MANNER IN WHICH THE SOUNDS ARE FORMED
“As we have just seen—and what we have seen proves it—the inferior ligaments at the bottom of the larynx form exclusively the voice, whatever may be its register or its intensity; for they alone vibrate at the bottom of the larynx.… By the compressions and expansions of the air, or the successive and regular explosions which it produces in passing through the glottis, sound is produced.” (The London, Edinburgh and Dublin Phil. Mag. and Journal of Science, vol. x. 4th Series, pp. 218–221, 1855.)
Garcia proceeds, in the same paper, to give an elaborate account of his theory of the compression, expansion and explosion of the air in expiration, together with his conjectures as to the action of the muscles of the larynx in relation to the different registers. I omit both here, for, since this publication of Garcia’s, the movements of the breath generating sound in expiration have been thoroughly investigated and determined by Prof. Helmholtz; and in the physical section of the present work all may be found that is of value in the culture of the singing voice. Whatever can be definitely communicated in regard to the working of the muscles of the larynx may likewise be found in any anatomical work. An acquaintance, however, with the action of these muscles is not directly necessary to our purpose, and is of interest only to the physiologist.
It is not to be denied that Garcia’s observations do not, by any means, lead to satisfactory conclusions as to the functions of the vocal organ. He has, as we shall see in the sequel, attached special importance to much that is unessential and abnormal, and the main facts, the elucidation of which is particularly needed, he has scarcely mentioned. Thus he tells us nothing of that series of tones which he calls the head register. The transition also of the registers he has not carefully examined and observed in different voices: the chest register in the male and the falsetto of the female voice.
Nevertheless, these investigations possess much that is valuable, and are of special value to the art of singing, because they teach a method hitherto unknown of observing the larynx, by which sure and satisfactory results are reached. And when an acquaintance with these results comes to be universally diffused, and the art of singing is thereby led into the right direction, we shall owe it most especially to the excellent experimental observations of Garcia.
Garcia has accepted the division made by Müller, and universally adopted in science, of the chest, falsetto and head registers. I employ the same distinctions—a fact which it seems worth while to mention, simply because every teacher and school have their own terminology, and instead of falsetto we have fistel, throat, and middle or neck voice, &c. These denominations of the same registers have thus far only increased the obscurity prevailing in the art of singing.