Book: Voice Production in Singing and Speaking

W >> Wesley Mills >> Voice Production in Singing and Speaking




The capacity of the lungs for air is a very variable quantity:

1. The quantity of air taken in with a single inspiration in quiet
breathing (_tidal air_) is about 20-30 cubic inches.

2. The quantity taken in with the deepest possible inspiration
(_complemental air_) is about 100 cubic inches.

3. The quantity that may be expelled by the most forcible expiration
(_supplemental air_) is about 100 cubic inches.

4. The quantity that can under no circumstances be expelled (_residual
air_) is about 100 cubic inches.

5. The quantity that can be expelled after the most forcible
inspiration--_i.e._, the amount of air that can be moved--indicates
the _vital capacity_. This varies very much with the individual, and
depends not a little on the elasticity of the chest walls, and so
diminishes with age. It follows that youth is the best period for the
development of the chest, and the time to learn that special
breath-control so essential to good singing and speaking.

When the ribs have been raised by inspiration and the abdominal organs
pressed down by the diaphragm, the chest, on the cessation of the act,
tends to resume its former shape, owing to elastic recoil quite apart
from all muscular action; in other words, inspiration is active,
expiration largely passive. With the voice-user, especially the
singer, expiration becomes the more important, and the more difficult
to control, as will be shown later.

It must now be apparent that such use of the voice as is necessitated
by speaking for the public, or by singing, still more, perhaps, must
tend to the general welfare of the body--_i.e._, the hygiene of
respiration is evident from the physiology. Actual experience proves
this to be the case. The author has known the greatest improvement in
health and vigor follow on the judicious use of the voice, owing
largely to a more active respiration. It also follows, however, that
exhaustion may result from the excessive use of the respiratory
muscles, as with any others, even when the method of chest-expansion
is quite correct. Before condemning any vocal method one does well to
inquire in regard to the extent to which it has been employed, as well
as the circumstances of the voice-user. A poor clergyman worried with
the fear of being supplanted by another man, or a singer unable to
secure employment, possibly from lack of means to advertise himself,
is not likely to grow fat under any method of vocal exercise, be it
ever so physiological; while the prima donna who has chanced to please
the popular taste and become a favorite may "wax fat and kick."

[Illustration: FIGS. 14, A and B, are to be compared: that on the left
shows the position of the diaphragm, abdominal walls, etc., during
expiration; the one on the right, during inspiration. The relative
quantities of air in the chest in each case are approximately
indicated by the shaded areas.]




CHAPTER IV.

BREATHING FURTHER CONSIDERED THEORETICALLY AND PRACTICALLY.


When one takes into account the large number of muscles employed in
respiration, and remembers that these muscles must act in perfect
harmony with each other if the great end is to be attained, he
naturally inquires how this complex series of muscular contractions
has been brought into concerted action so as to result in that
physiological unity known as breathing.

It is impossible to conceive of such results being effected except
through the influence of the nervous system, which acts as a sort of
regulator throughout the whole economy. All the parts of the
respiratory tract are supplied with nerves, which are of both
kinds--those which carry nervous impulses or messages from and those
which convey them to the nervous centres concerned; in other words, to
and from the bodies of the nerve-cells whose extensions are termed
nerves. These centres are the central offices where the information is
received and from which orders are issued, so to speak.

The chief respiratory centre--_the_ centre--is situated in that
portion of the brain just above the spinal cord, in its continuation,
in fact, and is known as the _medulla oblongata_, or _bulb_. But
while this is the head centre, at which the ingoing (_afferent_)
impulses are received and from which the outgoing (_efferent_) ones
proceed, it makes use of many other collections of nerve-cells, or
subordinate centres--_e.g._, those whose nerve-extensions or
nerve-fibres proceed from the spinal cord to the muscles of
respiration.

[Illustration: FIG. 15. The purpose of this diagram is to indicate the
relation between ingoing (afferent) and outgoing (efferent) nervous
influences (impulses)--in other words, to illustrate _reflex action_.
The paths of the ingoing impulses are indicated by black lines, and
those of the outgoing ones by red lines, the point of termination
being shown by an arrow-tip. The result of an ingoing message may be
either favorable or unfavorable. The nervous impulse that reaches the
brain through the eye may be either exhilarating or depressing. The
experienced singer is usually stimulated by the sight of an audience,
while the beginner may be rendered nervous, and this may express
itself in many and widely distant parts of the body. An unfavorable
message may reach the diaphragm or intercostal muscles, and render
breathing shallow, irregular, or, in the worst cases, almost gasping.
The heart or stomach, even the muscles of the larynx, the limbs, etc.,
may be affected, and trembling be the result. On the other hand, the
laryngeal and other muscles may be toned up, and the voice rendered
better than usual, as a result of applause--_i.e._, by nervous
impulses through the ear--or, again, by the sight of a friend. Even a
very tight glove or a pinching shoe may suffice to hamper the action
of the muscles required for singing or speaking. All this is a result
of reflex action--_i.e._, outgoing messages set up by ingoing
ones--the "centre" being either the brain or the spinal cord. From all
this it is evident that the singer or speaker must guard against
everything unfavorable, to an extent that an ordinary person need not.
The stomach, as the diagram is also meant to show, may express itself
on the brain, and give rise, as in fact it often does, owing to
indiscretion in eating, to unpleasant outward effects on the muscles
required in singing or speaking. Of course, no attempt has been made
in the above figure to express anatomical forms and relations
exactly.]

When all the ingoing impulses from the lungs, etc., are cut off, if
respiration does not actually cease, it is carried out in a way so
ineffective that life cannot be long sustained. It follows that as the
muscular contractions necessary for the chest and other respiratory
movements are dependent on the impulses passing in from the lungs,
etc., breathing belongs to the class of movements known as
reflex--chiefly so, at all events. It will thus be seen that
respiration is a sort of self-regulative process, the movements being
in proportion to the needs of the body. The greater the need for
oxygen, the more are the nerve-terminals in the lungs and the centre
itself stimulated, with, as a result, corresponding outgoing impulses
to muscles.

As the respiratory centre is readily reached by impulses from every
part of the body, like one who keeps open house, there are many
different sorts of visitors, not all desirable. If, for example, a
drop of a fluid that produces no special effect when on the tongue
gets into the larynx, trachea, or lungs, the most violent coughing
follows. This is one illustration of the _protective_ character of
many reflexes. This violent action of the respiratory apparatus is
not in itself a desirable thing, because it disturbs if it does not
exhaust, but it is preferable to the inflammation that might result if
the fluid, a bread-crumb, etc., were to pass into the lungs.

In like manner, the deep breath and the "Oh!" that follow a
fear-inspiring sight, a very loud noise, or a severe pinch of the
skin, are examples of reflex action. They are quite independent of the
will, though in some cases they may be prevented by it.

This reflex nature of breathing throws much light on many matters of
great interest to the speaker and singer, some of which, as the
formation of good habits of breathing, will be considered later.
Unfortunately for the nervous debutant, his breathing is anything but
what he could wish it. The pale face and almost gasping respiration,
in the worst cases, are not unknown to the experienced observer. In
such cases the preventive (_inhibitory_) influence of certain ingoing
impulses is but too obvious. Such undesirable messages may pass in
through the eyes when the young singer looks out on the throng that
may either approve or condemn; or they may originate within, and pass
from the higher part of the brain to the lower breathing centre. The
beginner may have high ideals of art, and fear that they will be but
ill realized in his performance. His ideals in this instance do not
help but hinder, for they interfere with the regular action of the
breathing centre. A few deep breaths after the platform has been
reached greatly help under such circumstances. It is also wise for the
singer to avoid those songs that begin softly and require long breaths
and very evenly sustained tones. It is much better to begin with a
selection that brings the breathing organs into fairly active exercise
at once. One feeble, hesitating, or otherwise ineffective tone is in
itself a stimulus of the wrong kind, sending in unfavorable messages
which are only too apt to reach the breathing and other centres
concerned in voice-production; but of this subject of nervousness
again.

It is important to realize that sounds, whether musical or the
reverse, are produced by the outgoing stream of breath, by an
expiratory effort. Breath is taken in by the voice-producer in order
to be converted into that expiratory force which, playing on the vocal
bands, causes them to vibrate or pass into the rapid movements which
give rise to similar movements of the air in the cavities above the
larynx, the resonance-chambers, and on which the final result as
regards sound is dependent. Important as is inspiration to the speaker
and singer, expiration is much more so. Many persons fill the lungs
well, but do not understand how to husband their resources, and so
waste breath instead of converting every particle into sound, so to
speak. After the larynx has been studied the importance of the
expiratory blast will be better understood.

For the voice-user, it cannot be too soon realized that _all breath
that does not become sound is wasted_, or, to express the same truth
otherwise, the sole purpose of breathing is to cause effective
vibrations of the vocal bands. In these two words, _effective
vibrations_, lies the whole secret of voice production, the whole
purpose of training, the key to the highest technical results, the
cause of success or failure for those who speak or sing.

Before the larynx, the apparatus that produces sound-vibrations, can
be effectively employed, the source of power, the bellows, must be
developed. To some Nature has been generous--they have large chests;
to others she has given a smaller wind-chest, but has perhaps
compensated by providing an especially fine voice-box. Happy are they
who have both, and thrice happy those who have all three requirements:
a fine chest, a well-constructed larynx, and beautifully formed
resonance-chambers. If with all these there are the musical ear and
the artistic temperament, we have the singer who is born great. These
are the very few. To most it must be--if greatness at all--greatness
thrust upon them, greatness the result of long and patient effort to
attain perfect development. Indeed, even those with the most complete
natural outfit can only reach the highest results of which they are
capable by long and patient application. Those who do not believe in
attainment only through labor would do well to abandon an art career,
as there is already a great deal too much poor speaking and bad
singing.




CHAPTER V.

BREATHING WITH SPECIAL REGARD TO PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS.


The first great requisite for a voice-user is a well-developed chest;
the next, complete control of it, or, to put it otherwise, the art of
breathing, as briefly explained above.

The chest may be large enough, yet not be, in the physiological sense,
developed. The voice-user is a sort of athlete, a specialist whose
chest muscles must be strong and not covered up by very much
superfluous tissue in the form of fat, etc. Whatever the public may
think of the goodly form, the singer must remember that fat is
practically of no use to any one in voice-production, and may prove a
great hindrance, possibly in some cases being a cooeperative cause of
that _tremolo_ so fatal to good singing.

[Illustration: FIG. 16. The appearance of a well-developed, healthy
person, with special reference to the chest.]

[Illustration: FIG. 17. The appearance of the chest after undue
compression, as with corsets.]

[Illustration: FIG. 18. In this figure, the dark curved line in the
middle is meant to represent the position, etc., of the diaphragm,
beneath which, and fitting closely to it, are the liver, stomach, and
other abdominal organs, in this case not pressed upon or injured in
any way. This represents the normal human being.]

[Illustration: FIG. 19. A condition the reverse of that represented in
the preceding. The vital organs are pressed upon, with results some of
which are obvious; others equally serious are not such as appear to
the eye.]

The voice-user should eschew ease and take plenty of exercise, but
most of all must he use those forms of exercise which develop the
breathing apparatus and tend to keep it in the best condition.
Walking, running, and hill climbing are all excellent, but do not in
themselves suffice to develop the chest to the utmost.

To the beginner the following exercises are strongly recommended. They
are highly important for all, whether beginners or not, who would
have the best development of the breathing apparatus.

Deep breathing, such a use of the respiratory organs as leads to the
greatest possible expansion of the chest, should be learned and
practised, if not absolutely before vocal exercises are attempted, at
all events as soon after as possible. As in all cases where muscles
are employed, the exercise should be _graduated_. It may be even
harmful to attempt to fill the chest to its utmost capacity at once.
It is better to breathe very moderately for several days. Any such
symptoms as dizziness or headache accompanying or following the
exercises indicate that they have been too vigorous, too long
continued, or carried out under unsuitable conditions. Above all must
the air be pure, and the body absolutely unhampered--most of all, the
chest--by any form of clothing. Last century most ladies and some men
applied to the chest a form of apparatus known as corsets, under the
mistaken belief that they were for women a necessary support and
improved the figure. They no doubt were responsible for much lack of
development, and feeble health, and, as has been proved by examination
of the body after death, led to compression of the liver and other
organs. No voice-user should use such an effective means of preventing
the very thing he should most desire, a full and free use of the
breathing apparatus.

Before carrying out the exercises suggested or others equally good,
the student is recommended to be weighed, and especially to have the
chest carefully _measured_. This can be done with sufficient accuracy
by the use of a tape-measure. It will be well to take the
circumference a few inches above and below a certain point, so that it
may be ascertained that the chest expands in every region. The
measurements should be taken under the following conditions:

1. The chest should be almost or wholly divested of clothing.

2. Its circumference is to be ascertained--(_a_) when the breath has
been allowed to pass out gently, and before a new breath is taken;
(_b_) with the deepest possible inspiration; (_c_) after the deepest
possible expiration, which has been preceded by a similar inspiration.

After about three weeks the individual should be again measured, by
the same person, in exactly the same way, in order to learn whether
there has been development or not, and, if so, how much. It is
important that the measurements should be made at exactly the same
horizontal planes, and with this end in view it is desirable to put a
small mark of some kind on the chest, which may remain till the next
measurements are made.

The method of breathing recommended is as follows:

1. Inhale very slowly through the nostrils, with closed mouth,
counting mentally one, two, three, four, etc., with regularity.

2. Hold the breath thus taken, but only for a short time, counting in
the same manner as before.

3. Exhale slowly, still counting.

After a few moments' rest the exercise may be again carried out in the
same way. These exercises may be in series, several times a day.

The following warnings are especially to be observed:

1. Never continue any exercise when there is a sense of discomfort of
any kind whatever. Such usually indicates that it is being carried out
too vigorously.

2. Increase the depth of the inspirations daily, but not very rapidly.

3. The inspirations and expirations should both be carried out very
slowly at first.

4. Cease the exercise before any sense of fatigue is experienced.
Fatigue is Nature's warning, and should be always obeyed. It indicates
that the waste products which result from the use of the muscles are
accumulating and proving harmful.

After a week of such exercises the following modification of them is
recommended:

1. Inhale with the lips slightly apart.

2. Gradually increase the length of the time the breath is held, but
let it never exceed a few seconds.

3. Through open lips allow the breath to pass out, but with extreme
slowness. The student should try to increase this last, somewhat,
daily, as it is above all what is required in singing, and also in
speaking, though to a somewhat less degree--a slow, regulated
expulsion of the breath.

If when the chest is full of air the subject gently raises the arms
over the head, or directs them backward, he will experience a sense of
pressure on the chest. If this be carefully done, its effect is to
strengthen, and it is especially valuable for those inclined to stoop.
The recommendation to inspire through the open lips applies only when
one is in a room, or in the open air when it is warm enough and free
from dust. But the student should learn to inspire through the
slightly open mouth, as to breathe through the nose in speaking, and
especially in singing, is objectionable for several reasons which can
be better explained later; so that the rule is to _breathe through the
nose when not using the voice, and through the mouth when one does_.

Though all the exercises thus far referred to tend to develop the
diaphragm and abdominal muscles, these may be strengthened by special
exercises. The diaphragm is the soft floor of the chest, and must at
once bear the strain of the air that acts on the approximated vocal
bands, and assist in applying that pressure with just the amount of
force required, and no more; hence it is important that this muscle be
both strong and under perfect control. This large central muscle is
probably not only the most generally effective of all the respiratory
muscles, but has an action more precise and often more delicate, more
nicely controlled, than that of any other. It is possible to make very
powerful movements of this muscle, and an exercise that will cause it
to descend deeply and remain in a tense condition is valuable. To
effect this, one pushes it down as far as possible, and holds it there
for a few seconds, then permits it to relax gradually. The extent to
which this is successful can be inferred from the degree to which the
abdominal wall bulges forward.

The sudden though slight movements required in those forms of
vocalization that bear more or less resemblance to what vocalists term
_staccato_, and which are so effective in dramatic speaking and
singing, can be prepared for by larger but sudden movements of the
diaphragm, as when one taking a full breath imitates coughing
movements, but in a regular and measured way, the throat being used
but little. At the same time, or separately, the abdominal muscles may
be effectively exercised by being drawn in and thrust out with
considerable force.

None of these movements are elegant--they scarcely put one in an
artistic light; but they are highly effective in strengthening parts
every voice-user must employ.

To furnish adequate support for the diaphragm and chest in a very
vigorous use of the voice, as in the most trying passages a tragic
actor has to speak or a vocalist to sing, the abdominal muscles must
remain more or less tense, and to do so effectually they must have
strength beyond that possessed by the corresponding muscles in
ordinary persons; hence the desirability of employing special
exercises to increase their vigor. Hill climbing and bicycling also
tend to this end, but the latter is for many reasons not a form of
exercise to be recommended to one who wishes to attain the highest
results with the voice. Wind, dust, a stooping position, excessive
heat of the body, etc., are all among the many factors of risk for the
delicate vocal mechanism.

As the expiratory blast is so important in voice-production, the
exercises above recommended should be followed by others in which this
principle is specially recognized.

1. Inspire so as to fill the chest to the fullest with considerable
rapidity; then allow the breath-stream to pass out with the utmost
slowness.

2. Fill the chest with special reference to its lower or its upper
part, as desired, and very rapidly, letting the breath flow out
slowly.


SUMMARY.

The primary purpose of respiration in all animals is the same--namely,
to furnish oxygen and remove carbon dioxide (carbonic acid). The
lowest animals, as the amoeba, breathe by the whole surface of the
body. In all vertebrates the anatomical mechanism is essentially the
same: a membrane (covered with flat cells) in which the blood is
distributed in the minutest blood-vessels (capillaries). Respiration
is finally effected in the tissues (cells) of the body. The more
active the animal, or the higher in the scale, the more need of
frequent interchange between the air, the blood, and the tissues.

The respiratory organs in mammals are the mouth, nose, larynx,
trachea, bronchial tubes, and lung-tissue or air-cells proper. The
windpipe is made up of cartilaginous rings completed by membrane,
muscle, etc. (behind). The bronchial tubes are the continuation of the
windpipe, and branch tree-like until they become very fine. The
air-cells are built round these latter. The lung-tissue is highly
elastic. The lungs are made up of an elastic membrane, covered with
flat cells, and very abundantly supplied with a mesh-work of the
finest blood-vessels. The whole of the respiratory tract as far as the
air-cells is lined by mucous membrane.

The air consists essentially of 21 parts of oxygen and 79 parts of
nitrogen, with a variable quantity of watery vapor. Only a small
portion of the total oxygen of the air is removed before it is
exhaled. The respiratory act consists of (1) inspiration, and (2)
expiration; the latter is of a little longer duration than the former.
The rate of breathing in man is from 14 to 18 per minute, in the
resting state, or about one respiration to three or four heart-beats.
The quantity of air inspired depends on (1) the size of the thorax,
and (2) the extent of its movements. These are effected solely by
muscular contractions, and give rise to an increase in all the
diameters of the thorax. The lungs are closely applied (but not
attached) to the inside of the chest wall, and remain so under all
circumstances. When the chest cavity is enlarged by inspiration, the
air, pressing down into the elastic lungs, expands them as much as
possible, that is, as much as the chest walls will allow; but the
lungs are never at any time either filled with or emptied of air to
their utmost capacity. At most, the amount of expansion is very
moderate.


_The Quantity of Air in the Lungs._

1. The quantity of air inspired in quiet breathing is about 20-30
cubic inches.

2. The quantity that can be added to this by a deep inspiration is
about 100 cubic inches.

3. The quantity that can be expelled by a forcible expiration is about
100 cubic inches.

4. The quantity that cannot be expelled at all is about 100 cubic
inches.

The above are named: (1) The tidal air; (2) complemental air; (3)
supplemental air; (4) residual air. The quantity that can be expelled
by the most forcible expiration after the most forcible inspiration,
that is, the air that can be moved, indicating the "vital capacity,"
is about 225-250 inches.

Copyright (c) 2007. knowncrafts.net. All rights reserved.