The irony of Vox Humana and Barack Obama

The term Vox Humana is latin for "human voice". The French phrase would be "voix humaine", and "voce umana" in Italian.

Despite the literal translations to this latin phrase it also is a term used for a short resonator reed stop on a pipe organ, named of its resemblance to the human voice. There is a process in pipe organs to which an undulation of wind supply through the different pipe ranks causes a vibrato effect, referred to as a tremulant.

The vibrato effect which is created sounds much like the natural qualities of the human voice. A large organ may have several tremulants which affect different sets of pipes. There are different tremulants that allow for a variable speed and depth of the tremolo, which is controlled by the organist.

The vox humana is intended to evoke the impression of a soloist or singing choir. The actual success of this intent depends as much upon the acoustics in which the organ resounds, as it does the voicing of the pipes.

Why is this on my mind, you ask? I found it a bit ironic. You see, Bush and his policies have held and pushed our country back socially, economically, politically on both our local, national, and international communities. As this country's, and the world's organist, he failed to recognized the value to the power of harmony and the use of vox humana.

We have seen the energizing efforts that Obama has created by allowing the human voice to be heard. He, as a global organist, sees the power in the use of vox humana. Whether he is using it for his own solo efforts to add to the political dialogue or whether he is using it for the unification, and bringing the world's voices together in a large choir to create harmony throughout the world.

Vox humana stops in very old organs had a fairly wide variety of designs and tonal qualities. It was during the nineteenth century that the design became fairly standardized. Today, most organ builders construct vox humana pipes in approximately the same way, though the scaling will vary between builders and according to the tonal style in which the organ is designed. The actual sound of the pipe is dependent upon the organ voicer, with an open "O" or a long "E" sound probably being the most common result. Occasionally, an organ will feature a lever or stop knob marked "Vox humana" that does not engage a rank of pipes, but rather the tremulant instead. While it is seen in pipe organs, this usage of the term is now more common on the harmonium.

As the organ stops over the centuries have become more standardized, much like our global economy and political landscape which has become so innertwined, as well. Although, they have not become one, and there are various ranks of pipes and soloists that still sing loudly, I believe that the world has found a new organist.

Vox humana is simply the human voice. There are moments of tremolo that take place in life, as well as, disharmony and global dischord, but having an organist that understands the use of vox humana can empower the global music of all of the voices that play a part in the human symphony. All voices are heard always only some are louder and more disharmonious to the rest of the world orchestra. It is knowing that all of the voices are singing at the same time and all need to be heard in a melodious manner in order to bring the world to a universal choir of harmony.

The irony of this Presidential campaign has given harmony and vibrato back to the Vox Humana.



(c)Copyright 2008 Doug Boggs