Timbre, Smile-Stamped

Of the many facts found in Angus Tremble's introduction to A Brief History of the Smile this one makes me close my eyes and listen and attempt to project myself into a different sensory experience of the world.


Blind people are keenly aware of the change of timbre that may be detected in the voice of a smiling interlocutor. Many of us can tell when a person at the other end of the telephone is distracted by something funny but gamely tries to continue an otherwise serious conversation. Smiling changes the sound of the voice no less than the shape of the mouth.


No thanks to the publisher who after the addition of the "Preface to the Paperback Edition" did not repaginate the front matter[two prefaces and the introduction] numbered with Roman numerals to align properly with the endnotes, one is able to find a reference for further exploration.


"blind people": See, for example, "Anecdotes of the Life of Mademoiselle de Salignac, A Blind French Lady," in Wilson, J. (1821/1995). Biography of the Blind ..., edited by K. Stuckey, Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, pp. 457.462.


Worth a little experiment with recording equipment ...

And so for day 200
02.07.2007