The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1909-03-01

consciously mrect her notes into the
head cavities by opening up the throat
and lifting the soft palate. For in
stance, In the role Of Violetta the mu-
sic of the last act Is sung lying down.
In order to get proper resonance TO
some OF the high notes l have to start
them In the head cavity by means. OF
course. Of the apoggio. or breath prop.
without which the note would be thin
and would have no body to it.
The sensation that l have is Of q
slight pressure Of breath striking al
most into direct line into the cavity
behind the forehead over the eyes
without any obstruction or feeling In
the throat at all.
This is the correct attack for the
head tone. or tone taken In the upper
to you I must tell you one Of the fun
niest compliments I ever received. A
very catering person was comparing
my voice to that of another high So
prano whom I very much admire.
Her voice is beautiful. particularly
In the upper register" I insisted when
the other lady was being criticised.
All madame" responded the dat
tering critic. but your registers give
out 50 much more warmth"
think this joke is too good to lose;
also the criticism, while unjust to the
other singer. is interesting to the stu
dent. because in the high register.
which includes in some voices all the
notes above middle c. the notes are
thin and cold unless supported by the
apoggio. the breath prop, Of which I
have told you SO much. People ask
whether there are such things as vocal
registers. Certainly there are. There
are three always and sometimes four
in very high voices. The ordinary reg
listers are the low, the middle. the high
voice, or head voice, and sometimes
the second high voice. which has been
called the fiagellant voice.
A vocal register is a series Of tones
which are produced by q certain posi-
ton of the larynx, tongue and palate.
In the woman's voice the middle regis.
ter takes in the notes from e on the
first line Of the stan about to middle
C. The head voice begins at middle G
and runs up sometimes to the end Of
the voice, sometimes to b Dat or G.,
where it joins the second head regis
ter, which l have heard ascend into a
whistle in phenomenal voices cultivat-
ed only in this register and useless for
vocal work.
Though the registers exist and the
tones in middle. below and above are
not produced in the same manner. the
voice should be so equalized that the
change in registers cannot be heard.
And tone sung with a head voice
and in the low voice should have the
same degree Of quality, resonance and
power.
AS the voice ascendS in the scale
each note is different. and as one goes
on up the positions Of the organ Of the
throat cannot remain the same for
several different tones. But there
should never be an abrupt change. Ell
Their audible to the audience or felt in
the singers throat. Every tone must
be imperceptibly prepared. and upon
the elasticity of the vocal organs de-
ponds the smoothness Of the tone pro-
duction. Adjusting the vocal appara-
tus to the high register should be both
imperceptible and mechanical when
ever high note has to be sung.
In the high register the head voice,
or voice which vibrates in the head
cavities, should be used chiefly. The
middle register requires palatal reso-
nance. and the first notes Of the head
register and the last ones Of the mid
die require . tudicious blending Of
both. The middle register can be
dragged up to the high notes. but al
ways at the cost first OF the beauty of
the voice and then Of the voice itself,
for no organ can stand being used
wrongly for a long time.
This is only one Of the reasons that
80 many fine big voices go to pieces
long before they should.
In an excess Of enthusiasm the
young singer attempts to develop the
high notes and make them sound-in
her own ears. at all events-as big as
the middle voice. The pure head tone
sounds emcll and fc.:ble to to- ginger