CHAPTER XIV

SIXTH PRINCIPLE

The _pitch_ and the _dimensions_ of the singing _voice_—the _volume_, the _quality_, and _loudness_—are determined by the _speaking voice_. Speaking _high_ or _low_, _resonant_, _loud_ or _soft_, in any gradation of sentiment and shade of color, lays the ground for singing in _high_ or _low_ pitch, _loud_, _resonant_ or _soft_, in any musical color and expression.

In a previous chapter it has been demonstrated that fundamentally there is no difference between the speaking and the singing voice. Likewise no difference can exist in their dimensions.

The speaking and the singing voice being a similar phonetic act of the same function, their pitches and dimensions must stand in the same fundamental relationship. The speaking voice, which constitutes the purely physical element of the voice, furnishes to the pitch the raw material to which the singing voice—the artistic element—lends the musical character and color.

By talking high or low, or in any intermediate _altitude_ of the speaking voice, we produce its various pitches. If our talking is rhythmical and the vocal vibrations are equivalent in number to those required for producing the different notes of the musical scale, the pitches we determine are exactly the same as those of the singing voice. Talking, then, ceases to be “speech” and becomes “singing.”

It is generally agreed at present among scientists that the pitch of the voice is determined by the number of vibrations given by the vocal cords. These vibrations, reinforced by the resonating power, determine also, in addition to the pitch, the loudness, volume, and quality of the voice, all the physical properties called the dimensions of sound.

The author’s views on this subject are partly different and this difference is of basic importance, as it affects the theory we have demonstrated in our First Principle, that _voice_ and sound are not exactly the same thing and consequently their _pitches_ are not the same either.

As in singing we aim to express our feeling through _words_, it should be the concern of voice experts to find out what the pitch of the _words_, that is, voice, is rather than that of the sounds.

The sounds become voice after a phonetic transformation in the mouth; their pitch, therefore, as determined by the number of vibrations of the vocal cords only, represents only the pitch of the _laryngeal_ sounds, in which is lacking the phonetic support of the words. When these tones materialize into words and are transformed into the speaking voice, their pitches, produced by the _ensemble_ of physical functions that form the voice, become the pitches of the singing voice.

It is obvious, then, that the same difference that distinguishes the sound from the voice also exists between the pitch of the sound and the pitch of the voice. This consideration is of the greatest importance in voice production, as it devolves upon the speaking voice the task of determining the pitch.

Dr. Scripture has already aroused doubts about the existing theories of the pitch by demonstrating, through experiments based on the transmission of the vibrations of the vocal cords, that the pitch is also determined by the vibrations of the resonance chambers which are set in vibration by the sound waves coming from the larynx.

Dr. Scripture’s new point of view has aroused interest among voice experts, and we notice that it has been indorsed by no less an authority than Dr. Mills, who, in his book on voice, says: “To Prof. Scripture belongs the credit of demonstrating that the resonance chambers determine pitch also,” and later on: “Such views have become more widely known, and it is hoped that, as they are very radical, they may be established by other methods.”

Dr. Scripture’s theory, however, differs from ours in the same respect as those of other experts, inasmuch as he too treats of the pitch and the dimensions of the _sound_ instead of the _voice_.

According to our conception, which relies on the speaking voice for the determination of the pitch, any of its altitudes constitutes the intrinsic basis for the corresponding pitch of the singing voice. The vocal cords, however, by furnishing the vibrations for the embryonic sound, determine its pitch in the _embryonic form_; the more the vibrations the higher the sound. But the _real_ pitch of the voice is established by the various altitudes reached by the words, when the vibrations are transformed in the mouth into voice. Speaking _high_ or _low_, or in any other degree of the range, constitutes the true pitch; it has the true substance of voice-quality and not the shrill characteristics of a whistling sound.

Those who never gave much attention to the innate similarity of the speaking and singing voice cannot think of the possibility of an analogous pitch quality, volume and loudness for both, having the impression that, in speaking, voices cannot be raised to as high a pitch as in singing, and that loud, voluminous voices cannot be produced in speaking. This belief is erroneous and is contradicted both scientifically and practically.

The great variety of inflections resorted to by great orators and dramatic artists in order to bring out striking effects or to emphasize the meaning of certain words is dependent upon a large range of pitches and a richness of color and shades.[3] Talking in falsetto, imitating the voices of singers, women or children is nothing else than producing the various pitches which naturally exist in our voices but are not used.

In reality the use of different pitches in talking is very much neglected in general, except among the Latin races, who inherit with their languages and their vivacious temperaments, the natural disposition for warmth and color in their speech; their voices, therefore, possess naturally the flexibility of the different pitches.

We cannot help remarking that this natural cold, colorless and almost monotonous way of speaking is highly detrimental when singers and dramatic artists are concerned. The advantages of a well-modulated speaking voice are of inestimable value in the dramatic as well as in the lyric art, as no other natural gift has the psychological power and influence of a beautiful speaking or singing voice to reach the depth of a human heart. Artists like Tommaso Salvini, Eleonora Duse and Sarah Bernhardt have realized it; in this country we may mention Julia Marlowe, Julia Arthur, and a few others. To attain superior success these artists first availed themselves of the most important element of the art—their voices. It is to the exceptional coloring of her voice—her most striking asset—that Sarah Bernhardt owes the largest share of her fame.

The various nuances of the speaking voice, with all the gradations of its pitches, give the true expression of life to all the emotions of human psychology—love, sorrow or joy, without the aid of music, but almost in the same keys as in the singing voice. The fact that insufficient consideration is given to the great importance of voice modulation by the dramatic profession of this country is to be highly regretted, as undoubtedly the lack of life, brilliancy and expression in the speaking voices of most of the actors on the American stage can be ascribed as one of the main reasons for the monotony and the rudimentary heaviness that characterize the American dramatic art of to-day. Educated audiences tire of them and with good reason; nobody cares to listen for hours at a stretch to the monotonous and uniform voices of actors in which the spice of the coloring and intonations given by varying pitches is almost totally lacking, just as very few would care to look at a sky constantly blue or to travel through prairies monotonously flat without a hill or a tree.

These same artists could achieve better results by educating their voices in the use of different pitches than by struggling for sensational effects obtained by growling or roaring spasmodically in their throats.

It is of great advantage, therefore, to take into consideration the importance of cultivating the pitches of the speaking voice, as they are of the utmost assistance in the dramatic art and also of inestimable value in the formation of the pitches in the singing voice.

The dimensions of the voice—volume, quality and loudness—like the pitch, originate with the speaking voice and are transferred to the singing voice. We think it preferable and more precise to designate these dimensions as the _characteristics of the voice_, because they represent the essential attributes which differentiate voice from sound and even one voice from another.

The characteristics of the voice, which are less prominent in speaking merely because they are not emphasized enough, become distinctly marked in singing, when the moving, producing, and resonating power are compelled to coöperate with higher efficiency under the strong psychological influence of the music.

We can, therefore, consider the pitch and the dimensions of the _singing voice_ as determined by the number, length, amplitude, and intensity of the vibrations of the vocal cords augmented in number and improved in quality by the resonating power; but _ruled entirely_ by the psychological influence of the words.

This statement will meet with objections; but it is the author’s conviction that if we were to rely on the pitch and the dimensions of the sound as produced by the vibrations of the vocal cords alone, the quality, volume, and loudness of the sounds would be proportioned to their very limited sounding power, and would consequently be detrimental to the voice. In other words, the voice would be thin, poor, and insufficient, as the producing power of the vocal cords is actually of so little value in the emission of rich and ample sounds that it would almost be impossible to conceive of the existence of resonant and strong voices were the efficiency and the strength of the vocal cords to be considered as the only factor.

The author calls the attention of the reader to one more point, which tends to show that the determination of the pitch cannot be confined only to the number of vibrations given by the vocal cords. The idea is based on the law of acoustics relative to the resonating tubes.

The altitude (pitch) of a sound produced by resonating tubes is proportional to their size; the smaller the tube, the higher the pitch.

Applying this law to the human resonating tube we see that as long as the sounds produced by the vocal cords are kept within the space of the larynx, they are ruled in their pitch only by the number of vibrations of the vocal cords, and by the resonance they get within that organ. But as soon as they reach the pharynx on their way to the mouth, the resonance chambers and the lower cavities, in their expansion toward the chest, by getting into a tube of larger size they undergo a physical change in pitch, which is similar to the change in tone produced by substituting a resonating tube of larger size for one smaller. The pitch becomes somewhat lower. The human resonating tube, being composed of elastic tissues—the lungs, trachea, larynx, pharynx—and movable tissues—the mouth with the tongue, palate, lips—is apt to change easily in size. By this change the original laryngeal sounds can be altered in their pitches, becoming higher or lower, according to the change in size to which the vocal organs adjust themselves. This shows that the privilege of determining the pitch of the voice cannot belong entirely to the number of vibrations produced by the vocal cords; there are other physical properties of the sound, related to the other parts of the vocal apparatus, which are concerned also. In fact, to give a practical example, if, in producing a tone in the human tube, we contract the throat and close the mouth, and then gradually relax the former and open the latter, we hear a certain difference in the pitch of the tone, without having altered the number of its vibrations, however.

The same experiment can be made by singing or whistling a tone into the cavity formed by the palms of both hands, while they are held close together only on their outer edges, thus creating the largest space possible. By contracting them gradually and reducing the space inside, or _vice versa_, while producing the tone, a change of pitch is perceived which evidently is not related to any increase in the number of vibrations, but only to the increase or decrease in the amount of space created by the hands.

These experiments should induce singers not to diminish the size and dimensions of their vocal organs, by contracting them, if they wish to keep their voices in their natural form. It is true that in singing higher tones the vocal organs adjust themselves to a smaller size, but this adjustment is almost imperceptible, and is purely instinctive and involuntary, and must not, therefore, be artificially exaggerated by a conscious influence, which most of the time is the result of an erroneous conception of voice production.

Condensing in one illustration the relationship of the pitch of the sound with the pitch of the voice, we conceive of the first as the germ, from which the second takes origin and develops. In its fundamental essence, the pitch of the voice is the pitch of the sound, but it is not exactly the same thing, as in its formation are included, besides the vibrations produced by the vocal cords, perhaps some new vibrations created by the resonance chambers. If no new vibrations are created, though it is certain that the original ones of the sound are largely emphasized in size, length and intensity, bringing about a decided, if not a radical, change in the dimensions of the pitch, which becomes comparatively larger, louder and more powerful, and all the characteristics of the voice, such as volume, quality, and, to a certain extent, loudness, are more prominently displayed with it.

The following sketch gives a rough idea of this relationship:

_aaa._ _The sound_ and the _sound waves_ going through the pharynx on their way to mouth. Pitch of sound is shown here in its original form as determined by the number of vibrations of the vocal cords. Its dimensions exist in their embryonic form. This is the first phase of voice production

_B._ _Sound_, in its original pitch after reaching mouth to be transformed into voice

_C._ _Voice._ Voice contains within itself the sound

_D._ _The pitch of the voice_ which includes the pitch of the sound, plus the vibrations created by the resonance chambers. The volume and quality of voice are very prominent in this second phase of voice production

_E._ The vocal cords

The real conception of the pitch, then, can be summed up as follows:

Sound is the result of the vibrations of the vocal cords, and is confined to the laryngeal cavity. Its pitch is related to the number of these vibrations, and is merely a _sound_ pitch, lacking the dimensions of the voice, in quality and in volume.

Voice is the result of the sound produced by the vocal cords, reinforced through its phonetic change into full voice, by the vibrations of the resonating power. Its pitch is related to the vibrations of the vocal cords, plus the vibrations of the chambers of resonance. The embryonic sound produced in a determined pitch, if it is transmitted freely to the mouth, is transformed into real voice, and retains its pitch, enriched by the resonating power of the mouth and of the resonance chambers. The resonating power establishes for the voice its characteristics: volume, quality, loudness, etc., and determines also its real pitch in every tone of its range. All of this mechanism is ruled by the speaking voice and transferred to the singing voice, the speaking lending to the singing its pitches, its characteristics or dimensions in their normal degree, and the singing emphasizing them.

In voice culture the determination of the pitch by the speaking voice, especially in raising the voice to high altitudes, brings such surprising advantages as to render worthy of consideration the adoption of rules for making the speaking voice the guiding element for producing high pitches in singing.

No doubt the difficult task of reaching the high tones has always been to singers _la bête noire_ of their careers. Yet, we contend, this difficult problem can be solved satisfactorily by using the speaking voice as the medium for reaching high pitches.

A rough demonstration can be given by this practical experiment. After reciting a phrase distinctly in a low pitch, sing it immediately in the same pitch. A musically educated ear can very easily ascertain the similarity of pitch. Then, raising the pitch of the speaking voice to some point at about the middle of the range of the voice, recite and then sing the phrase in the same pitch. Finally, raising the pitch gradually, continue up to the highest pitch possible for the speaking voice, and place the singing voice at the same height.

It is surprising what results can be obtained by this process. Even the highest pitches of the singing voice will present no difficulties when their production is performed along the track of the speaking voice. Singers who cannot conceive of the possibility of reaching certain high tones will be astonished at the results of this experiment, which is made possible only because the singing voice is carried to its high altitudes through the speaking voice, by placing the pitch of the former on the pitch of the latter.

In the first act of “Aïda,” the closing phrase of the famous aria, “Celeste Aïda,” “_Un trono vicino al sol_”—a difficult task for any tenor because of its high pitch—if spoken first at its approximate altitude, and then sung at the same height, proves easy when compared with the usual rule of attempting that pitch by means of the singing voice alone.

Thus through this method great elasticity can be given to the singing voice in making its pitch, while, if singers attempt to raise their voices merely by forcing the sounds produced by the vocal cords, discarding the auxiliary help of the speaking voice, they will always find great difficulty in reaching their much coveted B flats or high C’s.

The misconception about the pitch of the voice is responsible for this difficulty, and by giving to the speaking voice the task of determining the pitch it will positively disappear. The speaking voice is the real mold of the singing voice, in all its characteristics and dimensions; therefore, it must also be the factor for its different pitches.