Dampening Larynx Correctly

[Guest]

Hey everyone, in the pillars demo it shows a "glug glug glug" sound for larynx dampening and also a surprise breath. I was wondering what is the safest and correct way to dampen the larynx, I do not want to "force" my larynx down or uncompress the vocal cords.

Also who uses larynx dampening regularly in their singing? Why? Is it a natural function of the voice?

- JayMC

[benny82]

Everyone uses larynx dampening in their singing. Otherwise we would all sound like Donald Duck. I usually do the dampening like it is described in pillars. Which basically means that you let the jaw drop down a little and move your tongue forward along with it, with the tip of your tongue kind of tied to your lower front teeth.

Neither twang nor larynx dampening are optional in singing, just the degree differs from style to style and from singer to singer.

A good excercise is to do a note in quack mode and then do a smooth transition from the "quack sound" towards an "eh" vowel. This transition is usually done like I wrote above, by dropping the jaw a little and letting the tongue move with the jaw.

[VideoHere]

is laryrx dampening just a fancy term for stabilizing the larynx?

[VideoHere]

if you focus on keeping an open throat and breathing low, yawn like, keep the jaw and tongue free from tension, you will find the larynx will behave quite nicely.

[MDEW]

When people hear terms like "Stabilize" or "dampen" or "Lower" in regards to the larynx they somehow infer use some kind of force to keep it there. It is just keeping enough tension to keep the muscles ingaged.

Keeping the jaw and tongue relaxed works because it lessons the upward pull on the larynx.

[VideoHere]

getting control over the larynx is probably one of the most significant breakthroughs you can experience. when the larynx is under control and the throat doesn't close down, the tone and resonance become more acoustically consistent.

[Danielformica]

The vowels you use will keep the larynx stable.PERIOD

[Felipe Carvalho]

Not if by vowel we understand the intention behind the sound production. If thinking just about the vowel quality perceived, INO if its gonna be perceived as AH or EH, then yes, you are correct.

But what Daniel means is the whole intention, as in a darker AH is a vowel, a brighter AH is also a vowel, a AH with head resonance, is another vowel, AH in chest yet another.

If you try to manipulate the larynx with a conflicting intention, what you have is tension, for example, trying to produce an open and bright AH and at the same time depressing the larynx.

It does not matter if the person is intentionaly producing a bright Ah, or if its his "default" Ah which is naturally bright, all intentions have all the information together with it, one of the crucial things on trainning is bringing those qualities to counscious level.

I dont have to depress my larynx to darken the sound, that sounds awfull. I can simply use a darkenned posture and my voice will just follow how it should.

Now, to train it, then yes, depressing a bit and using postures to search and understand may be necessary. But not always.

[MDEW]

Not if by vowel we understand the intention behind the sound production. If thinking just about the vowel quality perceived, INO if its gonna be perceived as AH or EH, then yes, you are correct.

But what Daniel means is the whole intention, as in a darker AH is a vowel, a brighter AH is also a vowel, a AH with head resonance, is another vowel, AH in chest yet another.

If you try to manipulate the larynx with a conflicting intention, what you have is tension, for example, trying to produce an open and bright AH and at the same time depressing the larynx.

It does not matter if the person is intentionaly producing a bright Ah, or if its his "default" Ah which is naturally bright, all intentions have all the information together with it, one of the crucial things on trainning is bringing those qualities to counscious level.

I dont have to depress my larynx to darken the sound, that sounds awfull. I can simply use a darkenned posture and my voice will just follow how it should.

Now, to train it, then yes, depressing a bit and using postures to search and understand may be necessary. But not always.

From a hillbilly uneducated point of view. Not knowing how my voice should sound to me when things are going right. I may force things trying to create the correct vowel sound. But If I already have the correct sound in muscle memory nothing needs to be forced. Just like when imitating an accent you do not have to think " I will dampen my larynx, lift my left cheek, and raise my soft palet" You just remember hearing someone speaking in that accent and go for it.

The problem is not knowing how "Your voice" should sound and feel to "You" when thing are going right.

You may need someone who can HEAR if it is correct. And then you can recreate the sound or feeling to train on.

[Felipe Carvalho]

Exactly mdew, its really something like trainning an accent. But with more details.

[chamcham]