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10o TRAINING THE SINGING VOICE
are included only when needed. The 463 concepts of phonation reviewed are categorically summarized in Table Three.
Theories of Phonation general descriptions
The following grouping of theoretical statements provides a r£sum6 of 188 concepts in this area. These are correlated with the purpose of synthesizing a more comprehensible and therefore more readable sequence of ideas, without altering their essential character.
1. The vibrator. "The vocal instrument consists of a vibrator [larynx] and a number of cavities that act as resonators or reinforcers" of tone. [Clippinger 114] It is maintained in vibration by the pressure of sut>-glottic air. "If a moving column of air be partially or completely interrupted in its exit from an aperture in a rhythmical manner and at a rate within the limits of human audibility, musical [vocal] sounds will be produced." [Negus 418, p. 346] The larynx sound consists of a fundamental and overtone frequencies which are "selectively reinforced by the various cavity resonances," thus producing a resultant vocal tone of great individuality that varies with each vocal utterance. [Curry 124, p. 57; Stanley
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2. Tonal energy. Experiments prove that the vocal tone that is generated in the larynx produces vibrations throughout a wide area of the chest, throat and head (by means of radiation, sympathetic vibration, resonance and bone conduction). [Lindsley 347] The greatest amount of the vibrational energy of phonation is recorded at the larynx [Ibid.], although subglottic vibrations in the trachea [Redfield 461] and "parasitic vibrations of the structures linked to the larynx" [Curry op. cit.] have also been noted. (See also Chapter V.)
3. Glottal action. "Voice is produced by action of the vocal cords, not like the strings of a stringed instrument, but as a pair of membranous lips which, being continually forced apart by the expired breath, and continually brought together again by their own elasticity and muscular tension, break the breath current into a series of puffs, or pulses, sufficiently rapid to cause the sensation of tone." (W) "The tremor of the elastic membranes [cords] rapidly opens and closes the fine slit between their edges [glottis] and releases the air pressure in a quick succession of minute puis." [Aikin 4] "In order that the vocal cords may be set into vibration, they must be put in a state of tension, and the aperture of the glottis narrowed so as to afford resistance to the current of air." [Starling's Physiol-°SF 71S* P* 35°] "Tke thyro-arytenoid muscle [vocal cord] is always in a |
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