Bring Back Bedlam!

international | education | opinion/analysis Saturday July 30, 2011 10:17 by Seán Crudden - impero sean at impero dot iol dot ie Jenkinstown, Dundalk, Co Louth 0879739945

Amplified Sound; Weaker Voices

Somehow as the sounds around us get stronger our voices get weaker and no-one wants to listen.  If we speak out people around us feel uncomfortable and threatened.

When I am speaking on the phone my son often advises me disapprovingly, "Don't shout, Dad!"  When I address him he whines, "Please don't be shouting at me, Dad."  A few weeks ago I attended a meeting.  There were three people there, the chairperson and two others including me.  The other gentleman at several points raised his hands palm down and motioned downwards in an almost unconscious signal to encourage me to lower my tones.  The chairman admonished me afterwards more or less asserting that the other gentleman was a more effective speaker because he spoke in a low authoritative voice whereas I shouted in frustration with a cry in my voice.  The chairman even went on to say that the officials of Louth County Council, if they heard about it, might call me in and dress me down for bullying behaviour. 

If anyone shouts, cries out, raises their voice in a mental hospital or old folks home it is an immediate emergency calling for sedation.  School teachers are trying to get in on the act because inspectors and officials treasure silence and strict control more than anything else in school.    Noise coming from a classroom is viewed as a sign of weakness in the unfortunate teacher while her bullying peers bask in official approval.  It's not that teachers are totally unscrupulous but they are not beyond using the methods of the mental hospital in a futile attempt to gain the silent ideal in their class. 

A lot of this has to do with amplification.  Vocal technique, singing technique, voice production; it's almost totally forgotten and in a way it is considered a black art nowadays.  People cannot tolerate a loud voice yet they insist on using amplification even when it is totally unnecessary.  Ironically you probably have a better chance of being listened to if you do not use amplification and the quality of singing is likely to be far better if the amplification is turned off.  But somehow amplification has dulled our appreciation and people no longer know what to look for when they are listening to the full human voice.

At a purely practical level throat problems are on the increase.  It's not just that it is bad manners to whisper.  It probably pays in the long run to learn how to use your diaphragm.