The “Distant” Voices
By this time the young ventriloquist should have attained sufficient proficiency in the art of manipulating “knee” figures to feel confident of venturing on the far more difficult and relatively more important “distant” voices.
The real test of ventriloquial power is when the performer is capable of making sounds appear to come from a distance, i.e. so modify his utterances that they appear to the audience to proceed from some point remote both from the entertainer and from themselves.
The basis of real ventriloquism, as apart from polyphony, i.e. “near” effects, is known as the “bee drone,” because the first sound of which the vocal chords are capable when placed in the required position much resembles the droning of a bee in full flight.
The “bee drone” should be practiced in loosely fitting clothing, so that neither the muscles of the throat nor of the chest are unduly hampered.
From a natural, upright position, inhale in a short, jerky manner, making what is best described as a retching noise at the back of the throat. Unpleasant as the practice of this undoubtedly is for the first few minutes, after a short while the noise emitted will settle down to a softly sustained hum. The tongue should lie flat, so that the sound waves produced partly in the larynx and partly in the back of the throat are forced upwards by the action of the abdominal muscles and directed towards the roof of the mouth, the latter acting somewhat as a sounding board—modifying the sound and conveying to the ears of a listener some distance away a “distant” effect.
The continuous practice of the word “ah,” with the vocal chords in the position just described, will speedily produce the necessary droning quality.
It remains now only by a contraction of the throat to regulate the quality of the tone and the distance from which you wish it to appear to come.
From this point progress will be found rapid and satisfactory. The various modifications of the bee drone produce respectively,
1. The “roof” voice.
2. The “level” voice.
3. The “floor” voice.