SPECIAL PHYSIOLOGY OF THE MUSCLES 213 



The range of the voice varies in different individuals. We 

 may classify them as: 



Base, ranges from E to f 1 '. 

 Tenor, ranges from c to c" . 

 Alto, ranges from/" to f" . 

 Soprano, ranges from c' to c'" . 



The timbre of the voice depends upon the number and 

 strength of the overtones which accompany the fundamental 

 tone produced in the larynx. It is also dependent upon 

 accompanying noises. In one and the same individual we 

 can distinguish, by means of the timbre, the chest-tone from 

 the falsetto. The resonance of the chest-tone is chiefly 

 produced in the thorax and is deeper; the resonance of the 

 falsetto is chiefly produced in the mouth, pharynx, and nose, 

 and is higher. The resonance only affects the timbre and 

 strength, not the pitch, of the voice. 



The difference between the voice during singing and 

 speaking is not fully understood. 



2. Speech. The sounds of speech are produced by ex- 

 piration, which causes noises to be produced in the mouth 

 or nose and in the pharynx. These sounds may or may 

 not be accompanied by the voice. 



Vowels are sounds of speech accompanied by the voice. 

 The tones which, produced in the buccal and pharyngeal 

 cavities, accompany the voice to give to it the vowel char- 

 acter, are called the determinants [Formanten] of the vowels. 



Each vowel has one or two characteristic determinants 

 which are independent of the pitch of the voice. These are, 

 according to Helmholtz : for oo as in food,f\ for o as in no, b' ; 

 for a as in father, b" ; for a as in ate, f or b" 1 '; for e as in 

 scheme, f and. d"" . Other authors give other determinants. 



In the several vowels the determinants are different 

 because of the difference in the position of the buccal and 

 pharyngeal cavities. For the production of a as in father, 

 the cavity of mouth and pharynx has the shape of a funnel 

 with the apex toward the pharynx ; for the production of o 



