HAKMONY IN MUSIC. 97 



The following easy experiment clearly shows that it is 

 indifferent whether the several simple tones contained in 

 a compound tone like a vowel uttered by the human voice 

 come from one source or several. If the dampers of a 

 pianoforte are raised, not only do the sympathetic vibra- 

 tions of the strings furnish tones of the same pitch as 

 those uttered beside it ; but if we sing A (a in father) to 

 any note of the piano, we hear an A quite clearly re- 

 turned from the strings ; and if E (a in fare or fate), 

 (o in hole or ore), and U (oo in cool), be similarly sung to 

 the note, E, 0, and U will also be echoed back. It is 

 only necessary to hit the note of the piano with great 

 exactness. 1 Now the sound of the vowel is produced 



Sprachc, 1866, p. 109, after citing Helmholtz's experiments as detailed in 

 his Tonempfindungen, gives the following as 'the pitches of the vowels 

 according to his most recent examination of his own habits of speech, as 

 accurately as he is able to note them.' 



TJOOaAA OUAEEI 



oo o o a a eu u a a a ee 



in in in in in in in in in in in 



cool hole ore Scotch father French French fat fare fate feel 



man v v ' 



nearly 



' Here the note a applies to the timbre obscur of A with low larynx, and 

 b to the timbre clair of A with high larynx, and similarly the vowel E may 

 pass from d" to d' by narrowing the channel in the mouth. The interme- 

 diate vowels 0, A, have also two different timbres and hence their pitch is 

 not fixed ; the most frequent are consequently written over one another; 

 the lower note is for the obscure, and the higher for the bright timbre. 

 But the vowel U seems to be tolerably fixed as ', just as its parents U and 

 I are upon d and a", and it has consequently the pitch of the ordinary a' 

 tuning fork.' TB. 



1 My own experience shows that if any vowel At any pitch be loudly and 

 sharply sung, or called out, beside a piano, of which the dampers have been 

 raised, that vowel will be echoed back. There is generally a sensible pause 

 before the echo is heard. Before repeating the experiment with a new- 

 vowel, whether at the same or a different pitch, damp all the strings and 

 then again raise the dampers. The result can easily be made audible to a 

 hundred persons at once, and it is extremely interesting and instructive. It 

 is peculiarly so, if different vowels be sung to the same pitch, so that they 



