VOCAL QUALITIBft. 4*9 



as is shown by the vocal capabilities of 

 The quality of tone of any musical soun 

 tive power of the fundamental note, and of the 

 accompany it. The less disturbed the fiimlssMiilil notes are by 

 overtones, the clearer and better is the voice. This dinuiace in 

 quality of the human voice depends upon the perfcetness of the 

 elasticity, the relation of thickness to length, suiface smoothness, 

 and other physical conditions of the cords thrmm'l its, and the 

 exactitude with which the muscles can adapt the surfaces. For 

 singing well, much more is necessary than good quality of tone, 

 which is common enough. The muscles of the larynx, thorax, 

 and mouth must be all educated to an extraordinarily high degree. 



(2.) The pitch of the notes produced in the larynx 

 upon first, the absolute length of the vocal cords. This 

 with age, particularly in males, whose vocal organs undergo rapid 

 growth at puberty, when the voice is said to crack. The vocal 

 cords of women have been found by measurement to be 

 one-third shorter than those of men, and people with tenor' 

 have shorter cords than basses or baritones. Secondly, oa the 

 tension of the cords : the tighter the vocal cords are drawn by 

 the crico-thyroid muscles, the higher the notes produced; and the 

 well-known singer Garcia believed he observed with the laryn- 

 goscope the vocal processes so tightly pressed together as to im- 

 pede the vibration of the posterior part of the cords, and by this 

 means they could be voluntarily shortened. 



(3.) Intensity or loudness of the voice depends solely on the 

 strength of the current of air. The more powerful the air-blast 

 the greater amplitude of the vibrations, and hence the greater 

 the sound produced. The narrower the chink of the glottis, and 

 the tighter the parallel cords are stretched, the less is the amount 

 of air and the weaker is the blast required to set them vibrating; 

 and rice versa, the looser the cords and the wider apart they are, 

 the greater the volume and the force of the air-current necessary 

 for their complete vibration. Hence it is that an intense vibra- 

 tion or loud note ean be produced much more easily with notes 

 of a high pitch than with very low notes, and we find singers 



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