The state of mind which will project the tone is that of reciprocity,
that is, concentrating the mind upon persons in a distant portion of the
audience, as if receiving from them and giving to them, thus
establishing a sympathy between the speaker and the hearer. This will
project the tone without noise. The mental effort of a speaker should be
to draw his audience nearer that they may hear, rather than to place his
mind exclusively on sending his voice to a great distance. This effort
to draw the hearers nearer will give the voice carrying quality without
interfering with its naturalness and sympathy.
=_VOCAL TECHNIQUE AS ILLUSTRATED IN
THE FIRST AND SECOND VOLUMES
OF THE EVOLUTION OF EXPRESSION._=
The doctrine of evolution is one of the latest, and if well
understood, and looked at from a sufficiently high point of view,
appears the grandest of all the revelations which science has given. The
theory applied to organic being is substantially this: there is,
potentially, in every organism a higher manifestation. Its evolution is
secured by the relation of its organic tendency to its environment.
In taking a limited or superficial view of the doctrine of evolution,
some have been led to look at matter as the only environment. It is this
which has made the age materialistic. We are hardly aware of the extent
to which this tendency to materialism biases and influences us in regard
to religious and secular education. Those who have the most faith in God
and His providence are scarcely conscious of how much they are affected
by the prevailing thought that material environment alone shapes and
influences the development of individuals and the destiny of the human
race. If we recognize that the spirit of God is our most immediate
environment, the study of evolution is safe.
This view is suggested even by the study of physical science. The
scientist, in his analysis of matter, ascertains that it is divisible
into molecules, and that nothing is an absolute solid. Each molecule has
a sphere of its own, in which it acts separately, and, in a certain
sense, independently of other molecules, and vibrates as freely as
oscillates the pendulum of a clock. You say, “The pendulum of a clock
has room to oscillate.” This is equally true of each molecule; it has
room to vibrate without interfering with other molecules or preventing
them from vibrating. All the molecules that compose a certain substance
are rushing toward each other; but a sacred sphere encloses each,
thereby establishing its eternal separateness. This revelation of
science of the eternal separateness of molecules points to the silent
sea of Thought which encloses every molecular island. What is this
silent sea of thought but the presence of Deity? If He encloses every
molecule, does He not surround the human soul? Is it unscientific to
say, in the language of scripture, “In Him we live, and move, and have
our being”? Whither shall I go to escape His presence? “If I ascend into
heaven, Thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art
there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uppermost
parts of the sea, even there Thy hand shall lead me and Thy right hand
shall hold me.” If we take a sufficiently broad view, science itself
will lead us up the shining way to where we shall recognize His presence
on the throne of the universe.
If we follow this doctrine of evolution, step by step, it will lead us
to perceive that God is in every fact of nature. Watch an acorn as it
develops into the sturdy oak. No scientist will say that a material
environment is its only condition of growth. He will say, “There is life
in the acorn itself.” What is this life? Here the great scientist bows
his head. The power of life in the acorn suggests to him the presence of
the Infinite. Were it not for God’s purpose manifested in giving the
acorn life, the germ could not develop under the influence of the
moisture, the sunlight, and the earth. Its dominating environment, then,
is the presence of Him who relates it to its material surroundings.
Without the Infinite Mind in the universe there could be no evolution.
No man can be broadly and fully educated unless there is joined in his
mind both the light of science and the light of revelation. Prophecy
outruns science, and is the herald of truth. Science, no surer, and
vastly slower, follows with its confirmations. The doctrine of
evolution, studied in the light of divine revelation, becomes of great
value to us.
We cannot understand the doctrine of the Evolution of Expression until
we first see evolution written on the broad expanse of nature. The four
volumes of the Evolution of Expression taught in this college represent
the four principal steps in the unfolding of the powers of the orator.
It has been said that poets are born, not made. This statement contains
only a modicum of truth. We say such a one was born a poet because very
early in life he seemed to show poetic feeling and to express his
thoughts in poetic forms. All great poets, musicians, and orators have
been educated; some may not have studied under masters, but all have
applied themselves to the means of education which was within their
reach.
The study of eloquence has been, to a great extent, a sealed book. It
was observed that when the orator spoke on a lofty subject, his voice
became grand, and was called “orotund”; when he spoke on common
subjects, his voice became simple; this was called “pure tone”; when he
spoke on subjects of mystery and sublimity, the voice became “aspirate
orotund.” All these things were noted; and teachers of oratory said to
their pupils, “As the orators used the orotund, aspirate, pure tone,
etc., we will teach you these forms of voice.” When Webster spoke of the
value of the Constitution of the United States, and used an orotund
voice, as only a Webster could, was he thinking of his voice? No; he was
thinking of convincing his hearers of the great value of the Union.
Shall I affect people as did Webster by using these tones when reading a
passage from his speech? No. The human soul says, “I will respond to
anything genuine; but I can never be impressed, though I may be amused,
by those who try to imitate the genuine.” Webster’s thoughts, like vast
waves of the ocean, surged through his voice and formed themselves into
tones clear, direct, incisive, and sublime.
I recognize but one power in education, and that is mind. When God
created my body, He ordained that my soul should rule it. When He made
the mouth, larynx, muscles of respiration, etc., He ordained that the
soul should rule them. My soul, master; they, servants. The servant
knows his rightful master’s commands, but the stranger he will not obey.
The infinite God rules all worlds, and all parts of all worlds. As God
is the master of the illimitable universe, so He has placed within man’s
body, which is man’s little universe, a natural master—the soul. All
its agents must be commanded and employed by the master within.
For many years there has been an attempt to reduce vocal culture to the
conscious manipulation of the vocal organs. This was once my method of
teaching; but I have changed entirely and most radically. I believe and
have taught for many years that certain mental states produce definite
effects upon the vocal organs. Our object in this college is to induce
such states of mind as shall produce the desired effects in vocal
expression. The mental states operate directly through the cranial
nerves upon the vocal organs, and instantaneously change their activity.
In my early teaching I made an attempt to cultivate the voice by dealing
directly with the vocal organs themselves, but later I discovered that
certain states of mind caused all the vocal organs to act in right
relations to each other for the production of different tones. I also
found that certain states of mind affect and control all the muscles
which aid in voice production. To ascertain what states of mind produce
certain effects, and how to induce these states of mind, was my field of
study for a number of years. At last I was rewarded by discovering what
states of mind would induce the desired forms of expression, and also
what methods to use to cause the right activities of mind which would,
without fail, bring the proper tones of voice in expression. It devolves
upon the teacher to know how to induce the states of mind which will
produce the required action of the vocal organs, and through this the
desired tone. Every day in our work here in the Evolution of Expression,
we are obeying the true pedagogy of vocal technique. The methods by
which we induce certain states of mind in a pupil are definite and
technical. If I were writing for a teachers’ manual, I would tell the
teacher how to induce in the pupil the proper states of mind; but my
present purpose is simply to show that certain states of mind will
produce definite effects in the voice.
One who watches the effects of this method of teaching, which depends
for results upon inducing the required states of mind, will marvel at
the results. Not only can more be accomplished in three months than
could be accomplished by the old methods in three years, but results can
be attained by this that could never be reached by any mechanical
method.
We are now prepared to consider the Evolution of Expression, the study
of which involves the technique employed in this college for the
cultivation of the voice as well as oratorical expression.