Thanks so much for your enthusiasm towards my question and for your response!

I found some more information that might be of interest on this topic.

1. Here is a video of Edward Johnson himself describing the whole inhalation of the voice thing. It is clearly marked, but it is video #6.
http://belcanto.myseriestv.com/showList.php

2. John Fanning, probably Canada’s leading baritone (http://www.thespec.com/article/232112) was a student of Ed’s.
http://www.highlandsoperastudio.com/faculty/ I tried contacting him, but with no luck. It would be interesting to get him to weigh in on this inhalation issue somehow.

It’s interesting that you pointed out the idea of Bel Canto as it applies to repertoire as opposed to technique. When I speak of it, I am usually referring to the technique. I guess that’s part of the problem with the usage of the term being so broadly applied.

I really must get a hold of a copy of Vocal Wisdom, as I believe that is the primary source that Ed often quoted from.

About the mask… that the tone does not just have one resonance area is in line with my learning. Now, within that, the idea is to place notes of different pitch in different areas of the mask to facilitate that. Where do you “place” (a word that, I know, is problematic among some) the voice, if not there?

Would it be fair to suggest that visualizing the tone being placed in the upper head would achieve the same result as placing the tone wide and across the cheekbones - just below the eyes, or at the top of the dome of the hard palate? (the place roughly equal to where the top of the sinus cavities lies?) By in the upper pharyngeal area you refer to… is that the low notes? For me, directing it in the narrow point of the triangle just in front of the bottom teeth helps to focus the tone away from the throat. Wouldn’t thinking of the tone being created in the throat result in the tone actually residing there? I’m not suggesting that you’re wrong. I’m just trying to understand how your angle on it works.

What hand motions do you find helpful in communicating this to students?

Just the very idea that you refer to using imagery to help create the voice is very similar to how I have learned.

I do find that there are some that come across the whole “inhalation of the voice” thing results in people thinking that you’ve lost your mind. They claim that it is impossible at best, and at worst, absurd. Others, I find, are open-minded enough that their curiosity is aroused.

Thanks for allowing me to participate in this discussion on your site!

Chris