Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-12-30
X-RAY AIDS TESTS
OF SINGING VOICE
Investigator Discusses Front
al Sinuses and Arch Sym
metry as Tone Producers.

That the range. quality and beauty
OF the singing voice has direct rela-
ton to the physical structure of the
singers natural sound-producing equip
ment seems to have been we'll estab-
ltshed recently by Francis Wheeler of
the Centenary College of Louisiana,
who has for years been conducting an
experimental research on this subject.
He finds by the use of the x-ray as
an exploring medium, several signifi-
cant facts between the anatomical
structure of the frontal sinuses, the
antrj. the pharangeal and palatal arches
and the type of voice that any specific
individual possesses.
Range Determination.
The determination of the potential
range Of the human singing voice has
long been one of the great problems in
the teaching of singing This deter
nination has long been a matter only
for the ear of the teacher to decide.
In many cases, 1t is thought. the deci-
Sions have been incorrect One teacher
has been known to tell a prospective
musical student that there is no hope
for him to learn the art of singing. as
he is not physically endowed with the
right kind of human voice producing
apparatus Then the student has tried
again with another teacher and has
been told that he can become a singer
and that his trouble is merely one Of
not knowing how to use his physical
apparatus for singing, correctly.
Frontal Sinuses a Factor.
There have been a number of theories
advanced regarding this phase of vocal
work, among them being that Of
laryngeal differences According TO
Wheeler, none of these has proved con-
elusive to any degree of accuracy. In
report to the American Association for
the Advancement Of Science he de-
scribed some of the discoveries he has
made by means of his X-ray researches
On MANY singers and non-singers.
g First" he says, "the range of the
voice seems to be governed by the
length Of the resonating space in the
frontal sinuSes. Practically all the
cases examined show direct relation
chip between the range of the voice
and the size and shape of the frontal
sinuses; sopranos having long, narrow,
frontal sfr1uses; mezZo-sopranos having
shorter and broader ones and altos very
short and almost round ones. The
cases examined have run unusually true
to type.
Second, the size or weight of the
OF the antri; clear, light sopranos hav-
! ing smaller antri than those having
| larger, heavier ones.
Third. the naturally beautiful voices
seem to have arches, palatal and
| pharangeal, that are symmetrical in
| their makeup: well arched cases hav-
: ing more beauty in their voices than
| those having fiat arches"
Research Continued.
In cases where technical difficulties
| have been encountered, by students ex-
amined during his research and who
had the advantage of study and train
| ing by excellent teachers, malformation
of the frontal sinuses was apparent
In some of these cases 1t is reported
! that variation in the length of the
| right and left sinuSes seems to be the
cause Of irregularities in the vocal
scale.
The research is being continued and
| plans are now being formed to radio
! graph large number of distinguished
| singers heads, to gain firSt-hand in
formation on the proper types and
! shapes of the human Sound-producing
/ and sound-resonating equipment that
| potential singers should have. 1t may
be that in the future it will be possible
to tell by sending a young man or
woman who seems interested in singing
To laboratory whether he has the
singer, or whether it would be waste
OF years and effort as well as Ia useless
economic waste.