forced expiration; 8. Lower the chest; 9. Rest. 16 VOICE BUILDING. EXERCISE III: tSame as in II, except thumbs are back, then arm is flexed upward, as in Fig. 2, con- tinuing, the fingers are brought to the if!* I shoulders. Eepeat two to four times. EXERCISE IV: Same as II, except arms are hanging at sides, thumbs out, and the arm is flexed, bringing fingers to shoulders. The upper arm does not change its position in these exercises. EXERCISE V: Attention, same as in all, with elevation of chest and deep inspiration, then tense arm, - leg, and body muscles. Thumbs together ,f^ in front, palms toward floor. 1. Push J| down an imaginary resisting body, bending the back (Fig. 3); 2. Little fingers to- gether, palms up. Lift a heavy weight, all muscles in tension, until erect, then repeat once, then Exercise II, 6, 7, 8, 9, as before. The latter exercise will throw the strongest indi- vidual into a profuse perspiration in a few repeti- tions, and on account of its severity, it should not be attempted by students with heart complications. VOICE BUILDING. 215 EXERCISE VI: Stand at bed or table, resting left hand on * same; Elevate chest; Inspire; 1. Eaise L- right knee to level of hip joint (Fig. 4) ; L 2. Extend right foot as far forward as 7*/7 ^ possible; 3. Carry the leg backward in extension, the body bending slightly for- ward; 4. Flex leg as much as possible Y(Fig. 5) ; 5. Bring it forward, flexed into first position (Fig. 4). Repeat with both legs several times, leg muscles always in tension. EXERCISE VII : " Little Samuel." Hands together at chest as in prayer, body re- laxed, thumbs touching. 1. Shoot arms up- ward, thumbs passing nose; separate and drop arms, backs of hands tending to come to- gether at back, thumbs always backward. Come back to first position through the same arc; 2. Drop the hands, thumbs touching hips, then continuing upward, thumbs always pointing back, to a position as at start in Exercise III, except there is a complete rota- tion of the hand. Eeturn to first position through the same arc and repeat in turn, increasing the rapidity. This exercise is done 216 VOICE BUILDING. in relaxation. It is the best body gymnastic for the singer, as it develops the chest and back muscles, and tends to produce a good carriage of the body. This exercise should always conclude the tension exercises. The pupil, in cooling off, should stand erect with the shoulders back. The simple repetition of these exercises once or twice a day will suffice to keep the pupil in the most excellent physi- cal condition. CHAPTEK IX. VOICE FIGURES. A ROD, fixed at one end, vibrating either as a whole or divided into segments and producing a musical note, may be beautifully demonstrated and its sonorous vibrations made visible by a simple and ingenious optical method designed by Sir Charles Wheatstone. We shall presently see that the vibra- tions of the vocal cords, or rather the tonefe pro- duced by the cords, may be also pictured for our delight and edification. Chladni was the first to render sonorous vibrations visible. If fine sand is scattered over a square metallic plate and the mid- dle point of one of its edges is damped by touching it with the finger nail, and a bow is drawn across the edge of the plate near one of its corners, the sand is tossed away from certain parts of the sur- face and collects along two nodal lines which divide the large square into four smaller ones, as in Fig. 44. This division of the plate corresponds to its lowest tone. 'Scattering sand once more over its 217 218 VOICE BUILDING. surface and damping one of the corners of the plate, if we draw a bow across the middle of one of its sides the sand again dances over its surface, and finally arranges itself in two sharply defined ridges over its diagonals (Fig. 45). The note here pro- duced is the fifth above the last. By damping it in different places we can produce a series of notes, each of which will give its own particular picture, FIG. 44. FIG. 45. as may be seen from the beautiful series of patterns shown below (Fig. 46). If the shadow of a vibrat- ing rod is thrown upon the screen and it is damped at the point a (Fig. 47), and struck sharply between a and 0, the rod divides into two vibrating parts separated by a node, and we see upon the screen a shadowy spindle between a and its fixed point be- low, and a shadowy fan above a with a black node between them. This is the simplest method of making visible the vibrations of such a rod. To show those vibrations of this rod which are rapid FIG. 220 VOICE BUILDING. enough to produce a musical sound, Sir Charles Wheatstone attached a glass bead, silvered within, to the end of a metal rod, and by allowing the light of a lamp or candle to fall upon the bead a small, intensely illuminated spot is obtaine.l. When the rod vibrates, this spot describes a brilliant line, which shows the character of the vibration. In Wheatstone's instrument, called the kaleido- phone, the vibrating rods are screwed firmly into a massive stand and a condensed light is permitted to fall upon the sil- vered bead, a spot of sunlike brilliancy being thus obtained. Placing a lens in front of the bead a bright image of the spot is thrown upon the screen. If the rod is drawn aside and suddenly liberated, the spot describes a ribbon of light, at first straight, but speedily opening out into an ellipse which passes into a circle, and this back again to a second ellipse, into a straight line. If we now draw a violin bow across the rod, or, in other words, cause it to vibrate in segments, a musical note will be heard, and an FIG. 47. VOICE FIGURES. 221 almost infinite variety of luminous scrolls can be produced, the beauty of which may be inferred from the subjoined figures, first obtained by Wheat- stone (Fig. 48). FIG. 48. VOICE BUILDING. Sound waves in a bell, as well as in a rod or a vibrating plate, may be made visible ; we can get in beautiful ripples an expression of its sonorous tones. If a bell glass is filled with ether or with alcohol, a short sweep of the bow over the edge of the glass detaches the liquid spherules Avhicli, when they fall back, do not mix with the liquid, but are driven over the surface on wheels of vapour to the. FIG. 49. FIG. 50. nodal lines. We are indebted to M. Melde for this beautful experiment, the result of which is shown- in Figs. 49 and 50, and shows what occurs when the surface is divided into four or six vibrating parts. Tyndall says in this connection : " The rip- ples of the tide leave their impressions upon the sand over which they pass, and the ripples produced by sonorous vibration have been proved by Faraday to do the same. Attaching a plate of glass to ;i VOICE FIGURES. FIG 51. long flexible board and pouring a thin layer of water over the surface of the glass, on causing the board to vibrate its tremors cause the water to chase into a beautiful mosaic of ripples." A thin stratum of sand strewed upon the plate is acted upon by the water and carved into pat- terns, of which Fig. 51 is a re- duced specimen. However beautiful and inter- esting these visible results of so- norous vibrations, they do not compare in beauty and delicacy to the pictures which may be, under certain conditions, pro- duced by the tones of the human voice. It remained for Mrs. Watts-Hughes, of London, to take the first pictures, if we may use the term, of the tones of the human voice. The voice figures were first shown in London in FIG. 52. The eido- phone. 18$5. and are described by her 224 VOICE BUILDING. in The Century Magazine for May, 1891. They were obtained by singing into an instrument called the eidophone (Fig. 52). It is a simple tube bent upward at one end, over which a membrane of india FIG. 53. Seaweed or landscape form. rubber is stretched. A film of water is poured over this, and on it is smoothed a layer of very light pow- der, which has been made into a paste. The notes VOICE FIGURES. 22: are siing into the other end of the tube and the paste on the membrane forms itself into a variety of ex- FIG. 54. Daisy form. quisite figures corresponding to the different notes sung. These forms may be taken on a piece of glass as well as on the membrane by letting the glass rest lightly over it as the notes are produced. Writing of Mrs. Watts-Hughes's voice pictures in the London Spectator for October 26, 1889, Miss Isabelle Barrington speaks of a visit she made to Mrs. Hughes's Home for Poor Little Boys at Is- lington, and she says : " Instead of blinds or cur- tains drawn across the Ipwer panes of the windows, there are wonderful designs in colour, strange, beau- 226 VOICE BUILDING. tiful things suggesting objects in Nature, but which are certainly neither exact repetitions or imitations of anything in it. Perfectly drawn designs of shell- like forms, of trumpet and snake-like designs, twisted and involved in complicated curves, im- pelled on to the glass seemingly by the force of a power like that which impels and weaves into vary- ing shapes the steam from the funnel of an engine. Thus pictured on the glass they are rendered into the most elaborate and perfectly drawn perspective, each curve coloured and toned with gradations as FIG. 55. Pansv form. subtile as those of the most beautiful shell or the most delicate petal of a flower. Strange and sug- gestive indeed are these window panes which the void-: Fi<;rm-:s. 9 L >7 little boys at Islington have to look through. They see weird caverns at the bottom of the sea, full of beautiful coloured sea anemones and mussel shells, Fir,. 56. Fern form. headless snakes, entanglements of flower and leaf- like forms, all seemingly vital with the same laws of growth as those which inspired the creation of the designs in Nature which they suggest." The daisylike shapes shown in Fig. 5 were produced by very low notes, some of them by an A in the first space of the bass clef, sung firmly and sharply. The globules of paste when this note is struck will be seen leaping and spluttering all over the membrane, and end by forming in a heap in the centre of the same. The character of the note is 228 VOICE BUILDING. then altered, but not the pitch. It is simply sung much more gently. From the heaps in the centre the paste flies out in starlike shapes to unequal distances. Sometimes two such furtive attempts will be made to form a definite figure, when sud- denly a perfect and symmetrical row of petals will FIG. 57. Serpent form. start out and create with the centre heap an exquis- itely finished, daisylike form (Fig. 54). Sometimes even three rows of petals will be the answer to the note sung, whereas at others one row will be im- perfect and will require the note to be produced again and again before the figure will become per- VOICE FIGURES. 220 feet. Mrs. Hughes says that under certain condi- tions other varieties of figures are formed, which she describes as resembling the pansy (Fig. 55), the marigold, the chrysanthemum, and the sunflower, and she goes on to say that the special feature of this daisy class is a ring or rings of petals, generally pretty even in size, surrounding the raised centre. The number of petals may be from six to thirty or more, the number increasing with every rise of the pitch of the note sung. They usually appear as a single layer, but Mrs. Hughes has noticed two, three, or four layers of petals partly overlapping one an- other, showing the same difference which we see between our double and treble garden flowers and their simple wild progenitors. Other forms of voice flowers which Mrs. Hughes describes as the pansy class included forms like the violet, primrose, and geranium. The great care and delicacy in singing which are demanded for the production of these floral forms will afford ample training for any vo- calist in sustaining notes varying from the softest pianissimo to a very loud forte, since every grade of intensity is required in its turn in order to evoke these forms in their various sizes, ranging from that of a pinhead to a large-sized daisy. She goes on to say that when these notes have been sung with spe- cial force she has observed that along with the figure 16 230 VOICE BUILDING. usually appearing, certain additional curves and forms present themselves, and she is convinced that these latter are produced by overtones which are FIG. 58. Cross-vibration figure. t usually inaudible, even to a well-trained ear. Car- rying out the suggestion given us by the way these flowers are formed, may it not be that a perfect pic- iur-e that is, a flower perfect in its details can only be produced by a particular note perfectly sung ? Indeed it would seem that the infinite deli- cacy, intricacies, and differences of the human voice may find their counterpart in the variations of these flowery forms, and dramatic expression and emotion VOICE FIGURES. 231 have also their effect in varying the exquisite tracery. In singing the shell- and trumpet-like figures (Figs. 57 and 58) Mrs. Hughes sings the middle notes of her voice with great intensity. In these forms, how- ever, she uses a paste made not with a white powder, but with Prussian blue, madder lake, or, indeed, any colour which she finds will respond readily to her voice and will work easily on to the glass or mem- Fio. 59. Tree form. brane. At the Arts and Crafts Exposition in 1889, Mrs. Hughes exhibited a number of these beautiful pictures, and Miss Barrington says of them that in these voice pictures the old saying that " Colour is 232 VOICE BUILDING. quality " is amply exemplified. " Most of the voice figures have been sung into the most ordinary col- ours, but the exquisite perfection and finish of the designs, and the subtile toning, shading, and grada- tion which the tones of the voice give to this ordi- nary paste and vvater produce an exquisite quality and beauty of colour which might be a lesson to any painter." The variations in colour and perfection in detail of these voice pictures it seems to us are but the pictorial expression of the richness of any given voice in overtones. The more perfect the production of the notes and the richer the voice in overtones, the more beautiful and delicate the pic- ture. We are under a great debt of gratitude to Mrs. Hughes for having shown us that the human voice may be a source of delight even to those whom we know as tone deaf, not to mention the scientific interest which these beautiful pictures possess. CHAPTER X. THE TOXOGRAPH. IT was the consideration of these flower forms that led to the experiments which were undertaken to demonstrate that correct tone production could be recorded upon a membranous disc in geometric figures. In 1896 the author devised a metal tube with a bell-shaped cup at the end at right angles to the tube, over the rim of which was stretched a thin rubber membrane, the so-called rubber dam of the dentist. By sprinkling a certain mixture of emery and common salt upon the disc and singing a tone into the open end of the tube, it was found that every note of the octave produced a beautiful and intricate geometric form, the lines of which repre- sented the fundamental note and the overtones of the voice. The figure produced by any note of like pitch with a given horn, which was called the tono- graph, was the same for every voice, but the lines which composed the figure varied in strength, as the particular overtone which produced that line was 233 234 VOICE BUILDING. accentuated or feeble. With this tonograph, as with Koenig's apparatus, it may be proved that the tim- FIG. 60. c" on the staff. FIG. 61. c" f above the staff, sung by a coloratura soprano. FIG. 62. c"' above the staff, sung by a dramatic soprano. FIG. 63. 0" on the staff. bre of various voices is dependent upon the vary- ing intensity of the overtones which accompany the fundamental tone. The construction of the tono- THE TONOGRAPH. 235 FIG. 64. /' above the stafi. FIG. 65. d"' above the stafll FIG. 66. b'. FIG. 67. a' on the staff. FIG. 68. a" above the stafl. FIG. 69.-/"fl on the stall. 236 VOICE BUILDING. graph and the geometric octave was described in the Scientific American of May 29, 1897. Several pic- Fio. 70. Miss Geraldinc Farrar singing in the bell-jar tonograph. tures are introduced to show the similarity of the voice figures to the sand forms which have been shown in Chladni's experiments in a previous chapter. THE TONOGRAPH. 237 Any one may construct the instrument, as shown in the illustration. A glass bell jar open at the bot- Fio. 71. Sig. Caruso singing in the tonograph. torn may be used, and the tones may be sung through a flexible tube, as in the illustration, or a tin horn may be made after the model of the other 238 -YQIGS BUILDING. picture (Figs. 70 and 71); In none of : these nega- tives has there been any retouching whatsoever, and the reproductions show the figures exactly as they appear on the membranous disc. It may be assumed that some day a more perfect instrument may be constructed on these lines by which correct voice production may be materially assisted. INDEX. Albani, 110. Anatomy of chest, 48. of larynx, 15. Arytenoid cartilages, 19. Ashforth, Madam, 176, 182, 183, 184. Attack of tone, explosive, 148. French, 147. proper method of, 165. Axioms of singing, 139. Harrington, Isabelle, 225. Bataille, 112. Behnke, Emil, 111. Bispham, 164. Bonci, 164. Bonheur, 61. Breath, management of, 53, 166. Breathing, artistic, cultivation of, 54. control of expiration in, 67. correct, importance of, 60. fixed high-chest method of, 66. methods of, 56, 57. Browne-Lennox, 61, 111. Calve, 209. Campanini, 59. Cartilages of epiglottis, 20. Santorini, 19. Wrisberg, 20. Cartilages of larynx, 17. arytenoid, 19. cricoid, 18. thyroid, 17. Caruso, 163, 164. Chater, 114, 117. Chest, anatomy of, 48. Chest register, 132. Chladni, 211. sonorous vibrations made visible by, 211. Colorature, 194. audible, 195. inaudible, 194. Compass of the human voice, 168. Consonants, 140. dental, labial, and lingual, 141. Cords, vocal, 20. false, 22. Costal respiration, 60. inferior and superior, 63. 239 240 VOICE BUILDING. Coupdeglotte, 35, 138, 142, 147, 159. Crescendo and decrescendo, 200, 202. Cricoid group of muscles, 24, 29, 33. Dalmores, 163. Deep breathing exercises, 213. Desvernine, 26. Diaphragm, 49. action of, 49. Duff t, Carl, 162. Eames, Emma, 69, 187, 209. Echo, 82. Eidophone, 223. Epiglottis, 20. Errani, 163. Expanding the chest, exercises for, 212. Expiration, 47, 51, 52. control of, 67. Falsetto, 111. female, 117. theory of marginal vibra- tion, 113. theory of Martels, 114. Farrar, Geraldine, 163. Faure, 59. Fremstad, 163. French attack (see Attack). Gadski, 163. Garcia, Manuel, 111, 185, 186. Gilibert, 164. Glottis, 20. Gogorza, de, 162. Gouguenheim, 112. Hamonie, 61. Harmonics, 94. of strings, 94. of voices, 162. Harris, Victor, 188, 189, 190. Helmholtz, 95. Heyeh, Clara, 59. Homer, Madam, 163. Hooper, 25, 28, 34, 37, 40, 42. Imbert, 128, 130. Increasing respiratory capac- ity, exercises for, 212. Injured cords, exercises for re- storing, 154. Inspiration, 47, 49, 51. Italian school of singing, 57, 59. Jelenffy, 26, 28. Joal, 59, 61, 64. Klangfarbe, 91. Koch, 112. Konig, 103. Konig flames, 104, 106, 108. Koschlakoff, 32, 127, 131, 135. Laget, 61. Lamperti, 59. Lankow, Madam, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181. Larynx, anatomy and physi- ology of, 15, INDEX. 241 Larynx, cartilages of, 17. muscles of, 24. position of, in singing, 117. ventricles of, 22. Legato, 194. Lehfeldt, 113. Lehman, Lili, 163. Lermoyez, 112. L ud wig, 41. Mackenzie, Sir Morell, 42, 43, 54, 68, 75, 76, 110, 112. Mancini, 109. Mandl, 58, 59, 60, 62, 112. Marches!, Madam, 190, 191, 192. "Marriage of the registers," 162. Martels, 112, 114. Martin, R., 162. Massini, 59. Maurel, Victor, 164, 209. May, 53. Melba, 69, 163, 207, 209. Melde, 200. Mengozzi, 58. Merkel, 28. Method of breathing, 56, 57. fixed high-chest, 66. Mills, Dr. Wesley, 111, 119. Moore, Laura, 171. Moura, 26. Muscle, superior constrictor, 71. Muscles of diaphragm, 49. Muscles of forced expiration 52. Muscles of inspiration, 50. Muscles of larynx, 24. arytenoid, 32. Muscles of larynx, crico-aryte- noid, lateral, 29. crico-arytenoid, post., 33. crico-thyroid. 24. sterno-thyroid, 34. thyro-arytenoid, 29. thyro-hyoid, 34. Music, origin of, 1. Neuman, 20, 25, 37, 38, 40. Nilsson, Christine, 110. Nodal lines in vocal cords, 127. on vibrating membranes, 127. Nodal points on cords, 123. Nodules of attrition, 138. double, 145. early stages of, 144. single, 145. Nordica, 69, 209. Nose, function of, 161. Nose breathing, 73. Obin, 59. Oertel, 118, 127, 131, 135, 136. Onodi, 59. Organ pipes, 87. Overtones, 67, 95. demonstration of, 99. picture of flames influenced by, 108. Partials, 95. Patti, 69, 163. Physiology of chest, 48. of larynx, 15. Pitch, 91. increase and decrease of, in membranes, 130. influence of thyro-arytenoid muscles on, 130. 242 VOICE BUILDING. Plan gon, Pol, 69, 162. 209. Pollard, Miss, 64. Quality of tone, 94, Randegger, 185, 186. Registers, chest, 132. definition of, 109, 115. production of tone in, 134. upper, 133. Relaxed throat, exercises for 203. Renaud, 163, 164. Respiration, 46. diaphragmatic, 63. fixed high-chest, 66. inferior costal, 63. of singers, 66. superior costal, 60. types of, 52. Resonance, secondary, 66. Resonators, Helmholtz, 96. vocal, 70. Reszke, Jean de, 59, 68, 160, 162, 163, 209. Rudersdorf, Madam, 159. Sammarco, 163. Savart's bell, 98. Schumann-Heink, 163. Scotti, 163. Seiler, Madam, 111, 112. Sembrich, 163. Simanowski, 127, 135. Sinus, sphenoidal, frontal, max- illary, 73. Siren, 92. Soft palate, education of, 76. Sound, in organ pipes, 87. musical, 89, 96. Sound, propagation of, 78, 90. reflected, 80. vibrations in liquid and gaseous bodies producing, 86. visible, 200. waves of, 78. Staccato, 193, 194, 195, 196. pure, 193. semi, 193, 195. Staccato and legato, 197. Stracciari, 161. Stroboscope, 118, 122. Swell notes, 200. Tamagno, 161. Tetrazzini, 161. Timbre, 94. Tone, breathy, 146. effect of rapidity and ampli- tude of vibrations on, 90. focus of, 149, 154. production of, in larynx, 116. simple and compound, 82. Tone placing, 137, 154. Tone production in chest reg- ister, 134. in upper register, 134. Tonograph, 233. Thoracic cavity, 66. Thorax, 49. Thyro-arytenoid muscles, 29. effect on pitch of, 130. Thyroid, 17. ^ongue, rigidity of, 75. ^onsils, 72. Tyndall, 81, 91, 93, 222. INDEX. 243 Vacher, 112. Valeria, 110. Ventricles of larynx, 22. Ventricular bands, 22, 70. Vibrations, augmentation of, 130. compound, 82. influence of angle of inci- dence on, 131. of membranes, 125. alternate, 127, 135. applied to larynx, 130. longitudinal, 126. segmental, 128, 129. synchronous, 127. transverse, 126. of plates, 211. of rods, 217. of vocal cords, 131. in chest register, 132, 133. in upper register, 134. simple, 82. sympathetic, 96, 97. Vibrato, 159, 161. Vibrato and tremolo, 161. Vocal cords, 20. Vocal cords, false, 22. movements of, in strobe- scope, 121, 132. nodal lines in, 135, 136. overstrained, symptoms of, 138. treatment of, 146, 154. photographs of, 117. position of, in singing, 60, 117. theory of action of thyro- arytenoid muscle on the pitch of, 130. Voice building, 165. Voice figures, 217. Voice pictures, 224. Vowels, 75, 141, 142, 147. flames influenced by, 105. influence of, on overtones, 75. pitch of, 75. Watts-Hughes, Mrs., 223, 225. Weber, Gottfried, 68. Wheatstone, Sir Charles, 217, 220. Wind instruments, 88. Wing, Dr., 63. (10) THE END. DATE DUE SLIP UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA MEDICAL SCHOOL LIBRARY THIS BOOK IS DmToN THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW JUL 1 7 1929 JAN 3 i '^ 14 DAY 1977 Curtis y H H oice build one pi a cin and Library of the University of California Medical School and Hospitals