Read Ebook: The Voice in Singing by Seiler Emma Furness William Henry Translator

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EMISSION OF THE CHEST VOICE

"If we emit veiled and feeble sounds, the larynx opens at the notes do re me , and we see the glottis agitated by large and loose vibrations throughout its entire extent. Its lips comprehend in their length the anterior apophyses of the arytenoid cartilages and the vocal chords; but, I repeat it, there remains no triangular space.

"The glottis at this moment presents the aspect of a line slightly swelled towards its middle, the length of which diminishes still more as the voice ascends. We also see that the cavity of the larynx has become very small, and that the superior ligaments have contracted the extent of the ellipse to less than one-half.

"Thus the organs act with a double difference: 1. The cavity of the larynx contracts itself more when the voice is intense than when it is feeble. 2. The superior ligaments are contracted, so as to reduce the small diameter of the ellipse to a width of two or three lines. But however powerful these contractions may be, neither the cartilages of Wrisberg, nor the superior ligaments themselves, ever close sufficiently to prevent the passage of the air, or even to render it difficult. This fact, which is verified also with regard to the falsetto and head registers, suffices to prove that the superior ligaments do not fill a generative part in the formation of the voice. We may draw the same conclusion by considering the position occupied by the somewhat feeble muscles which correspond to these ligaments; they cover externally the extremity of the diverging fibres of the thyro-arytenoid muscles, and take part especially in the contractions of the cavity of the larynx during the formation of the high notes of the chest and head registers.

PRODUCTION OF THE FALSETTO

"If we compare the two registers in these movements, we shall find some analogies in them; the sides of the glottis formed at first by the apophyses and the ligaments become shorter by degrees, and end by consisting only of the ligaments. The chest register is divided into two parts, corresponding to these two states of the glottis. The register of falsetto-head presents a complete similarity, and in a still more striking manner.

"On other points, on the contrary, these same registers are very unlike. The length of the glottis necessary to form a falsetto note always exceeds that which produces the unison of the chest. The movements which agitate the sides of the glottis are also augmented, and keep the vibrating orifice continually half opened, which naturally produces a great waste of air. A last trait of difference is in the increased extent of that elliptic surface.

"All these circumstances show in the mechanism of the falsetto a state of relaxation which we do not find in the same degree in the chest register.

MANNER IN WHICH THE SOUNDS ARE FORMED

Garcia proceeds, in the same paper, to give an elaborate account of his theory of the compression, expansion and explosion of the air in expiration, together with his conjectures as to the action of the muscles of the larynx in relation to the different registers. I omit both here, for, since this publication of Garcia's, the movements of the breath generating sound in expiration have been thoroughly investigated and determined by Prof. Helmholtz; and in the physical section of the present work all may be found that is of value in the culture of the singing voice. Whatever can be definitely communicated in regard to the working of the muscles of the larynx may likewise be found in any anatomical work. An acquaintance, however, with the action of these muscles is not directly necessary to our purpose, and is of interest only to the physiologist.

It is not to be denied that Garcia's observations do not, by any means, lead to satisfactory conclusions as to the functions of the vocal organ. He has, as we shall see in the sequel, attached special importance to much that is unessential and abnormal, and the main facts, the elucidation of which is particularly needed, he has scarcely mentioned. Thus he tells us nothing of that series of tones which he calls the head register. The transition also of the registers he has not carefully examined and observed in different voices: the chest register in the male and the falsetto of the female voice.

Nevertheless, these investigations possess much that is valuable, and are of special value to the art of singing, because they teach a method hitherto unknown of observing the larynx, by which sure and satisfactory results are reached. And when an acquaintance with these results comes to be universally diffused, and the art of singing is thereby led into the right direction, we shall owe it most especially to the excellent experimental observations of Garcia.

MY OWN OBSERVATIONS WITH THE LARYNGOSCOPE

In using the laryngoscope while the breath is quietly drawn, I saw, as Garcia did, the whole larynx wide open, so that one could easily introduce a finger into it, and the rings of the trachea were plainly visible.

a. Arytenoid cartilages. b. Epiglottis. c. Trachea. d. Vocal chords.

THE CHEST REGISTER

a. Superior or false vocal ligaments, or chords. b. Epiglottis. c. Inferior or true vocal ligaments. d. Arytenoid cartilages. e. Capitula Santorini.

THE FALSETTO REGISTER

All the tones of the falsetto register are produced by vibrations only of the fine, inner, slender edges of the vocal ligaments. In this action the vocal ligaments are not so near together, but allow of a fine linear space between them, and the superior ligaments are pressed farther back than in the production of the tones of the chest register. The rest of the action of the glottis is, however, entirely the same. With the beginning of the falsetto register at fa? , the whole glottis appears again longer, and the vocal ligaments are much looser than in the highest tones of the chest register. The united action, already described, of the arytenoid cartilages and the ligaments in forming the deeper tones of the chest register, extends to do do? in the female voice, and in the male voice to mi? mi commonly written thus: mi? mi but which only rarely occurs in composition, and then is sung by tenorists as I have given it; that is, one octave lower.

With the do? in the female voice and the mi? mi in the male voice, the arytenoid cartilages cease again to act, and as before, at the second higher series of tones of the chest register, leave the formation of the sounds to the vocal ligaments alone, which at this change appear again longer and looser, but with every higher tone tighten up to fa fa? in the female voice, and in the male voice to sol , or as it is commonly written: g?. In the falsetto register the larynx preserves its natural position, as in quiet breathing.

THE HEAD REGISTER

When in the observation of the falsetto register I had sung upwards to its highest tones, and then sang still higher, I became aware with the fa? of a change in the motions of the organ of singing, and the tones thus produced had a different timbre from the falsetto tones. It required long and patient practice before I finally succeeded in drawing back the epiglottis so that I could see the glottis in its whole length. Not until then was I able to observe the following:

With the fa? , the vocal ligaments suddenly closed firmly together to their middle, with their fine edges one over the other.

a. The closing together of the vocal ligaments. b. Open part of the glottis.

The oval opening of the anterior portion of the glottis is imperfectly shown, because it is hidden from view by the epiglottis at the extreme end.

This closing appeared as a fine red line extending from the arytenoid cartilages at the back forward to the middle of the vocal ligaments, and leaving free only a third part of the whole glottis, immediately under the epiglottis, to the front wall of the larynx.

The foremost part of the glottis formed an oval orifice, which, with each higher tone, seemed to contract more and more, and so became smaller and rounder. The fine edges of the vocal ligaments which formed this orifice were alone vibrating, and the vibrations seemed at first looser, but, with every higher tone, the ligaments were more stretched. The larynx remained in its natural state.

It was objected to the results of my observations, that such an action of the glottis "was only possible by means of cartilages and muscles, but that such cartilages and muscles as could render an action of that kind possible were not known, nor was there any reference to them to be found in any manual of anatomy." While I fully admitted the soundness of this objection, I was, after repeated observations, more and more convinced of the correctness of my own statements. But as I found nothing to support them in any anatomical work, either German or French, I began anew to study the anatomy of the larynx in dissected subjects.

At the same time I satisfied myself of the existence of a pair of cartilages--the cuneiform cartilages described in the Appendix. I found these always in the female larynx, but only now and then in the male. As these cartilages, also found within the membranes of the vocal ligaments and reaching from their junction with the arytenoid cartilages to the middle of the ligaments, are only now and then fully formed in the male larynx, but undeniably work the shutting part of the glottis, it follows plainly that only a few male voices are capable of producing the head tones.

But observation with the microscope revealed in those larynxes in which the cuneiform cartilages were wanting, parts of a cartilaginous mass, or the rudiments of a cartilage, in the place indicated.

For anatomical investigations the male larynx is commonly used, its muscles being more powerful and its cartilages firmer than in the female larynx, and this explains why anatomists in Germany have been reluctant to admit the existence of the cuneiform cartilages. It was, therefore, a great satisfaction to me to find them described under the name of cuneiform cartilages in Wilson's Human Anatomy, with the remark that they are sometimes wanting.

The head register possesses a very great capacity of expansion, which, without the slightest straining, may be gradually extended, with some practice, a whole octave, and often even still farther upwards. When the transition is made from the highest tones of the falsetto register to the head register, there is experienced the same sense of relief in the organs of singing as in passing from the chest to the falsetto register. And this is very easy to be understood, because the ligaments by this repeated partial closure of the glottis are much less stretched than in the highest tones of the preceding lower register. The difference in sound between the highest tones of the falsetto and head registers is often slight, on which account these two registers, so different in their mechanism, are easily confounded. Only in entirely healthy vocal organs can the head tones be observed. A too great secretion of mucus, or any inflammation of the mucous membrane, embarrasses the formation of head and falsetto tones, while the vibrations of the fine edges of the vocal ligaments are thereby obstructed. The character of the vocal organ fully explains why in the case of sick or of worn-out voices it is always the high tones that are first lost. When I have observed, in the sick, irritation of the mucous membrane, I have often found the oval orifice which is formed in the production of the head tones entirely covered with mucus. In my own case, when by repeated effort this bubble of mucus broke, instead of the a?, which I meant to be sounded, there came the a?, an octave higher, which in perfect health it was never possible for me to reach. I have observed the same phenomenon sometimes in my pupils.

When one sings the scale, note by note downwards, one can sing with the action of the higher register many of the tones of the lower, without any observable straining of the organ; indeed, there is a perceptible feeling of relief; only these tones are not so full as when sung in their natural register.

ABNORMAL MOVEMENTS OF THE GLOTTIS

As recently great importance has often been ascribed to these abnormal movements of the glottis in the generation of sound, I have felt bound to mention them.

RESULTS OF THE FOREGOING OBSERVATIONS

In consequence of the observations above described, the following facts may be established:

The transitions of the registers are:

IN THE MALE VOICE

BASS VOICE

First series of the chest register:

C D E F G A B c d e f g a

Second series:

b c? d? e? f?

TENOR VOICE

First series of the chest register:

G A B c d e f g a

Second series:

b c? d? e? f?

First series of the falsetto:

g? a?, &c.

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