CHAPTER VII.
HEAD AND NASAL RESONANCE Of the four component factors in the production of speech and song, the first, the _motor_, has been considered in Chapter III, and the second, the _vibrator_, in Chapter I.
In one respect there is marked contrast between these two factors.
Until right habits are so thoroughly formed that the singer's breathing is automatically controlled, conscious effort is necessary, while the action of the vibrator, the vocal cords, is involuntary, not subject to conscious control.
The subtle adjustments of the delicate mechanism of the larynx belong to the realm of reflex action--to a spontaneous activity that, left unhindered, does its part in perfect nicety.
The vocal cords must, in their action, be free from the disturbance of uncontrolled breath action below them, or the hindrance due to misdirected effort above them.

To direct consciousness to the vocal cords is to cramp them and prevent that free vibration and that perfect relaxation of the throat without which pure tone and true pitch are impossible.
As a surgeon I well know the value of thorough anatomical knowledge, but from the singer's standpoint I cannot too strongly emphasize the unwisdom of directing the attention of sensitively organized pupils to their vocal mechanism by means of the laryngoscope.

This instrument belongs to the physician, not to the singer.
The importance of the third factor, the _resonator_, has been considered in Chapter V, on Resonance, but the fourth element in voice production, _articulation_, is so cooerdinated to resonance that the significance and primacy of the latter are too often overlooked.
Placing or "focusing the voice" I have found to be chiefly a matter of control and use of the resonator, consisting of chest, pharynx, mouth, and the nasal and head cavities.
A tone lacking in resonance is ineffective,--devoid of carrying power,--is diffuse and unfocused; while a resonant tone, no matter how soft dynamically, has carrying power and is focused in its vibration.
Now "voice placing" depends primarily on correct _vowel placing_, which in turn depends on proper adjustment of the resonators, which again depends chiefly on the positions and motions of the organs of articulation.

The interdependence of tone quality and pronunciation is therefore obvious.
Constant emphasis must be laid upon the fact that focusing a tone is a matter of resonance, and that perhaps the most important element in this is _nasal_ resonance.

In this country, particularly, teachers have, in their desire to overcome the too common nasal twang, mistakenly sought to shut out the nasal chamber from all participation in speech and song.
There are those who, partly recognizing the importance of _head_ resonance, would secure it while ignoring _nasal_ resonance.