CHAPTER XI QUALITY Argument of Chapter-Various types of resonance, or qualities, are useful in carrying meaning, logical and personal. The ability to use these varied qualities with discrimination. is of value, particularly in interpretation, impersonation, and acting. Not much needs to be said concerning quality of tone as a means of variety in speech; the most important data have been given in the discussion of pure tone and resonance. (See Chapter VIII.) Yet resonance changes have significance in speaking and reading, and definite causes and effects produced by changes of quality can be briefly outlined. I. CHANGES FOR LOGICAL CONTENT A. FOR EMPHASIS Any Changes of quality are a factor in Emphasis. attempt to emphasize a word or syllable amplifies the resonance with which it is uttered; or else diminishes it. Oft I had heard of Lucy Gray. And when I cross'd the wild I chanced to see at break of day The solitary child. The italicized words, read with emphasis, are commonly read with richer and fuller resonance. So with the following passages: Madam, there is alighted at your gate A young Venetian, one that comes before To signify the approaching of his lord. While it is absolutely necessary for the orator to master his subject and to speak with earnestness, his speech can be made more effective by the addition of clearness, brevity and apt illustrations. B. TO FIT ACOUSTICS In a small room a conversational everyday quality suffices. In a large hall or auditorium a more resounding voice must be used. To fill a large room requires great amplification of tone by the resonators; not merely louder noise, but richer resonance. It is always well to fill a room with sound; and it obviously requires more sound when the room is large. Read the following passages, first as in a small room, then as in a large. Make the resonance fit the room: If every ducat in six thousand ducats Were in six parts, and every part a ducat, I would not draw them; I would have I urge on college-bred men that, as a class, they fail in republican duty when they allow others to lead in the agitation of the great social questions which stir and educate the age. Love your country. Your country is the land where your parents sleep; where is spoken that language in which the chosen of your heart, blushing, whispered the first word of love; it is the home that God has given you, that by striving to perfect yourselves therein, you may prepare the ascent to Him. Strike till the last armed foe expires! II. CHANGES FOR PERSONAL INTENT There are traditional names given to certain kinds of resonance that go with certain emotional attitudes. These names, while none too accurate from the angle of physics or physiology, are helpful in turning speech sounds into sentiments and moods. SPECIAL RESONANCES A. "All-around" Resonance: The Orotund Quality. This is the type of resonance best suited to public address and to the expression of all robust and virile sentiments. The whole preceding discussion of pure tone and good resonance has in reality been a discussion of the orotund quality. To practice it, use anything in the way of oratorical selections, or poems dealing with sentiments of vigor, earnestness, sincerity, manliness, dignity. B. "Chest" Resonance: The Pectoral Quality.-Making the mouth and pharynx as deep and hollow as is consistent with sensible speech, utter the following: I am thy father's spirit (as from a ghost!) Keep the resonator of the right shape to make the vowels used, and change to fit all changes in pitch. This quality is not easy to acquire, especially for female voices. It is of use chiefly in interpretation, impersonation, and acting. C. Cheek Resonance: Oral Quality.-With shallow mouth cavity and pressure toward the roof of the mouth and toward the front, utter the following, using a tone that suggests gentleness, gayety, kindliness, serenity, exaltation, or the weakness that goes with illness or despair: My soul to-day is far away, Sailing the Venetian bay. When stars are in the silent sky, Then most I pine for thee. Straight mine eye hath caught new pleasures, I am dying, Egypt, dying! All this time I had gone on loving Dora harder than ever. If I may so express it, I was steeped in Dora. I was not merely over head and heels in love with her, I was saturated through and through. And that tongue of his that bade the Romans D. Throat Resonance: The Guttural.-This is a sort of growl. It is achieved by vibrating the soft tissues of the pharynx while making vowel sounds. It is of use chiefly in impersonation and acting, though useful in public speaking, too. It can be used on ideas like these: Hath a dog money! I scorn your proffered treaties. I scorn such contemptible cowards. E. Whispering: The Aspirate Quality.—Whispering occupies a strange position in speech. To the phonetician, Whispering, whether of vowels or of consonants, is consonantal in quality. Vowels as tones always require vocalization; whispering is done without voice, so there is no vowel tone quality in it. Though we can whisper the vowels, they classify as consonants. In the matter of tone placement, what we note with interest here is that we have a way of talking that is half whisper and half vocalized tone; stage whisper is an example of this. We do it also when frightened or tense with any excitement. The following utterances are typical of this aspirate quality: But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? When shall we three meet again, In thunder, lightning, and in rain? Look! Look! there it comes! Shh! They almost caught us that time! F. Falsetto.—The resonance here seems to be limited in scope to a small circle at the back of the pharynx. The true nature of Falsetto is a matter for disagreement. It is probably a high pitch used so seldom that the user of it does not easily control the cavity-changing process from normal range of pitch to the falsetto level. Skilled singers can go from one to the other without detection; but it takes much practice. Undoubtedly an intensity factor is involved, too. G. Nose Resonance: Nasal Quality. This is one of the most widely useful qualities of the voice. Everybody can afford to cultivate resonance of the nasal cavities, and for almost all kinds of purposes. A really good voice is hardly conceivable without good nasal resonance. Nasal resonance is brought about when the uvula does not close the passage between the oral pharynx and the nasal pharynx. Thus the breath stream becomes resonated in the nose. Practice in this resonance can be had by uttering words with m, n, and ng sounds, and by humming. Be careful to distinguish between a tone that is nasal and a tone that is "nosey." A nasal quality is an asset to any kind of speaking or reading; a nosey tone is useful only in impersonation and acting. For practice in nasal resonance, see the sentences on pp. 163-165. EXERCISE Study the sense and sentiment of the following poems to determine the most suitable quality; read them aloud with rich resonance for the mood involved: THE RECESSIONAL RUDYARD KIPLING God of our fathers, known of old— The tumult and the shouting dies, An humble and a contrite heart. |