According to this eminent anatomist, therefore, the differences between male and female larynges are as follows: In height, 9/10; in width, 1/5; in depth, 1/5; in the length of the vocal chink, 2/5 of an inch. As it is plain that if there were "no difference between the male and the female larynx save in size," all their proportions would be alike, I think I may safely assume that I have proved my point, which is a rather important one, as the reader will see when the registers in the male and female voice come up for discussion.
We will now consider the question how the various classes of voice—i.e., Sopranos, Contraltos, Tenors, and Basses—are to be accounted for by corresponding differences in the voicebox. We know that tone is produced by the vibrations of the vocal ligaments. It is clear, therefore, that a voice will be high or low according to the number of vibrations which the ligaments are capable of producing, or in other words, according to their dimensions and their tension. This difference is easily seen by comparing the voicebox of a soprano with that of a bass, because there the proportions are so manifestly smaller in the one than in the other. There are similar distinctions between soprano and contralto on the one hand, and between tenor and bass on the other, but they are not so striking. Neither can they, for various reasons, be demonstrated with the laryngoscope; but they exist nevertheless.
It is true that the vocal ligaments of a soprano are sometimes longer than those of a contralto, just as the ligaments of a tenor are occasionally longer than those of a bass. But I maintain that the longer ligaments of sopranos and tenors are correspondingly thinner, and that their tension is greater, owing to the ring-shield or stretching muscles being more powerful than their opponents—the shield-pyramid muscles. Where this is the case the ligaments are more slanting than they would be otherwise, and the consequence of this is that less power of blast is required to make them speak. With this mechanism the higher registers are very readily united with the lower ones, and the voices so produced are of a light and flexible kind. Where, on the contrary, the vocal ligaments of contraltos and basses are comparatively short, they are also thick in proportion, and the shield-pyramid muscles are more powerful than the opposing ring-shield muscles, so that there is less tension. I shall be asked how I can prove this tension theory, and my reply is this: The diameter of the vocal ligaments depends in a large measure on the magnitude of the shield-pyramid muscles. If, therefore, the ligaments are exceptionally thick, the muscles just named must of necessity be very powerful, and can easily resist the pulling of the ring-shield muscles. If, on the contrary, the ligaments are exceptionally thin, it is equally certain that the shield-pyramid muscles are weak in proportion, and then the stretching muscles can easily overcome their resistance.
I may add that I came to the above conclusions about the various classes of voices years ago, when commencing the study of this subject. Not only have I never since seen any reason to alter my views—although I have not failed to notice and carefully examine the theories of others denying my doctrine—but I am more than ever convinced that my explanations are correct. I have now the gratification of seeing my theory confirmed by so great an authority as Dr. Merkel, of Leipzig, who most elaborately explains the subject in his latest work on the larynx, to which I have already alluded in these pages.
Besides the factors enumerated above, there are, no doubt, others which are also of consequence in determining the particular kind of voice to be produced by this vocal apparatus or by that; as, for instance, the windpipe, or the resonator, or both. The capacity of the chest—nay, the structure of the whole body, may have a more or less direct influence upon it. But there are absolutely no statistics to proceed upon, and in the absence of these it is vain to indulge in any speculations on the subject.
MOVEMENTS OF THE VOICEBOX, OR
LARYNX, WHICH CAN BE SEEN
OR FELT.
The voicebox in a man is situated almost exactly in the middle of the throat; in woman its position is, for reasons partly explained on page 64, considerably higher. It moves downwards in inspiration, and upwards in expiration; and the more vigorously we breathe, the more marked are these movements. In the act of swallowing the voicebox rises quickly, and in yawning it goes down so completely that the whole windpipe may vanish into the chest, and even the part of the ring cartilage may disappear.
When singing in what is called chest-voice the voicebox rises gradually with each higher tone. Changing the mode of tone production, and singing—say an octave higher—in falsetto, the voicebox makes quite a leap upwards, and then again rises gradually with each higher tone, just as in chest-voice, but in a lesser degree. The voicebox, however, does not stand so high for the lowest falsetto as for the highest chest tones.
It is possible, of course, to limit these movements to a minimum, but a teacher who insists upon his pupils keeping their voice-boxes perfectly still commits a serious mistake, because it is always injurious to do violence to nature. It is one thing to keep the voicebox steady, thereby facilitating the working of some of those muscles which act immediately upon the vocal ligaments; it is quite another thing, as will be seen below, to attempt to prevent movements which have to serve a great purpose.