Mr. Love, the great polyphonist, delighted in his youth to imitate the
buzzing of insects and the cries of animals. Such accomplishments are
easily acquired, and we think if our young boy friends will follow our
directions, they will acquire at least polyphonic powers to amuse their
friends at home and abroad.
To imitate a “tormenting bee,” a boy must use considerable pressure on
his chest, as if he was about to groan suddenly, but instead of which
the sound must be confined and prolonged in the throat; the greater the
pressure, the higher will be the faint note produced, and which will
perfectly resemble the buzzing of the bee or wasp. In all imitations
of insect noises, the bee should be heard to hum gently at first, so
as in a private party not to attract attention till the right pitch is
obtained. The sound will penetrate every corner of a large room. To
assist the illusion, the person imitating a bee should pretend to try
to catch the insect. To imitate the buzzing of a blue-bottle fly, it
will be necessary for the sound to be made with the lips instead of
the throat: this is done by closing the lips very tight, except at one
corner, where a small aperture is left; fill that cheek full of wind,
but not the other, then slowly blow or force the wind contained in the
cheek out of the aperture; if this is done properly, it will cause a
sound exactly like the buzzing of a blue-bottle fly.
To make the above perfectly effective, the person imitating a fly or
bee, should turn his face to the wall; with a handkerchief strike
at the pretended bee or fly, at the same time pretend to follow his
victim, first this way and then that, and finally to “dab” his pocket
handkerchief on the wall, as though he had killed it; the sound should
be at times suddenly louder and then softer, which will make it appear
as it is heard in different parts of the room.
“The Spectre Carpenter.” The noise caused by planing and sawing wood
we often hear imitated. Yet but few boys know how easily it is done.
Much amusement is often caused by this imitation. To imitate planing,
a boy must stand at a table a little distance from the audience, and
appear to take hold of a plane and push it forward; the sound, as of
a plane, is made as though you were dwelling on the last part of the
word _hash_. Dwell upon the _sh_ a little, _tsh_, and then clip it
short by causing the tongue to close with the palate, then over again.
Letters will not carry the peculiar sound of sawing; but any bright
boy, by carefully listening to the sound made by carpenters, with
these suggestions, can, with practice, imitate the sound perfectly.
To make the deception more perfect, put some shavings in your pocket
to sprinkle as you pretend to saw, also a piece of wood to fall when
the sawing is ended. A friend of ours told us of a negro, well known
as a famous whistler about the streets of Boston years ago, who would
place both hands tightly over his ears, incline his head downwards, and
imitate with great precision a music-box; but he said it pained him to
do this.