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CONCEPTS OF RESONANCE |
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actually come from the chest or head. Furthermore, the sinuses in the head are not acoustically equipped to amplify vocal sounds and the chest resonator is equivalent to a box filled with a wet sponge. We can hardly expect much resonance from such unfavorable conditions. [147, p. 126] When he made this statement, Mr. Drew apparently was unaware of an earlier experiment reported in the Psychological Bulletin in which various parts of the body were tested for vibratory activity during the vocal act. The most active resonators were listed according to the amount of vibration produced in the walls thereof, in the following order: the pharynx, the lower jaw, the chest, the top of the head, the nasal framework, the left and right sinuses, and the frontal sinuses. [Lindsley 347]
PHYSIOLOGICAL FACTORS
Head resonance. Opinion is divided on the importance of head cavities, sinuses and nasal cavities in singing. Mme. Dossert along with six others is certain that in the head and chest cavities there are definite places for the reinforcement of each singing vocal tone. [140, p. 36] This is apparently a matter of opinion, based upon extensive teaching experience. Typical opinions are also offered by Wettergren [654] and de Gogorza [134], two prominent professional singers who in interviews state that all tone must be resonated in the mask, or hollow bone cavities that lie directly under the eyes and back of the nose.
On the other hand, Austin-Ball at the Eastman School of Music emphatically claims that the influence of the head cavities on the quality of tone is negligible. [31, p. 39] This latter view is supported by Bartholomew who admits that the attempt of the singer to feel head resonance frequently improves his tone but that it is a psychological rather than a physiological control. In other words, the actual resonating of sound in the head cavities is of very little importance, if any, in the physical production of good vocal quality. [38] Stanley is opposed to singers trying to feel any tones in the head at all. This conscious effort merely constricts the throat and ultimately eliminates some of the upper tones of the vocal range. [578] Wilcox points out, in an apparent contradiction, that the head cavities are important as regulators of quality but that they do not contribute to the volume of tone and hence they may not be regarded as resonators. [669, p. 7]
Function of sinuses. The sinuses, six in number, are relatively small bony cavities in the skull which communicate with the nostrils and contain air. Their function as resonators has always been a subject of controversy among vocal teachers. Even the reports of experimenters are con- |
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