To direct consciousness to the vocal
cords is to cramp them and prevent that free vibration and that
perfect relaxation of the throat without which pure tone and true
pitch are impossible.
As a surgeon I well know the value of thorough anatomical knowledge,
but from the singer's standpoint I cannot too strongly emphasize the
unwisdom of directing the attention of sensitively organized pupils to
their vocal mechanism by means of the laryngoscope. This instrument
belongs to the physician, not to the singer.
The importance of the third factor, the _resonator_, has been
considered in Chapter V, on Resonance, but the fourth element in voice
production, _articulation_, is so cooerdinated to resonance that the
significance and primacy of the latter are too often overlooked.
Placing or "focusing the voice" I have found to be chiefly a matter
of control and use of the resonator, consisting of chest, pharynx,
mouth, and the nasal and head cavities.
A tone lacking in resonance is ineffective,--devoid of carrying
power,--is diffuse and unfocused; while a resonant tone, no matter how
soft dynamically, has carrying power and is focused in its vibration.
Now "voice placing" depends primarily on correct _vowel placing_,
which in turn depends on proper adjustment of the resonators, which
again depends chiefly on the positions and motions of the organs of
articulation. The interdependence of tone quality and pronunciation is
therefore obvious.
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