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CONCEPTS OF RESONANCE |
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Opposed to this group are those who believe that the attempt to direct voice into any one place limits its flexibility and color. Vocal color varies with mood and in proper expression the voice must be free to go anywhere at any time. [Witherspoon 677, p. 24; also Douty 144] Irvine holds that conscious direction of the tone is an interference, There is a certain strain involved in maintaining a definite vocal focus. False tensions are thus generated which reveal themselves in a certain artificiality of sound. [295] Scholes believes that it is impossible to direct the stream of sound towards any one part of the anatomy. [496] Vocal sound originates in the larynx. But its course is centrifugal, notwithstanding that the singer may think he can direct it. [Samuels 487, p. 15] That is to say, sound waves simultaneously travel in every direction from a given source. The attempt to focus tones by mental or physical effort is therefore unnatural and futile. [Ten Haff 603] Tone is not a material substance and cannot be put or placed. It will automatically flow into all open spaces if there is no interference. [Booker 56] "As voice teachers we should know enough of the elements of acoustics to realize that no soundboard action of the hard palate or teeth can possibly take place and that sound itself cannot be directed, projected, focussed or pointed anywhere in the mouth or head." [Bartholomew 39] Therefore, do not deliberately try to place the voice anywhere. Rigidity of the throat will be an almost invariable result. [Gregory 211] These opinions sum up the case against consciously maintaining a vocal focus during singing.
The value of humming. Humming may be defined as a form of singing with closed lips and without articulating or, in other words, uttering a sound like or suggestive of the letter m prolonged, without opening the mouth. (W) Many teachers utilize the humming sound of the voice as a guide to voice placement and the development of vocal resonance, although here again, opinion is divided. Lamperti's favorite maxim is found echoed in many modern vocal texts: "You cannot sing with your mouth open if you cannot first sing with it shut." [MacBurney 361] This slogan is countermanded by one which is reputed to come from the same source: "You cannot hum right until you can sing right." [Brown, W. E. 78, p. 104] According to Cain, humming has no qualities that will improve vocal tone quality and should be avoided as a vocal exercise. [90, p. 88] Conklin thinks humming has little value in voice training except as a focussing device for establishing tonal direction. [121, p. 70]
Acton claims for humming that it is one of the finest of early exercises [3] while Brown bluntly exclaims "Don't hum! You can't hum until you have learned to sing." [78, p. 104] Stevens and Miles, in an experimental study on the relation of vocal attack to pitch accuracy in singing, report |
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