The third chapter is Volume of Voice. Volume is from the Latin word
_volumen_, which signifies a roll. Originally, it signified the form of
a written parchment. It now contains several significances, among
others, that of a certain form and quality of voice. By Volume, when
applied to voice, I mean that form and quality which affect the ear as a
large column of free tone. This column of tone is so perfectly guided
that the sides of the vocal tube never interfere with its progress. If
the voice touches any side of the tube, Volume will not be reported in
the tone; for in Volume all limitation is taken away, and the voice,
like Browning’s Squadron, escapes through a narrow channel as if “its
inch of way were the wide seas profound.” The vessel must keep its inch
of way; an inch to the right or an inch to the left, and it is dashed
against the rocks. A tenth of an inch to the right or left, or upward or
downward, and the vocal column is dashed against the vocal tube, and
Volume is destroyed. Nothing but the right thought can properly direct
this vibrating column of air. The desire to reveal the value and depth
of the thought brings to the voice this quality called Volume.
Volume indicates the relation the will sustains to the thought, that is,
whether the will is free in action. Notice the soliloquy of Launcelot
Gobbo in the “Merchant of Venice.” The boy’s conscience tells him to
serve the Jew, while his inclination prompts him to run away. His voice
is squeezed because his will is not free. No man has half a will while
there is contention in his mind. When a man serves the good with all his
mind, heart and strength, his voice will have no hindrances in it. “As
for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” The voice of the man who
lives in obedience to this divine service is free and reports Volume.
The impulse springing from the well-formed thought knows how to hold the
larynx, the sides of the throat, the soft palate, and the tongue in a
way to guide the voice free and unhindered along the prescribed avenue
through which it ought to pass.