The Old Woman’s Voice
Known as the “theek” or “rush” voice, it partakes of the nature of the squeaky, shrill sound produced by a reed instrument. Most people are gifted with the power of singing “falsetto,” and the “theek” voice simply consists of falsetto tones somewhat exaggerated. Either the words “queek” or “theek” may be used for the preliminary practice, the latter perhaps being preferable.
As it is not intended in these chapters to enter into a practical discourse on the anatomy of the throat and vocal chords, technical terms relating to such will be avoided as far as possible. However, the larynx must now be mentioned—this is the part of the throat often spoken of as Adam’s apple, and is the convex portion of the first cartilage of the larynx. It is, then, this part of the larynx that has to be compressed by muscular contraction in order to give the “theek” voice its proper quality; by a slight pressure with the hand on the “apple” you will realize the position which this part of the throat should occupy when muscular contraction takes place.
Now, taking in a deep breath and contracting the larynx, it will naturally curl up the tongue, until the tip presses tightly against the roof of the mouth. Open the lips fairly wide and say the word “theek” in a high-pitched falsetto tone, sustaining the vowel sound as long as you can.
Your first efforts will probably end in dismal failure, but after a few attempts the full sound settles down to the long drawn-out sound of full roundness and tone.
Now you have acquired the “theek” voice, which is also the basis of the voices used with the figures of little boys and little girls.
Very possibly your practice in the elementary stages of ventriloquism will result in a slight soreness of the throat. To alleviate this, and, at the same time, to strengthen the vocal chords, gargle with a weak solution of salt and water, or better still, get a druggist to make up a gargle for you.
Curiously enough, the mere effort of gargling is in itself a valuable aid to the production of ventriloquism, inasmuch as the subject is forced to emit sounds while the water is in the throat, and these will be found to possess quite a “distant” effect.
Having mastered the “grunt” and “theek” voices, use words consisting of vowels, changing the words into sentences as progress is made.
At this point the young ventriloquist is sufficiently well equipped to undertake a public exhibition of his powers, and this being so, it is perhaps better to make mention of ventriloquial figures before the remaining “near” voices are dealt with.
As a matter of fact, the practice of ventriloquism in its earlier stages is not the most interesting of occupations, and not until the beginner awakens to the full realization of his powers—as he does only when he is working with automata—is the real fascination of the art felt.