The daily herald. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1886-1887, 1886-12-15
BUILDING UP THE VOICE.
srAmmERlNe AND SUFFERING
CAN BE VERY EASILY CURED.

gymen's Noices-Tho stage.
There was an old idea that the devil was re-
sponsible for all diseases and Affections. If
one sneezed It was not because he had taken
snuff but because the devil was laughing
through his nose. One naturally exclaimed,
aGod bless your The poor wretch who
suffered was another victim Of the DEVILS
malignity. In those days there was two ways
of curing the sufferer. One was TO make
him quit talking, and the other was to sink
the victim in ten feet Of water and leave him
there until the devil was drowned. The first
method was only applicable to the male sex
They were both effective, however, but UNI
reasonably simple. Neither method Is in use
today TO any great extent.
Mrs. Florence James Adams, who, as far
as voices are concerned, is wise beyond her
years, said the other day that there was an
element of cruelty about the second method
that reyolted her. In fact she considered
both methods unscientihc "Stuttering and
stammering, y she explained, fare not visible
manifestations of the devil They are due TO
muscular affections. The whole trouble is a
nervous one, and one can cure it by building
up the system and teaching the sufferer how
H. breathe properly
Mrs. Adams has studied the art of voice
building both in this country and abroad.
She is deeply interested in this subject and an
ardent believer In the future possibilities of
She voice.
s"First OF all" she explained, "you must
know that in the new method of voice build
ing the conversational voice is trained by the
vocal scale. There are three registers in the
speaking voioe-upper, middle and lower.
Every voice has a range OF at least seven
notes. The lower - lister Is merely used in
conversation, OF course, It's province is TO
express anger and the harsher passions. The
middle register is usually the weakest of the
three. This is, however, the normal voice.
The upper register, with its shrill, decisive
tones, is the mental The lower one is called
the vital. 1t is deep and passionate. The
normal Is of course the happy medium. The
evenly balanced man, whose heart does not
outrun his head, speaks in this voice. Ex-
citable people drift into one extreme or the
other. In the voice, as in all other things,
repose brings grace. The range matters lit
tie in the conversational voice. Though it
were limited to three notes, wise succession
of tone would make it effective. II is the
slur, the careless, meaningless rise and fall
that ruin the speaking voice"
"Are not our English cousins good speak
ersg"
shat the rising infection is the best spur to
conversation. The falling infection is dog
matte, decisive, and cuts off all discussion.
The young Englishman says 'I-ah love you
ah' with the rising infection. He leaves the
subject poised in the middle voice. Naturally
the young woman can't leave IL hanging there
like Mohammed's cosiin. You see, the matter
has already drifted into delightful explana-
tory discussion The young American, how
ever, says i love you with falling infection.
That ends the matter The young woman
can call or pass out-that's all But there is
ever so much to be said ON the other side.n
ado the Americans speak through the
nosel"
Educated Americansi No--not unless they
come from Maine. The Americans have q
good speaking voice, as a usual thing, though
it tends, perhaps, to sharpness. The voice,
you know is the truest test of character 1t
is almost unfailing One can disguise the
face, the eyes, the manner, but rarely thinks
ofspeaking out Of the usual voice. One can
tell the intellectual man, the immoral man,
by his voice more readily than in any other
way. The professional voice is another
strange thing One can tell a lawyer the
moment he opens his mouth. He speaks in
hard, didactic tone, with downward infec-
ton. His voice is low, but decisive. Usually
when lawyer wants to get great effect he
assumes stage whisper. OF course, there
are ever so many characteristics ittff u
"What of the clergymans profession voiceln
"Well, from his calling one would expect
him TO have a middle register voice, full of
heart and sympathy, but as q usual thing
the head tones predominant in the pulpit.
The idea of one preaching charity and be-
uaV0Ipnca I'm hand fonao afrfkac mo ua,.xr
ridiculous. The voice and thought are out of
harmony. 1t reminds one of boatman
looking one way and rowing steadily in the
other direction. OF course, most clergymen
are hard students given 10 brain work. and
this accounts for their voices. Now and then
you hear Clergyman who speaks in the low,
broad tones Of the normal voice. He may
speak the veriest nonsense, but he Is called
magnetic. Every evangelist | ever heard
uses this voice. Moody, Sam Jones' Talmage
and preachers of that kind all do There Is a
heart quality In it that has wonderful eff
feet. Again it gives one an impression of
self-contained strength. A speaker can never
use all the middle voice, and one feels that
there Is always reserve awaiting call Dr.
John Hall, of New York, is one of the best
illustrations of what am saying. He under
stands that emphasis depends ON the tone, not
ON the force"
"As to the stagef
"There, of course, the voice Is all-important
One can always pick out the young actor.
Hchas awakened TO the realization of the
fact that he has voice, He rams up and
down the scale, ending his sentences now In
one voice and now in another. 1t is merely a
matter Of vocal imitation The thoughtful
voice is always poised. That is the reason
III. Na-