Home Arts for Old and Young

by Caroline L. Smith

2.—THE THEORY OF VENTRILOQUISM.

Many physiologists aver that ventriloquism is produced by speaking during the inspiration of air. It is quite possible to articulate under these circumstances, and the plan may be occasionally adopted; but the practical experience of many performers prove that the general current of utterance is, as in ordinary speech, during expiration of the breath.

Some think ventriloquism comprises a management of the echoes; but echo only repeats what has been already spoken. Baron Mingon, a famous ventriloquist, had an automaton doll with which he could apparently converse. He thus describes his modus operandi: “I press my tongue against the teeth, and thus circumscribe a cavity between my left cheek and teeth, in which the voice is produced by the air held in reserve in the pharynx. The sounds thus receive a hollow and muffled tone, which causes them to appear to come from a distance.” The Baron says, “It is essential to have the breath well under control, and not to respire more than can be avoided.” Ventriloquists often experience fatigue in the chest, and have attributed it to the slow expiration of the breath. Some are often compelled to cough during the progress of exercitation.

To attain an exact and positive knowledge of the modifications of voice specified as ventriloquism, it is important to be familiar with the distinctions of the sounds uttered by the mouth; and to ascertain how the organs act in producing those vocal modifications, it is necessary to know how the breath is vocalized in all its distinctions of pitch, loudness, and quality, by the ordinary actions of the vocal organs. In ordinary language we speak of noise, of common sound, and of musical sounds. A quill striking a piece of wood causes a noise, but striking successively against the teeth of a wheel, or of a comb, a continued sound, and if the teeth of the wheel are at equal distances, and the velocity of the rotation is constant, a musical sound.

Phonation, or the production of voice, is a result of actions taking place under two distinct classes of laws, namely: the ordinary mechanical laws of acoustics, and the physiological laws of muscular movement. The adjustment of the vocal mechanism to be brought into operation by the current of air, is made by actions, under the latter laws; and phonation is the result of the reaction of the mechanism on the current of air by mechanical movements under the former laws. Now the pitch of the voice essentially depends on the tension of the vocal ligaments; the loudness on the extent of the excursion of these ligaments in their vibrations; the duration on the continuance of the vocalizing causes; the equality on the organization of the larynx, and also on the form and size of the vocal tube. The form and size of this tube can be altered in various ways. For instance, by dilating or contracting the mouth; by contracting the communication between the pharynx and mouth, so as to constitute them distinct chambers, or by dilating the opening so as to throw them into one, which is chiefly attained by movements of the soft palate, and by altering the form of the mouth’s cavity, which is effected by varying the position of the tongue. Each of these modifications of the vocal tube conveys a peculiarity of quality to the voice, all, however, being local or laryngeal sounds. Moreover, sounds can be produced in the vocal tube, apart from the larynx. These, strictly speaking, are not vocal sounds, though some of them may be of a definite and uniform pitch, while others are mere noises, as rattling, whispering, gurgling, whistling, snoring, and the like. Now, as everything audible comes under the classes of noise, sound, or musical sound, and as each variety originates in the vocal apparatus of man, it is obvious that an ordinary vocal apparatus is all that is required for the achievement of the feats of ventriloquy.

A person in a house cannot judge by the noise of an approaching carriage, with any certainty, whether it is coming from the right or left. Thus it is in many other sounds. But we judge the direction sound has travelled from its source on reaching the ear. The ventriloquist indicates, either directly or indirectly, the direction from which he wishes his audience to believe the sound is coming. Thus he directly indicates it by words, such as, “Are you up there?” “He is up the chimney,” “He is in the cellar,” “Are you down there?” &c. He indirectly indicates it by some suggestive circumstance, as an action or gesture, which is so skilfully unobtrusive and natural as to effect its object without being discovered. Thus, when the ventriloquist looks or listens in any direction, or even simply turns towards any point, as if he expected sound to come thence, the attention of an audience is by that means instantly directed to the same place. Thus, before a sound is produced, the audience expect it to come in the suggested direction, and the ventriloquist has merely by his adjustment of vocal loudness, to indicate the necessary distance, when a misjudgment of the audience will complete the illusion which he has begun.

The effect which is produced on sound by its travelling from a distance, is observed to be,—

1. That its loudness is reduced in proportion to its distance.

2. That its pitch remains unaltered.