The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-05-23
THREE DISTINCT VOICES
A NEGRO WHO Is PECULIARLY
GIFTED MUsICALLY.
Can Sing Soprano. Alto and Barytone
at One Time-An Object of Interest
to Medical Men-Has an Abnormal
Mouth.

William Yancy. pure-blooded negro
and ex-slave from the South, had liyeS
to past middle age and always had coz
siderable Of struggle for existence b.,
fore he became aware Of the fact thai
he was something of a physical mon
strosity and an object Of interest 10 the
medical profession because Of that very
fact. He glories in the possession Of
three distinct wholesome pitched in the
barytone key and two minor ones, So
prano and alto. The barytone is his nor
NAL or natural voice. while the consonant
production Of the other two depends on
his will and on his manipulation of his
vocal chords. When singing certain
songs peculiarly adapted to those three
voices Of his they produce together a
harmony of notes similar, in fact, to the
Ginning in of a rather well-modulated
barytone voice, and Of a soprano and an
alto Of less volume and power. In other
songs, or passages of them, the three
voices which simultaneously emanate
from his throat sound discordantly. He
has. by dint Of many years unassisted
training, reached that degree Of skill in
handling his assortment Of voices that
he can sing the solo part Of a song In his
normal. clear barytone. reserving the
wierd effects Of the three voices in con-
junction to the chorus or refrain. Mr..
Yancy is likewise the proud owner OF
ventriloquistic powers, and the latter he
knows how TO use TO even better effect
than his vocal talents.
William Yancy is now the 3anitor OF
Quinn chapel. AS to how he came 10
discover his peculiar gifts that was as
follows: Being then a boy OF about
twelve and working one day in the corn
1or 70 IL Of fOv n
he suddenly discovered. while singing
some darby tunes, that he could strike
two voices" when he sang very high.
He tried it again and again, and then
ran TO his mistress. Miss Mary Bow
man, who had always been very kind to
him, and told her Of his discovery. But
how can you do It, William" she said
in amazement. Whereupon he started
off with that fine old negro hymn:
When the rocks in the mountains will all
1 shall find new hiding place there.
He sang it, pitched in a high key Of
his youthful voice, and. sure enough.
the vibrations in the roof of his mouth
suddenly sounded double, then treble.
and Miss Mary stood and wondered
and said: "Oh, how strange II isl
But that was all. No further ado was
made Of the queer facts in the case.
His white-skinned employers then and
since may have looked upon these ply
steal abnOrmalities as a new phase m
negro nature. And William went on
through the even tenor Of his ways
hoeing corn and feeding cattle and at
peculiar gifts for his own private
amusement in the evening, and not
thinking much about ii.
Thus ii was until recently, when Dr.
Ira d. Isham, whose speciality is the
voice and chest and who Is professor
of physiological diagnosis in the college
of physicians and surgeons, noticed the
elderly negro on one occasion and was
treated TO an exhibition of his special
talents, both in singing and in ventril-
oquiSm. DR.. Isham made an eXamina-
ton Of William Yancy and found the
epiglottis in a normal state the roof Of
the mouth exceptionally short, but the
space Immediately back Of ii abnor-
mally long and extensive. so that there
is more space for the resonance Of the
vocal chords than is usually the case.
He also found the vocal chords them
selves slightly congested and inhamed-
an abnormal condition which has be-
come permanent, and 10 which. no
doubt, the frequent hoarseness OF the
subject is due. His professional opin-
ion may be summed up in these few
words: Abnormal conditions. but not
phenomenal ones; both Yancys triple
voice and his ventrilOquism owing 10
the abnormal vibrations Of the vocal
Before undergoing this examination
by DR.. Isham. Mr.. Yancy gave an en-
tertaining exhibition Of his gifts. He
sang Hold the Fort Roll, Jordan.
Roll" Way Down Upon the Suwanee
River" when the Rocks in the Noun
tains," the tonal scale. and some other
selections and n them all the peculiar
conditions Of his voice, as mentioned
above, were apparent. Sometimes the
flowing together of the three voices pro-
duced a perfect harmony, but more Of
ten it did not. A little ventriloquistic
scene of Yancy's own invention and
very comical, demonstrated the mans
perfect control over the changeful tim
bre of his voice. He engaged in an ap-
parent quarrel with somebody outside
the door who wished TO come in and
whom he would not admit Without
any apparent effort on Yancy's part his
voice changed off and on, from it's nat
ural tones to those of a man and then
of a small darby child outside trying TO
break in the door.-Chicago Herald.