What is the voice—a spirit, or "an expiratory current of air set into vibration by purely physical agencies"? It does not seem to me to be either, but something which is of the nature of both: our dual nature, embodied in the sounds of speech; our body and soul joining hands to produce the miracle of the voice. Regarding the materialistic view quoted above, which is held by most of the investigators, who make the larynx their point d'appui, I think that if there is anything in our composition or emanating therefrom that is not produced by "purely physical agencies," it is the voice.
In my opinion there is nothing purer, more "spiritual," in the world than a beautiful voice. Did you ever see a spirit? Perhaps not. But you have often heard one. You hear them daily, hourly, constantly; other spirits as well as your own—the spirits represented by the voice; the soul incorporated in the sounds of speech. When you converse, it is soul to soul; when you hear an anthem sung, it is the soul of the singer to the soul of the universe. The soul reveals itself most prominently through the voice when there is anguish in it, or joy; tears or laughter; love or hate.
An attempt to get at the truth in matters of the voice is an attempt at getting at the truth in matters of life. If you will tell me all that a vocal sound is, I will tell you what your soul is.
To examine into the anatomical construction of the larynx, to watch it physiologically and learn to understand the motions of the vocal cords in their relation to vocal sounds, is not much more than looking at the dial of a clock (a simile already used, but worth repeating). The movements of the hands will give you no cue to the construction of the intricate works hidden behind the face of the clock. Nor will the careful examination and observation of the "dials" which serve the voice of the œsophagus in the same manner as those of the larynx serve the voice of the trachea, measurably increase the knowledge of vocal phenomena. I do believe, however, that, inasmuch as the movements of the replica, the frænum, and the vocal lip fit into and complement those of the larynx and its vocal cords, and vice versa, lessons of great benefit to the knowledge and the improvement of vocal utterance may be learned, after we have once begun to understand what these movements imply.
That we cannot now derive any benefit from the observation of these motions is due to the fact that they are reflex, involuntary, uncontrolled and uncontrollable by the will. Or, as Mme. D'Arona expresses it:
"They are not the cause of the perfect tone, but are simply acted upon by the cause."
After having become acquainted with the cause of these motions, and having learned to control it in the interest of pure and perfect tone, the movements of the larynx and the replica will become of value to us as "indicators" of the correct or incorrect exercise of the cause which they reflect. In "recording" the original movements they will show us what is right or wrong in the latter, and will thus offer us an opportunity for correcting them. Up to the present they have been simply barometers, which, no matter how closely we may observe them, offer us no opportunity for changing "the state of the weather" which they indicate. After thoroughly comprehending the causes, however, which move them, we may shape the course of the latter in conformity with our will. Or, vice versa, we may shape our will, which, after all, is the first cause, so as to correct that which they indicate to be wrong in our tone production.
Now, what is that which the will acts upon, and thus becomes the original source, the first cause, so to say, of tone production? My answer will be a surprise, for, as far as I know, no one has ever as much as thought, even, of looking in this direction for the seat of the voice.
The original source of tone production has its location in various vessels of the viscera: in the lungs, the kidneys, and the bladder, for the most part, though many other vessels, if not all, participate, and are more or less involved in its production. Besides these vessels, the heart and the solar plexus, as central organs of the vascular and nervous systems, together with the brain as the central seat of thought and the will, perform parts of the highest importance in tone production and vocal utterance. In the lungs, the bladder, and the kidneys, together with their coadjutors, the bronchi and ureters, the tone originates. Here we can control, and unconsciously do control, it.