Chapter VI: Section IV: Modulation

MODULATION implies those variations of the voice, heard in reading or speaking, which are prompted by the feelings and emotions that the subject inspires.

EXAMPLES.

EXPRESSIVE OF COURAGE AND CHIVALROUS EXCITEMENT.

FULL .- Once more unto the breach, dear friends, _once more_,
TONE '- Or close the wall up with our English dead!
MIDDLE .- In peace, there's nothing so becomes a man,
TONE '- As modest stillness and humility;
.- But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
SHORT | Then imitate the action of the tiger;
AND + Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
QUICK '- Disguise fair nature with hard-favored rage.
.- _On_, ON, you noblest English,
HIGH | Whose blood is fetched from fathers of war-proof!
AND + _Fathers_, that, like so many Alexanders,
LOUD | Have, in these parts, from morn till even fought,
'- And sheathed their swords for lack of argument.
QUICK .- I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
AND | Straining upon the start. The game's afoot;
VERY + Follow your spirits, and, upon this charge,
LOUD '- CRY--HEAVEN FOR HARRY! ENGLAND! AND ST. GEORGE!

SHAKSPEARE.

REMARK.--To read the foregoing example in one dull, monotonous tone of voice, without regard to the sentiment expressed, would render the passage extremely insipid and lifeless. But by a proper modulation of the voice, it infuses into the mind of the reader or hearer the most animating and exciting emotions.

The voice is modulated in _three_ different ways. _First_, it is varied in PITCH; that is, from _high_ to _low_ tones, and the reverse. _Secondly_, it is varied in QUANTITY, or in _loudness_ or _volume_ of sound. _Thirdly_, it is varied in QUALITY, or in the _kind_ of sound expressed.

PITCH OF VOICE.

Pitch of voice has reference to its degree of elevation.

Every person, in reading or speaking, assumes a certain pitch, which may be either _high_ or _low_, according to circumstances, and which has a governing influence on the variations of the voice, above and below it. This degree of elevation is usually called the KEY NOTE.

As an exercise in varying the voice in pitch, the practice of uttering a sentence on the several degrees of elevation, as represented in the following scale, will be found beneficial. First, utter the musical syllables, then the vowel sound, and lastly, the proposed sentence,--ascending and descending.

---------8.--do--#--_e_-in-m_e_.---Virtue alone survives.----
7. si # _i_ in d_i_e. Virtue alone survives.
-------6.--la--#--_o_-in-d_o_.---Virtue alone survives.------
5. sol # _o_ in n_o_. Virtue alone survives.
-----4.--fa--#--_a_-in-_a_t.---Virtue alone survives.--------
3. mi # _a_-in _a_te. Virtue alone survives.
---2.--re--#--_a_-in-f_a_r.--Virtue alone survives.----------
1. do # _a_ in _a_ll. Virtue alone survives

Although the voice is capable of as many variations in speaking, as are marked on the musical scale, yet for all the purposes of ordinary elocution, it will be sufficiently exact if we make but _three_ degrees of variation, viz., the _Low_, the _Middle_, and the _High_.

1. THE LOW PITCH is that which falls below the usual speaking key, and is employed in expressing emotions of _sublimity_, _awe_, and _reverence_.

EXAMPLE.

Silence, how dead! darkness, how profound!
Nor eye, nor list'ning ear, an object finds;
Creation sleeps. 'Tis as the general pulse
Of life stood still, and Nature made a pause.--
An awful pause! prophetic of her end.
YOUNG.

2. THE MIDDLE PITCH is that usually employed in common conversation, and in expressing _unimpassioned thought_ and _moderate emotion_.

EXAMPLES.

1. It was early in a summer morning, when the air was cool, the earth moist, the whole face of the creation fresh and gay, that I lately walked in a beautiful flower garden, and, at once, regaled the senses and indulged the fancy. HERVEY.

2.
"_I love to live_," said a prattling boy,
As he gayly played with his new-bought toy,
And a merry laugh went echoing forth,
From a bosom filled with joyous mirth.

3. THE HIGH PITCH is that which rises above the usual speaking key, and is used in expressing _joyous_ and _elevated feelings_.

EXAMPLE.

Higher, _higher_, EVER HIGHER,--
Let the watchword be "ASPIRE!"
Noble Christian youth;
Whatsoe'er be God's behest,
Try to do that duty best,
In the strength of Truth.
M.F. TUPPER.

QUANTITY.

QUANTITY is two-fold;--consisting in FULLNESS or VOLUME of sound, as _soft_ or _loud_; and in TIME, as _slow_ or _quick_. The former has reference to STRESS; the latter, to MOVEMENT.

The degrees of variation in quantity are numerous, varying from a slight, soft whisper to a vehement shout. But for all practical purposes, they may be considered as _three_, the same as in pitch;--the _soft_, the _middle_, and the _loud_.

For exercise in quantity, let the pupil read any sentence, as,

"Beauty is a fading flower,"

first in a slight, soft tone, and then repeat it, gradually increasing in quantity to the full extent of the voice. Also, let him read it first very slowly, and then repeat it, gradually increasing the movement. In doing this, he should be careful not to vary the pitch.

In like manner, let him repeat any vowel sound, or all of them, and also inversely. Thus:

[Transcriber's Note: The illustration is a row of the letter "O," increasing in size across the page, followed by a row of the letter "O" decreasing in size. The presumed intent is to convey loudness.]

REMARK.--Quantity is often mistaken for Pitch. But it should be borne in mind that quantity has reference to _loudness_ or _volume_ of sound, and pitch to the _elevation_ or _depression_ of a tone. The difference may be distinguished by the slight and heavy strokes on a bell;--both of which produce sounds alike in _pitch_; but they differ in _quantity_ or _loudness_, in proportion as the strokes are light or heavy.

RULES FOR QUANTITY.

1. SOFT, OR SUBDUED TONES, are those which range from a whisper to a complete vocality, and are used to express _fear_, _caution_, _secrecy_, _solemnity_, and all _tender emotions_.

EXAMPLES.

1.
We watched her breathing through the night,
Her breathing soft and low,
As in her breast the wave of life
Kept heaving to and fro. HOOD.

2.
Softly, peacefully,
Lay her to rest;
Place the turf lightly,
On her young breast. D.E. GOODMAN.

3.
The loud wind dwindled to a whisper low,
And sighed for pity as it answered,--"No."

2. A MIDDLE TONE, or medium loudness of voice, is employed in reading _narrative_, _descriptive_, or _didactic sentences_.

EXAMPLE.

I love my country's pine-clad hills,
Her thousand bright and gushing rills,
Her sunshine and her storms;
Her rough and rugged rocks that rear
Their hoary heads high in the air,
In wild fantastic forms.

3. A LOUD TONE, or fullness and stress of voice, is used in expressing _violent passions_ and _vehement emotions_.

EXAMPLES.

1.
STAND! _the ground's your own_, my braves,--
Will ye give it up to _slaves_?
Will ye look for _greener graves_?
Hope ye mercy still?
What's the mercy _despots_ feel?
Hear it in that _battle-peal_,--
Read it on yon bristling steel,
Ask it--_ye who will!_ PIERPONT.

2.
"HOLD!" Tyranny cries; but their resolute breath
Sends back the reply: "INDEPENDENCE or DEATH!"

QUALITY.

QUALITY has reference to _the kind of sound_ uttered.

Two sounds may be alike in quantity and pitch, yet differ in quality. The sounds produced on the clarinet and flute may agree in pitch and quantity, yet be unlike in quality. The same is true in regard to the tones of the voice of two individuals. This difference is occasioned mainly by the different positions of the vocal organs.

The qualities of voice mostly used in reading or speaking, and which should receive the highest degree of culture, are the _Pure Tone_, the _Orotund_, the _Aspirated_, and the _Guttural_.

RULES FOR QUALITY.

1. THE PURE TONE is a clear, smooth, sonorous flow of sound, usually accompanied with the middle pitch of voice, and is adapted to express emotions of _joy, cheerfulness, love_, and _tranquillity_.

EXAMPLE.

Hail! beauteous stranger of the wood,
Attendant on the spring,
Now heaven repairs thy vernal seat,
And woods thy welcome sing.

2. THE OROTUND is a full, deep, round, and pure tone of voice, peculiarly adapted in expressing _sublime_ and _pathetic emotions_.

EXAMPLE.

It thunders! Sons of dust, in reverence bow!
Ancient of Days! Thou speakest from above:
Almighty! trembling, like a timid child,
I hear thy awful voice. Alarmed--afraid--
I see the flashes of thy lightning wild,
And in the very grave would hide my head.

3. THE ASPIRATED TONE of voice is not a pure, vocal sound, but rather a forcible breathing utterance, and is used to express _amazement, fear, terror, anger, revenge, remorse_, and _fervent emotions_.

EXAMPLE.

Oh, coward conscience, how dost thou affright me!
The lights burn blue. It is now dead midnight;
Cold, fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh.

4. THE GUTTURAL QUALITY is a deep, aspirated tone of voice, used to express _aversion, hatred, loathing_, and _contempt_.

EXAMPLE.

Tell me I _hate_ the bowl?
HATE is a feeble word:
I _loathe_, ABHOR, my very soul
With strong disgust is stirred,
Whene'er I see, or hear, or tell,
Of the dark beverage of hell.

NOTATION IN MODULATION.

(o) high.
(oo) high and loud.
([o]) low.
([oo]) low and loud.
(=) quick.
(_''_) short and quick.
(_sl_.) slow.
(_p_.) soft.
(_pp_.) very soft.
(_f_.) loud.
(_ff_.) very loud.
(_pl_.) plaintive.
(<) increase.
(>) decrease.

EXAMPLES FOR EXERCISE IN MODULATION.

(_p_.) Soft is the strain when zephyr gently blows,
And the smooth stream in smoother numbers flows;
(_f_.) But when loud surges lash the sounding shore,
The hoarse rough verse should like the torrent roar.

(_sl_.) When Ajax strives some rock's vast weight to throw,
The line, too, labors, and the words move slow:
(=) Not so, when swift Camilla scours the plain,
Flies o'er the unbending corn, and skims along the main. POPE.

(o=) Go ring the bells and fire the guns,
And fling the starry banner out;
(_ff_.) Shout "FREEDOM" till your lisping ones
Give back the cradle shout. WHITTIER.

(_pl_.) "And now, farewell! 'Tis hard to give thee up,
With death so like a gentle slumber on thee!--
And thy dark sin!--oh! I could drink the cup
If from this woe its bitterness had won thee.
May God have called thee, like a wanderer, home,
My lost boy, Absalom!" WILLIS.

(_sl_.) The sun hath set in folded clouds,--
Its twilight rays are gone,
(o) And, gathered in the shades of night,
The storm is rolling on.
(_pl_.) Alas! how ill that bursting storm
(>) The fainting spirit braves,
(_p_.) When they,--the lovely and the lost,--
(_pl_.) Are gone to early graves!

(o) On! onward still! o'er the land he sweeps,
(>) With wreck, and ruin, and rush, and roar,
Nor stops to look back
On his dreary track
(_''_) But speeds to the spoils before. MISS J.H. LEWIS.

From every battle-field of the revolution--from Lexington and Bunker Hill--from Saratoga and Yorktown--from the fields of Entaw--from the cane-brakes that sheltered the men of Marion--the repeated, long-prolonged echoes came up--(_f_.) "THE UNION: IT MUST BE PRESERVED" (<) From every valley in our land--from every cabin on the pleasant mountain sides--from the ships at our wharves--from the tents of the hunter in our westernmost prairies--from the living minds of the living millions of American freemen--from the thickly coming glories of futurity--the shout went up, like the sound of many waters, (_ff._) "THE UNION: IT MUST BE PRESERVED." BANCROFT.

(_p_.) Hark!
(_sl_.) Along the vales and mountains of the earth
([o]) There is a deep, portentous murmuring,
(=) Like the swift rush of subterranean streams,
Or like the mingled sounds of earth and air,
When the fierce tempest, with sonorous wing,
Heaves his deep folds upon the rushing winds,
(<) And hurries onward, with his night of clouds,
Against the eternal mountains. 'Tis the voice
Of infant FREEDOM,--and her stirring call
Is heard and answered in a thousand tones
(<) From every hill-top of her western home;
And lo! it breaks across old Ocean's flood,--
(oo) And "FREEDOM! FREEDOM!" is the answering shout
Of nations, starting from the spell of years. G.D. PRENTICE.

(<) The thunders hushed,--
The trembling lightning fled away in fear,--
(_p._) The foam-capt surges sunk to quiet rest,--
The raging winds grew still,--
(_pp_.) There was a calm.
(o,o,) "Quick! Man the boat!" (=) Away they spring
The stranger ship to aid,
(_f_.) And loud their hailing voices ring,
As rapid speed they made.

(p) Hush! lightly tread! still tranquilly she sleeps;
I've watched, suspending e'en my breath, in fear
To break the heavenly spell. (_pp_.) Move silently.
Can it be?
Matter immortal? and shall spirit die?
Above the nobler, shall less nobler rise?
(<) Shall man alone, for whom all else revives,
No resurrection know? (o<) Shall man alone,
Imperial man! be sown in barren ground,
Less privileged than grain, on which he feeds? YOUNG.

(=) Away! away to the mountain's brow,
Where the trees are gently waving;
(_''_) Away! away to the vale below,
Where the streams are gently laving.

An hour passed on;--the Turk awoke;--
That bright dream was his last;--
He woke--to hear his sentry's shriek,
(oo) "To ARMS! they come! (_ff_.) THE GREEK! THE GREEK!"
(_pl_.) He woke to die, midst flame and smoke,
And shout, and groan, and sabre stroke,
And death shots falling thick and fast
As lightnings from the mountain cloud;
And heard, with voice as trumpet loud,
Bozzaris cheer his band;--
(oo) "_Strike_--till the last armed foe expires!
_Strike_--for your altars and your fires!
_Strike_--for the green graves of your sires!
God, and your native land!" HALLECK.

He said, and on the rampart hights arrayed
His trusty warriors, few, but undismayed;
(_sl_) Firm paced and slow, a horrid front they form,
(_pp_) Still as the breeze, ([oo]) but dreadful as the storm!
(_p_.) Low, murmuring sounds along their banners fly,
(_ff_.) REVENGE, or DEATH!--the watchword and reply;
(oo) Then pealed the notes, omnipotent to charm,
(_f_.) And the loud tocsin tolled their last alarm! CAMPBELL.

([o]') His speech was at first low toned and slow. Sometimes
his voice would deepen, ([oo]) like the sound of distant
thunder; and anon, (_''_) his flashes of wit and enthusiasm
would light up the anxious faces of his hearers, (<) like the
far-off lightning of a coming storm.

(>) Receding now, the dying numbers ring
(_p_.) Fainter and fainter, down the rugged dell:
(_pp_.) And now 'tis silent all--enchantress, fare thee well.

(=) Oh, joy to the world! the hour is come,
When the nations to freedom awake,
When the royalists stand agape and dumb,
And monarchs with terror shake!
Over the walls of majesty,
"Upharsin" is writ in words of fire,
And the eyes of the bondmen, wherever they be,
Are lit with their wild desire.
(<) Soon, soon shall the thrones that blot the world,
Like the Orleans, into the dust be hurl'd,
And the world roll on, like a hurricane's breath,
Till the farthest nation hears what it saith.--
(_ff_.) "ARISE! ARISE! BE FREE!" T.B. READ.

(_p_.[o]) Tread softly--bow the head,--
In reverent silence bow,--
No passing bell doth toll,--
(_pl_.) Yet an immortal soul
Is passing now. MRS. SOUTHEY.

(o[_f_].) SPEAK OUT, my friends; would you exchange it for the DEMON'S DRINK, (_ff_.) ALCOHOL? A _shout_, like the _roar_ of a tempest, answered, (oo) NO!

(oo) The combat deepens! (_ff_.) ON! YE BRAVE!
(=) Who rush to GLORY, (_p_.) or the GRAVE!
(_ff_.) WAVE, _Munich_, all thy banners WAVE!
And CHARGE with all thy CHIVALRY!
(_pl_.) Ah! few shall part where many meet!
The snow shall be their winding sheet,
And every turf beneath their feet
(_sl._[o]) Shall be a soldier's sepulcher! CAMPBELL.

(_sl_.) At length, o'er Columbus slow consciousness breaks,
(oo) "LAND! LAND!" cry the sailors; (_ff_.) "LAND! LAND!"--he
awakes,--
(_''_) He runs,--yes! behold it! it blesseth his sight!
THE LAND! _O, dear spectacle! transport! delight!_