Round Timbre
This one is truly special. It disappeared in later editions. Considering what I had to say in Factory Made about Chiaroscuro, the fact that Manuel would retreat from the argument may be as logical to you as it is to me. This timbre is, in my opinion, Garcia’s explanation of the physiology of the term “Chiaroscuro” as used by many in vocal history to differentiate the sound of a soloist from that of a choral singer.
“When the larynx takes a position a little lower than that for the clear timbre, and the velum rises moderately, the column of air straightens out a little and strikes the middle of the palate. Then the voice is emitted brightly, but more rounded than in the clear timbre. The voice will take some lustre and gain some roundness if the velum is raised still more, so as to leave only a slight communication with the nasal fossae. In this circumstance, the column of air, which is very slightly inclined, strikes in front of the palatal arch.”
A Complete Treatise on the Art of Singing part 1 page lxii
Words are difficult things to deal with. Context is so important. In time I hope I will be able to document all I want to say about language, but for now I want to be clear about the above text, and what I think are the implications that come out of it.
The context is The Industrial Revolution. The Mechanical Age.
“Were we required to characterise this age of ours by any single epithet, we should be tempted to call it, not an Heroical, Devotional, Philosophical, or Moral Age, but, above all others, the Mechanical Age. It is the Age of Machinery, in every outward and inward sense of that word; the age which, with its whole undivided might, forwards, teaches and practises the great art of adapting means to ends.”
Thomas Carlyle: Signs of the Times 1829 paragraph 8
The full text is a long read, but I would recommend it. I covered a little bit of this context in “Mind Over Matter“, but there is a lot more to it than just word order.
MORE TO COME.
I am slow but I’ll be back.
