Leslie, here is a possible idea :
Have you already practiced vocal fry? If it is absolutely relaxed (that is, not pressed, not squeezed nor over-gargled), it could tell you where your larynx should be and stay while singing - even much higher notes!
Leslie wrote :
<< The way I understand it, when you inhale the larynx drops.>>
IMO, this term is very excessive. But since it describes accurately what Jeffrey Joel experiences when inhaling, one must admit that it depends on each individual!
I have noticed that male singers with huge thyroid cartilages (that can easily be seen in the neck) will experience more larynx movements. They will also find more easily deeper "resonances" in their voices (the fundamental will be stronger vs the harmonics), sometimes overdoing this into gargled low notes and barked high notes.
But Jeffrey, I would like to know what happens when you do repeated onset exercises, with quick breath intakes between the notes. As Leslie says, if the larynx drops on the inhale, it has to move up before the next breath intake! Or does it drop only on the first air intake, when you "go into singing mode"?
Actually, my larynx doesn't move when I inhale and don't aim at any special sound or color. Be the air intake very quick or slow, it doesn't move! But if I tell me "I want to sound like a low German bass with a deep round [somewhat throaty] tone", my larynx goes down, and I feel an expansion in the lower part of my pharynx, and I can even "guess" one in the clavicular area.
Leslie goes on :
<< If I really concentrate on relaxing my throat, feel my support very low in my body, and visualize lengthening my neck, my larynx will not kick up like it wants to, however, it does move up a little bit at the onset of tone.>>
In my personal individual (...) case, the larynx never goes UP on the onset, except if I tell me "I want to sound like a light tenor with a white sound" - maybe useful if I would like to demonstrate Andres' song in Les Contes d'Hoffmann, or to imitate an old woman voice like Taven in Mireille.
My larynx may go DOWN if I think of a dark color or if I don't manage to relax my tongue root.
Usually, it rather seems to tip over (? French "basculer") a little to the front and down at the same time, and it stays there while I sing, resuming its former position when I inhale.
<<As I descend, it does lower with the scale, but none of this movement is huge.>>
Again, I don't experience this. When I go down a scale, my larynx will accentuate its "tipping over" (?? tilt, tilting??) to the front. This is only my own personal individual experience!
| Alain Zürcher, Paris, France | L'Atelier du Chanteur : | http://chanteur.net
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