> > I am curious as to how one should approach
> darkening the long "e," as there's
> > a whompin' lot of them! Would it be something
> closer to an open E, or something else?
I usually find that simply relaxing the throat and jaw
areas results in the proper richness, as long as the
vowel itself has the proper focus/ping to begin with.
Sometimes, thinking a higher resonance point (a more
buzzing, head-voice-heavy version of the vowel) helps,
although if you haven't used that terminology before
it's hard to explain in words. Any vowel can be
shallow and childish-sounding, or it can be rich and
resonant.
Many singers use "trumpet lips." Some don't
flare/purse the lips as much (trumpet or fish lips),
but they round the vowel forward, into an "o"
position. Thinking of an umlaut seems to help some
people. I've seen singers who pull the top lip down
over the front teeth to get the same effect.
Mind you, anything can be taken to extremes... you
don't want to create extra tension, just swapping one
problem for another. I find it usually most effective
to *think* something rather than making a big physical
effort to do it.
Isabelle B.
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Isabelle Bracamonte
San Francisco, CA
ibracamonte@y...
ibracamonte@y...
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