PRONATION 553 



and secondary oscillations. In the first instance, the cords as a whole 

 swing to and fro, while in the second, only short segments of them 

 are made to vibrate. In this way, the fundamental tone is constantly 

 combined with secondary partial tones or overtones. Besides, the 

 laryngeal sounds are qualified by the resonance of the chambers 

 situated above and below, and especially by the oral and nasal cavities. 



The Peculiarities of Vocal Sounds. — The musical sounds which 

 we are capable of producing, do not shade evenly into one another 

 from the lowest to the highest, but appear in groups, i.e., a number of 

 them always possess a quality which is often sharply differentiated 

 from that of the neighboring group. We speak, therefore, of vocal 

 registers, but it must be remembered that the "breaks" between 

 these may be rendered less conspicuous by training. It is commonly 

 stated to-day that the range of the voice embraces two registers, namely, 

 the chest voice and the falsetto. Some authors also recognize a third, 

 or middle register, and some even a fourth. As may be surmised, 

 these differences depend upon modifications in the use of the resonating 

 parts. The chest-register is the lowest and is produced by a pro- 

 nounced vibration or fremitus of the wall of the thorax. It is richer 

 in overtones, and requires somewhat smaller quantities of air, because 

 the vocal bands are more closely approximated than they are during the 

 production of the falsetto or head-notes. Inasmuch as the latter 

 depend principally upon the resonance of the cavities of the head, 

 their production requires a copious supply of air which is made to 

 escape through the anterior part of the rima glottidis, while the posterior 

 portion of the glottic space remains closed. 



A fundamental difference between the voice used in talking and 

 that employed in singing, does not exist. During singing, however, 

 certain qualities of the sounds are intensified chiefly by rendering 

 the path of the sound-waves perfectly free so that they are enabled to 

 attain sonority and a greater penetrating power. This is especially 

 true of the vowels, the fundamental note of which is always protected 

 as much as possible against admixtures or formants. Moreover, in 

 singing, the individual notes are not maintained for so long a time as 

 in talking. 



Under ordinary conditions the range of the singing voice extends 

 over two octaves, but it can be considerably increased by training so 

 that it finally embraces 3 or 33^^ octaves. ^ In whispering the vibra- 

 tions of the vocal cords are displaced by friction sounds produced 

 along the laryngeal and buccal pharyngeal walls. The vocal bands 

 are rather relaxed at this time, while the glottis is made to assume an 

 intermediate size. 



Speech is articulated voice. The voice sounds are modified by the 

 resonance of the different chambers and are combined with noises 



^ Gutzmann, Stimmbildung und Stimmpflege, Wiesbaden, 1906; also Roudet, 

 Elements de phonetique g^nerale, Paris, 1911. 



