Having succeeded in attaining the proficiency necessary to make the ventriloquial drone prop­erly, it is essential, in order to proceed intelligently, to consider the effect produced upon sound by its transmission from a distance.

As we have already seen, ventriloquism is lit­tle more than the imitation of sounds, not as heard at their source but as they are finally sensed by the ear; and the more accurately one can analyze the characteristics of these auditory impressions the more nearly can he come to a correct reproduction.

In listening carefully to any sound coming from a remote point as it falls upon the ear, the student will notice at least six things:

1.  That its strength is reduced in inverse ratio to its distance;

2.  That its pitch remains the same;

3.  That its tonal quality is somewhat altered;

4.  That its duration remains unaltered;

5.  That human speech proceeding from a place considerably removed from the auditor is obscured, especially in its consonant sounds;

6.  That this obscurity increases with the in­ crease in distance until the language becomes un­ intelligible and the voice finally inaudible.

From a knowledge of these facts, the ventril­oquist produces his effects by forming sounds that in faintness, body and tone closely approxi­mate those which would actually come from the points to which, by word or gesture, he skillfully directs attention. As almost every sound with which the ear is familiar can be successfully imi­tated by the human voice, it follows that the suc­cess of the student's imitations will be limited only by his incapacity to fully determine the nature of the sounds he desires to reproduce, and lack of sufficient training. The first can, of course, be remedied by close observation and at­tention, and the second by perseverance and con­stant practice.

All seemingly distant voices are formed in the pharynx just above "Adam's apple," and if you are able to make such sounds at this particular spot, which is the location of the subdued "cluck" heard in the act of swallowing, you will be able to ventriloquize when you have learned by practice to articulate distinctly.  

After you have obtained the bee-drone spoken of in the preceding chapter, and can make the transition from the ventriloquial voice to the nat­ural voice, and vice versa, while repeating the word "Ah," practice on the other vowel sounds, enunciating each one regularly and distinctly by itself, as: Ah-a-e-i-o-u. Then follow with the consonants, thus: dah, day, dee, die, doe, du; gah, gay, gee, gi, go, gu; ha, hay, hee, hi, ho, hu; jah, jay, jee, ji, jo, ju, and so on with the rest.

The principle is one used in the familiar do, re, mi, practice for beginners in singing, which en­ables the mind to be wholly concentrated upon the attainment of the proper tones before songs are attempted. By avoiding words at first, all the faculties are centred upon obtaining proper con­trast, and the vocal cords learn their duties and acquire the necessary facility at quick change from one voice to the other before the attention is divided between the necessity of obtaining the right contrast and at the same time uttering words.

This "echo" practice with sounds renders the result much more satisfactory, because when once the vocal organ has become trained to these rapid changes, the transition from one voice to another becomes mechanical and the attention can then be given almost wholly to the pronun­ciation, of words and the formation of sentences. The effect is heightened when words are used, but they only deceive the student in regard to his progress if used at first. As an artist must learn to draw before lie can paint creditably, so the student of ventriloquism should secure the ventriloquial effect before he uses vocabulary.

When you have secured the distant effect with the vowels and consonants in close contrast with your natural voice, try the word "Hello" and the effect of an echo is increased, not because your ventriloquism has suddenly improved, but because this word is the natural way of testing an echo. If attempted at an earlier stage, there might be danger of your remaining satisfied with the effect thus obtained, even if it were imper­fect, because to your untrained ear the sound of the word as given by the drone would seem good enough and might deter you from further effort, without which you cannot hope to excel in this branch of the art.

First call out the word in the natural voice, and try to imagine, when you repeat it ventriloquially, that the latter instead of requiring a separate at­tempt is merely the echo of an effect already finished.

When you have faithfully pursued this prac­tice for a few days you may take up the imita­tion of a person talking from behind a door, which is one of the simplest and surest acquire­ments in ventriloquism. First, you must form a correct estimate of how such a voice would sound, and if you are not entirely clear in your own mind regarding this point, persuade a friend to actually carry on a conversation with you while shut up in another room.

While as a matter of fact there is only one dis­tant voice—that produced by the so-called bee drone—this is modified in various ways for the purpose of giving added effect to whatever imi­tations are attempted. A voice from behind a door near at hand is louder and more distinct and has a peculiar hollow, muffled tone which dis­tinguishes it somewhat from one coming from a place more remote. These characteristics can be produced by pressing the tongue against the teeth while the latter are set well together and the lips are slightly apart. Before speaking in the ventriloquial voice fill the lungs and keep the breath under good control. Of course in form­ing some of the words it will be found impossible to keep the tongue entirely still, but so long as it retains a position well forward in the mouth, the effect can be obtained.

When the student has assured himself that he is successful in his imitation of the voice, let him approach a door and apparently try to open it. Struggle a minute with the knob as if some one were holding it on the other side and then call out, "Will you kindly release your hold and allow me to pass through." As quickly as pos­sible reply in the ventriloquial voice, "No, you can't come out this way."

Student. "This is the only way out, so please do as I request."
Voice. "I don't care if it is the only way, you can't come through."
Student. "Why not?"
Voice. "That's my business" (ghizness).
Student. "Oh, is it? Well, I'll make it my business."
Voice. "Oh, no you won't!"
Student. "Why not?"
Voice. "'Cause what's your business is my business, and what's my business is my own."
Student. "Oh, come now, you beg the ques­tion."
Voice. "No, I'm no beggar."
Student. "Well, what are you, then?"
Voice. "If I tell you, will you keep it quiet?"
Student. "Yes, certainly."
Voice. "I won't tell you then."
Student. "What do you mean?"
Voice. "Just what I say."
Student. "I see you are as impudent as you are unreasonable. Now let me through."
Voice. "Not to-night."
Student. "Why not to-night?"
Voice. "'Cause I don't choose to."
Student. "Well, I shall get out this way."
Voice. "No you don't, not if I know it."
Student. "Well here goes for an attempt."

At this point act as if strongly exasperated and apparently push and struggle against an op. posing force with all your might. Finally by seemingly a greater effort you cause the door to fly back suddenly and at the same time give ut­terance to a loud "ha, ha, ha," in the ventriloquial voice, as if some one were laughing at you in the room or hallway beyond.

Always bear in mind that the eye helps to de­ceive the ear, and make the action of pushing the door, etc., as natural as possible. The more realistic the ventriloquist makes his part the more effect his performance will have upon the public. As far as voice alone goes, there are ventrilo­quists who can manipulate ventriloquism per­fectly, but who, on account of lack of necessary actions, do not succeed in impressing their hearers very strongly. As a rule, between a good actor who is a poor ventriloquist and a good ventriloquist who is a poor actor, the former will be more successful. This topic will be more fully gone into in the paragraphs about ventriloquial acting and entertaining further on.

The foregoing dialogue is merely suggested and intended for preliminary rehearsals rather than for use in public, although of course if the performer is unable to write a better one there can be no objection to such use. The chances are however, that he can obtain suitable material of a more witty and amusing character from other sources and make it ventriloquially effective. One month's daily practice should be sufficient to enable him, by proper emphasis on a tone or syllable, to illustrate and bring out the salient points of any dialogues he may use, and to sur­prise and astonish those among his friends not familiar with the capabilities of the art, with the strange voices within him. There should be no straining after effect, but the student will find that what he has practiced much he can do well, and by perseverance alone can perfection be obtained.

To become a really great ventriloquist, it is es­pecially important that the learner should have an accurate knowledge of the nice distinctions in sound, and this can only be obtained by a careful study of its several manifestations and differ­ences. It is as necessary to judge nicely the effects of distance and direction on audible im­pressions, or sounds, as it is to acquire the power of speaking ventriloquially.

The sense of hearing is easily deceived—in fact, more easily than any other of the five senses —and in its judgment of sound of any kind relies largely upon the memory of past experiences, al­though such memory may be exercised involun­tarily and sub-consciously. The student should therefore strive to acquire a just discrimination of the pitch and strength of sounds, no matter of what nature, for everything audible comes under the category of tone or noise, the latter being usually the most difficult to account for.

As an aid to such acquirement, let him place his hands closely and firmly over the ears, when he will experience a curious impression of con­fused humming, caused by the pressure of the air internally, the sound being something like that heard when, in childhood days, a convoluted sea-shell was placed over our ears and we were told the sound was the roaring of the ocean.

External sounds will now be much modified as regards strength and quality, for the vibra­tions are prevented from directly acting on the ear-drum. Now if a few words are spoken with the ears thus closed, the sound will reach the auric nerves interiorally by way of the Eustach-ian tube at the back of the mouth, which conveys the vibration to the aural cavity immediately be­hind the drum of the ear. By carefully noting and remembering the sound heard under these conditions the ventriloquist is able to judge whether his voice is so pitched and modified as to resemble one from a distance.

Note how the same sound differs when the hands are removed and observe how it is ob­scured when the ears are again stopped. Then with open ears try to imitate the sound which was heard when they were muffled. In this manner try all kinds of tones and noises, and accurately observe their several characteristics. This exercise will bring to the ventriloquist a realization of the range, modulations and capa­bilities of the human voice such as he has never had before. The principal difficulty with the beginner is lack of knowledge concerning the latent possibilities of his own vocal powers, but this can be obviated by practice and the use of the method herein suggested. Because of the fact that ventriloquial effects are produced by using the voice in an unnatural manner, such efforts require greater attention and energy than in ordinary speaking, where the mind is intent upon the subject of the conversation, and the words are uttered without conscious effort.

Some one has said that, "As perspective is to the eye, so is ventriloquism to the ear," meaning that as the eye is deceived by the skill of the artist in so painting a landscape as to give the effect of distance, although the whole composi­tion is limned on a perfectly flat surface, so the ventriloquist deludes the ear by speaking in such a manner that the voice appears in the distance, although created close at hand.