Literary notes about modulate (AI summary)
The term "modulate" in literature is often used to describe the adjustment or transformation of sound, voice, and even mood, serving both literal and metaphorical functions. Authors use it to depict characters altering the tone or cadence of their speech—from a deliberate, measured modulation of musical notes [1, 2, 3] to the more subtle art of refining one’s voice to express varying emotions or social nuances [4, 5, 6, 7]. In some contexts, it extends to the modulation of energy in a technical or metaphorical manner, as when sound is tweaked to create a particular atmosphere or when voices shift like keys in music [8, 9, 10, 11]. This versatility enriches narrative expression by linking auditory subtleties to deeper thematic changes within the text [12, 13, 14].
- It was clear as a bell, and he could modulate its tones till, like the drip, drip of water on a rock, they fell one by one upon the ear.
— from Lord Kilgobbin by Charles James Lever - Sing quietly in a pitch that is easy for the voice, and modulate up or down by half steps.
— from Resonance in Singing and Speaking by Thomas Fillebrown - Aristophanes says in the Frogs , 1361-63: “Do you dare to criticize my songs, you that modulate your cadences on the twelve-fold postures of Cyrené?”
— from Manual of Classical Erotology (De figuris Veneris) - Of course he could not modulate his voice, since he couldn't hear himself talk.
— from Chapters from My Autobiography by Mark Twain - He tried to modulate his voice into a tone of complete indifference.
— from The Datchet Diamonds by Richard Marsh - She spoke with no attempt to modulate her voice, and it carried distinctly to Gaston.
— from The Trespasser, Complete by Gilbert Parker - She could not modulate out the key of self-abasement in which she had started.
— from A Room with a View by E. M. Forster - It seems that he could modulate from one love affair to another as fleetly and as gracefully as from one key to its remotest neighbour.
— from The Love Affairs of Great Musicians, Volume 1 by Rupert Hughes - Lend me your ears while I modulate from G to E flat."
— from No Man's Island by Herbert Strang - He seemed to draw rich effects and wandering airs from it—to modulate and manipulate it as he would have done a musical instrument.
— from The Tragic Muse by Henry James - That new dominant purpose will modulate the voice, and the whole expression of the face, and the touch of the hand, and the carriage of the body.
— from Quiet Talks on Power by S. D. (Samuel Dickey) Gordon - His power to sweep, guide, and modulate the width and intensity of his line is developed into a sixth sense.
— from Chats on Japanese Prints by Arthur Davison Ficke - I became familiar with the order of proceedings, and learned to modulate my voice.
— from Reminiscences, 1819-1899 by Julia Ward Howe - He could modulate from one love affair to another as fleetly and as gracefully as from one key to its remote neighbor.
— from Superwomen by Albert Payson Terhune
