Try thinking about deepening the resonance of your tone in the middle register as well. Think a bit more vertically than "round". As you sing the notes, do you feel vibration not just in the mouth and nasal cavities, but also near the larynx? If not, that vibration near the larynx is something you should try to achieve. It's mainly a mental process, but it can also help to think of the mouth not as circular but as ellipsoid, with a very pronounced feel of "lift" of the upper molars and soft palate (again, achieved mainly by thinking about feeling that sense of "lift" - that "unhinged" feeling of the upper teeth "lifting" off the lower jaw).
You might also try using what I call "Malfitano lips" (or "kissing gourami lips") - after Catherine Malfitano. If you've ever watched her sing, you'll notice that she really extends her lips forward (Sam Ramey also does this), to create a kind of mini-megaphone effect that adds depth to the resonance of her sound (and also helps avoid lip tension). Particularly when singing "o" and "u", try extending the lips forward, instead of doing a closed "choral" type of "u" or "o" that tightens and slightly retracts the lips. I find that the "Malfitano lips" help deepen my resonance on ALL vowel sounds, even "i" - which is produced entirely by the position of the tongue anyway.
Hope this helps. Good luck!
Karen Mercedes http://www.radix.net/~dalila/index.html ________________________________ That man is the happiest who is most thoroughly deluded. - Erasmus
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