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POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



register, this soon resulting in hoarseness, inflammation and perhaps 

 permanent injury of the voice. 



The ordinary method of speaking of these registers as the 'chest,' 

 'throat' and 'head' registers is apt to be misleading, as in every case 

 the tones are formed in the larynx and by the vocal cords, the 'head' 

 and other names being derived from the fact that the sound seems to 

 be more directed to these parts of the body. 



The loudness of the tone is due to the force with which the air is 

 expelled from the lungs, thus causing a greater range of vibration in 

 the vocal cords. The question of timbre is much more complex. It 

 is this feature which distinguishes the singing of the amateur in music 

 from the professional, the uncultivated from the cultivated voice, and 

 the resonant tones of the orator from the poor voice of the ordinary 

 speaker. As already explained, the quality of tone is entirely influ- ' 

 enced by the number of over-tones, these being due to other parts of 

 the throat accessory to the vocal cords in voice production. 



Before explaining this point, we 

 must first consider what other or- 

 gans are essential in the production 

 of the voice. The fundamental tones 

 are made in the larynx as already 

 explained, but these alone do not pro- 

 duce articulate speech; in fact, such 

 tones are not limited to the human 

 race. It is the peculiar faculty of 

 articulating that distinguishes the 

 voice of man from that of other ani- 

 mals. Articulation is due to other 

 parts concerned in the organ of 

 Fig. 6. DiAGKAM of Vocal appaeatus specch, such as the tongue, the teeth, 



During Pronunciation of Vowel ' ah ' j^^ie lips, the palate and the nostrils. 



^^^''''''''- Each of these has its influence in the 



formation of the voice, and a defect in any of these will be easily recog- 

 nized by the experienced hearer. 



The fundamental element of the voice is formed by the vowel 

 sounds, the consonants, as the name indicates, simply modifying the 

 vowel sounds. Although nominally the pure vowels are a, e, i, o and 

 u, the vowel sounds are of far greater number. For instance, the a 

 occurs in 'maw,' 'hat' and 'mate,' but in each it is sounded differ- 

 ently and the same occurs with the other vowels. 



The simplest vowel is a (as in 'ah') which is sounded by vibrating 

 the vocal cords, the sound issuing almost without obstruction, the 

 tongue being lowered and the lips apart. If now, without any further 

 change than to round the lips, the same effort be made, the a will be 



