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CONCEPTS OF RESONANCE |
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were studied. These are classified in Table Four. Seventy-four authors refer to physiological factors. The parts of the body mentioned are the head cavities, sinuses, nasal cavities, mouth and throat cavities and the chest cavity. Sixteen refer to the entire body as a single complex resonator. The larynx is not included in this list of resonators, indicating that it is to be considered exclusively as an organ of phonation. This view is still widely held by the singing profession.
In the late nineteenth century, John Howard, a prominent vocal teacher who was also a practicing physician and voice specialist, advanced the theory that the larynx is itself a complex resonator or consonator, as he calls it. Its function is not only to generate tone (phonation) but to distribute vocal vibrations to all the outlying muscles and cartilages that are directly attached to it. The vibratory area of phonation is thus increased by synchronous vibration of all adjacent parts and the phonated vocal tone thereby augmented and resonated. Howard's books are now out of print and little known to the vocal profession, but his theories invite further investigation.
It is questionable whether anything is gained for either singing teacher or student by dividing the vocal tract into separate functional units. Physicians may have a special interest in these anatomical structures for purposes of local medication, but, to the singing teacher, the vocal act involves simultaneous coordinations of breathing organs, postural organs and vocal organs. It would be difficult to localize* either through sound or sensation, the functional control of any single part of this complex musculature. We come to the conclusion therefore, that in life it is impossible to dissociate phonation from resonation; that phonation and resonation are reciprocal concomitants of a single function called the vocal act, since neither can function as such without the other.
METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS
All techniques for cultivating resonance seem to subserve the purpose of establishing standards of quality in voice production. If there were more accurate descriptions of quality, its acoustical properties, its aesthetic effects, its technical disciplines, adequate teaching procedures could be devised which would have standard values for the singing student.
It must be remembered that any given vocal tone really consists of a combination of overtones or partials. The relative pitch and intensity components of such partials contribute to the total subjective impressions of quality which the ear receives. Hence, in teaching singing, the ear must first be trained to recognize resonance values or qualities of vocal tone, |
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