Question

Could you please explain the making of a nice qalqalah?  It sometimes sounds "not sharp" in our tajweed class almost an "imprisoned" sound unlike on the Holy Qur'an cassettes.

May Allah reward you.

Answer

And may Allah reward you and all Muslims with a beautiful reward. 

Many times the problem with the qalqalah stems from fear of it.  Students sometimes have trouble with the concept of separating the two articulating parts of a qalqalah letter without any accompanying mouth and jaw movement and are therefore too soft in the separation of the articulation parts.  The fear often becomes more when they have been corrected or warned by a teacher about adding a vowel to the saakin qalqalah letter.  They often, as stated before, then make the letter soft in separation and the result is a letter that is “soft” and not sharp.  The separation of the two articulating parts needs to have strength in it, without any extraneous mouth and jaw movements. 

Another problem that gives an incorrect sound to the qalqalah, but not exactly what you are referring to is adding a hamzah to the qalqalah.  This is usually the result of trying too hard to make the sharp sound of the correct qalqalah, or not quite understanding the principle of how to make a correct qalqalah. 

The qalqalah needs practice to perfect.  It helps greatly if one listens to a tape or CD of an accomplished reciter and focuses on the qalqalah when listening.