CHAPTER VII
Head and Nasal Resonance
Of the four component factors in the production of speech and song, the first, the motor, has been considered in [Chapter III], and the second, the vibrator, in [Chapter I].
In one respect there is marked contrast between these two factors. Until right habits are so thoroughly formed that the singer's breathing is automatically controlled, conscious effort is necessary, while the action of the vibrator, the vocal cords, is involuntary, not subject to conscious control.
The subtle adjustments of the delicate mechanism of the larynx belong to the realm of reflex action—to a spontaneous activity that, left unhindered, does its part in perfect nicety.
The vocal cords must, in their action, be free from the disturbance of uncontrolled breath action below them, or the hindrance due to misdirected effort above them. To direct consciousness to the vocal cords is to cramp them and prevent that free vibration and that perfect relaxation of the throat without which pure tone and true pitch are impossible.
As a surgeon I well know the value of thorough anatomical knowledge, but from the singer's standpoint I cannot too strongly emphasize the unwisdom of directing the attention of sensitively organized pupils to their vocal mechanism by means of the laryngoscope. This instrument belongs to the physician, not to the singer.
The importance of the third factor, the resonator, has been considered in [Chapter V], on Resonance, but the fourth element in voice production, articulation, is so coördinated to resonance that the significance and primacy of the latter are too often overlooked.
Placing or "focusing the voice" I have found to be chiefly a matter of control and use of the resonator, consisting of chest, pharynx, mouth, and the nasal and head cavities.