Daily Kennebec journal., 1894-01-18
SONGS or THE INDIANS.
Each Tribes Original Compositions Aeon
rately Transmitted Through Generations

Each Tribes Original Compositions Accn-
rately Transmitted Through Generations
In every tribe there are hundreds OF
original songs which are its herllge
Mgny OF them have been handed Gown
through generations and embody not only
the feeling Of the composer, hut record
some past event or experience. Ihey are
treasured by the people. and care IS takeh
to transmit them accurately. People VINO
possess written music have some inechan-
ical device by which a tone may be I'M.
formly produced, as by the vibrations OF
chord OF given length and tension, the
tone becoming the standard by which ali
tthers can be regulated, and succession
VI tones can be recorded and accurately
ypeated at long intervals of time anc by
Kiiferent persons.
The Indians have 10 mechanism for de
terrnining a pitch. There Is no uniform
key for song. 1t can be started on any
note suitable to the singers voice. Ihls
absence Of a standard pitch and the IN
dams management OF the voice, which IL
similar in singing and in speaking, make
Indian music seem to beout OF time to our
ears. conyentionally trained as they are 10
distinguish between the singing and the
speaking tone of voice. Although the In
dians have no fixed pitch, yet, given Il
starting note, graduated intervals are OBJ
served Not that any Indian can sirg Il
scale, but he repeats his songs without any
material variation. Men with good voices
take pride in accuracy of singing and Oh
ten have in their memories several hundred
songs, including many from tribes With
the mem bers of which they have exchGng
ed visits.
The baritone voice among men and the
rnezzo soprano emong women are nore
common than the pure tenor, bass. con
tralto or soprano. As a rule, the lncian
voice is reedy and steady il tone and some-
times quite melodious in quality, bnt the
habit of singing in the open air to the ae
compartment OF percussion lnstrumt ms
tends to strain the voice and to lnJure IT'S
sweetness. There is little attempt at cx
preston by piano or forte passages, or by
swelling the tone ON & given note. but rs
the songs generally descend on the scale
there Is n natural tendency TO less volume
at the close than at the BEGINNING or llid
die part Of the tune.
Where several take part in the singing
It is always in unison. The different gal
ities of male and female voices bring ont
harmonic effects, which are enhanced by
the women s custom of singing in z1h,
recdy falsetto an octave above the male
voices The choral generally presents two
or three octaves. and one becomes CON
scious Of overtones. Evidently the Indians
enjoy this latent harmony, as they have
devices TO intensity it. They employ n kind
of throbbing of the voice on a prolon ged
note, producing an effect similar to that
obtained in vibrating u string of the cello
by passing over it the bow in an undu lat
ing movement. In solos like the love scng,
where there are sustained passages, the
singer waves his hand slowly to and from
his mouth to break the flow of the breath
and to produce vibrations which seenl to
satisfy his ear.-Alice c. Fletcher in Cen
ttlry.