[2]It is very rarely that a ventriloquist shows a full face to his audience: it is only done when he is at a great distance from them, and is pronouncing the labial sounds, in the manner given, for any movement of the jaws would help to destroy the illusion.
[2]It is very rarely that a ventriloquist shows a full face to his audience: it is only done when he is at a great distance from them, and is pronouncing the labial sounds, in the manner given, for any movement of the jaws would help to destroy the illusion.
Student: Are you up there, Jem?
Voice: Hallo! who’s that?
Student: It’s I! Are you nearly finished?
Voice: Only three more slates to put on, master.
Student: I want you here, Jem.
Voice: I am coming directly.
Student: Which way, Jem?
Voice: Over the roof and down the trap. (Voice is supposed to be moving as the student turns and points with his finger.)
Student: Which way?
Voice(nearer): Through the trap and down the stairs.
Student: How long shall you be?
Voice: Only a few minutes. I am coming as fast as I can.
The voice now approaches the door, and is taken up by the same tone, but produced as in the first voice. As another illustration, we will introduce the reader to
The Invisible Sweep.—This is a striking example of the second voice. Let the student pretend to look up the chimney, and rehearse the following or some similar colloquy:—
Student: Are you up there?
Voice: Yes. Chimley want sweep?
Student: Really, it is extraordinary. What are you doing?
Voice: Looking for birds’-nests.
Student: Birds’-nests! There are none there.
Voice: Dick says there be.
Student: Come down!
Voice: I shan’t.
Student: (stirring the fire); I’ll make you show yourself.
Voice: I say, don’t; it’s so hot.
Student: Come down, then.
Voice: Don’t be so stupid. Let I alone.
Student: Will you come down?
Voice: Yes, I will.
Student: What’s your name?
Voice(much nearer): Sam Lillyvite. I say, what do you want me for among company?
Student: To show yourself,
Voice(nearer): What for?
Student: To let these ladies and gentlemen see that there are many strange things between heaven and earth, but not Sam Lillyvite, the sweep.
Another good illustration is to hold a conversation with a friend who lives on the first floor, and with whom you can converse on any subject—as theretired and mysterious student—but the moment the student can master the elementary sounds, he will not need our assistance in providing him with dialogues, which, however simple they may be to read, havean extraordinary effect when properly spoken.
The Tormenting Bee.—It is related that Mr. Love, when young, took great delight in imitating the buzzing of insects and the cries of animals; indeed, it is difficult to decide whether he or Mr. Thurton most excelled in this particular species of mimetic illusion. In all imitations of insect noises, the bee should be heard to hum gently at first, so as in a private party not likely to attract attention till the right pitch is obtained, and be it remembered that the sound, without being particularly loud, can be made to penetrate every corner of a large room. The illusion is greatly increased by pretending to catch the offending and intrusive insect. The humble bee, the wasp, and the bluebottle fly are best to imitate, and afford an agreeable relief to the other exercises of ventriloquial power. To imitate the tormenting bee, the student 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.
Now, to imitate the buzzing of a bluebottle 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 bluebottle fly. These two instances will show how necessary it is for the ventriloquist to study minutely the different effects of sound upon his hearers in all his exploits. And to make the above properly effective, he should turn his face to a 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 sounds 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 can also be imitated without much difficulty, and it causes a great deal of amusement. The student must, however, bear in mind that every action must beimitatedas well as the noise, for the eye assists to delude the ear. We have even seen ventriloquists carry this eye-deception so far as to have a few shavings to scatter as they proceed, and a piece of wood to fall when the sawing is ended. To imitate planing, the student 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 aplane is made as though you were dwelling on the last part of the word hush—dwell upon thesha little, astsh, and then clip it short by causing the tongue to close with the palate, then over again. Letters will not convoy the peculiar sound of sawing—it must be studied from nature.
Some persons imagine ventriloquism to be an echo; but, as we have said, an echo only repeats what has been said before—it could not answer a question.
An echo is reflected sound, and the reflecting body must be at such a distance that the interval between the perception of the original and reflected sounds may be sufficient to prevent them from being blended together. No reflecting surface will produce a distant echo, unless its distance from the spot where the sound proceeds is at least 56½ feet, because the shortest interval sufficient to render sounds distinctly appreciable by the ear is about one-tenth of a second; therefore, if sounds follow at a shorter interval, they will form a resonance instead of an echo; and the time a sound would take to go and return from a reflecting surface, 56½ feet distance, would be one-tenth of a second.
It would, therefore, be impossible for a ventriloquist to produce an echo in a room of ordinary size, as the walls, being so near, would cause the sounds to be blended, and would only produce one impression on the ear; and yet the skilled ventriloquist can with ease imitate, in a room, a mountain echo. We will give the instructions, as it is very amusing.
Turn your back to the listeners; whistle loud several short, quick notes, just as if you were whistling for a dog; then, as quick as possible, after the last note, and as softly and subdued as possible to be heard, whistle about a third the number of notes, but it must be inthe same note or pitch; this will cause the last whistle to appear just like an echo at a great distance. This imitation, if well done, never fails to take the listeners by surprise, and causes astonishment. The same thing can be done by shouting. Call aloud any sentence, such as—“Holloa, you there!†Let your voice be formed close to the lips; then quickly, and mind in thesame pitch or note, speak the same words very subdued and formed at the back of the mouth. This is not difficult, and is very effective.
In giving the succeeding instructions, it must be borne in mindthat the power and acuteness of hearing is possessed in a greater or less degree by different individuals, and depends upon the sensibility of the auric nerves. It will not be out of place nor uninteresting to show the effect of sound and the manner in which it is heard by the organs of the ear. It is said that the human ear is capable of appreciating as many as twenty-four thousand vibrations in a second, and that the whole range of human hearing, from the lowest note of the organ to the highest known cry of insects, as of the cricket, includes nine octaves.
Sound first strikes the drum or tympanum, a thin membrane which closes the aperture of the ear; when this drum vibrates by the sonorous undulations of the external air; the vibrations are communicated by minute bones, muscles, and fluid in the cavity of the ear, and are then conveyed to the brain; and to show how absolutely necessary it is that all the organs of the would-be ventriloquist should be entire and without fault to succeed well, we will show how the ventriloquist makes that nice distinction of the gradation of sound, and by which he is enabled to judge whether he is causing his voiceto appearat the proper distance from his audience or not.
Let any one firmly close both ears by stopping them, then speak a few words; now, as the cars are stopped, the sound cannot enter immediately to the drum of the ear, but it takes cognizance of the sound by a passage called the eustachian tube, which extends from the back part of the mouth to the cavity immediately behind the drum of the ear.
The sound vibrations made in the mouth are transmitted along this tube to the interior part of the organs of hearing. Now it is by a nice judgment of sound by this tube that the professional ventriloquist judges the majority of his voices, especially those greatly obscured or muffled. Not only must the auric nerves of the would-be ventriloquist be perfect, but he will become more proficient as he is able to study and understand the human voice. There is the language of emotion, or natural language. When we say natural, we mean the language by which the feelings manifest themselves without previous teaching, and which is recognized and felt without teaching. Some of them are the scream of terror, the shout of joy, the laugh of satisfaction, laugh of sarcasm, ridicule, &c., which are made by man, and understood by fellow-men, whatever may be the speech or country of the other.
There are also distinct qualities of voice, peculiar to each person, both in tone and quality, and the best practice is to try and imitate three or four people’s voices, and let them be of a different tone and pitch.
The ordinary compass of the voice is about twelve notes, and a very good practice to the attainment of the art is to call aloud in a certain note,and then in the octave to that note; do this several timesa day, changing the note, also speak a sentence all in the same note or pitch, properly called intonation, loud at first, and then by degrees lower; this kind of practice will enable the ear to judge of the modulation required to make a voice appear to recede or come near by degrees.
When the student is acquainted with the voices before described, he may imitate many others bycontraction and expansion of the glottis, and by modification of the cavity of the pharynx and mouth. The best way to practice is in a room by himself, to talk loud, and, while so doing, to make all sorts ofcontortions with the muscles of the mouth and jaws—first fixing the jawsin the manner already described,then drawing the lips inward, next putting them forward, at the same time putting the tongue in different shapes and positions in the mouth; also by speaking in the natural voice, and answering in thefalsetto pitch, which is the imitating voice for women and children.
We are confident that enough has been said to enable any one with a good range of voice to attain proficiency in the art; the student always remembering (and it cannot be too often repeated) thatto render a voice perspective, the most essential thing is to attend to the study of sound as it falls upon the ear; then imitate that sound by the different contractions and expansions of the muscles of the throat, mouth, face and jaws. During these various contractions and expansions, draw in a long breath and talk, first rapidly, then slowly, but always with aslow expiration of breath. Do this a dozen times consecutively for several days, at the same time taking particular care toelevate and depress the roof of the mouth, especially the back part, as this movement will cause the voice to appear near, or at a distance. Ample directions have been given how all this is done, but let it be understood that it is most essential. The student may then practice before a friend, and he will be astonished to find that he can deceive any listener, as to the point from which the sound comes; and will be gratified that he has become the source of great amusement to himself as well as in the circle in which he moves.
Thus we have acquired a working power in the art which, we trust, we have now explained to the satisfaction of the reader. The progress of the student will, of course, be facilitated by an inherent propensity of mimicry, which often approaches some of the minor attainments of ventriloquism. In every company some person may be found who, without any professional instruction, can give admirable imitations, of the voice, gait, and peculiarities of a friend or acquaintance; thus proving that Nature, to some extent, supplies the basis upon which, if we may use the phrase,the complete superstructure of vocal illusion may be raised. The possession of this quality would amount, comparatively, to little, without instruction and perseverance. Here, as in other respects, practice makes perfect; and, more than that, a diligent application of our rules will invest the originally defective amateur with an attainment which the ignorant will attribute to the possession of a supernatural gift.
All we need say in conclusion is, that the rules propounded will not only clear away imaginary difficulties from the path of the student, but entitle him, like ourselves, to an acquirement more or less near perfection, according to a natural gift of mimicry, and to the zeal with which he may study and practice the art.
It will be pleasant when the wind is howling without, among the snow-laden limbs of the trees, to be reminded of the gay summer by the counterfeit notes of the woodland songsters; or, wandering among the woods and fields in spring or summer time, how glorious to challenge the feathered musicians to a contest of skill with you in their own sweet language. We propose to instruct the reader in the manufacture of a little instrument by which the notes of birds, voices of animals, and various peculiar sounds may be imitated.
First, look at the annexed diagram, and then procure a leek and cut off from the green leaf thereof a piece about the size of the diagram; then lay it on a smooth table, and with the thumb-nail delicately scrape away a small semi-circular patch of the green pulpy substance of the leaf [as represented in the diagram], being careful to leave the fine membrane of outer skin of the leaf uninjured—and there is the instrument complete. It may require several experiments to make the first one, but once having discovered the right way, they are very easily manufactured. The reader may not be aware of the fact that the leaf of the leek has a fine transparent outer skin, which is quite tough, but by breaking and carefully examining one or two leaves, he will soon find out what we allude to.
The way of using this instrument is to place it in the roof of the mouth with the side on which is the membrane downwards; then place it gently in its place with the tongue, and blow between the tongue and the upper teeth. After the first two or three attempts, you will be able to produce a slight sound like a mild grunt; then as you practice it you will find you can prolong and vary the sound somewhat, so that in the course of a couple of days you can imitate the barking of a dog and the neighing of a horse. With two or three weeks’ practice, you will be able to imitate some of the song birds; but to produce exact counterfeits of the best singing birds will probably require months of study; the result, however, will reward you for all your pains, for certainly to be able to carry a mocking bird, canary, thrush, cat-bird and sucking-pig in your vest pocket, is no small accomplishment.
Leaf of Leek
When not using the instrument, it should be kept in a glass of water to prevent its drying.