Okay, I can record another with better pressure and breath coordination, and it seems I’m going to need to given the responses. The sound quality I’m talking about persists. I just find that working on other things is easier to manage when the sound I produce is lighter/less pressurized, with the idea that adding more volume and pressure to a bad tone is just going to result in a louder, bad tone.

After working and meditating on the subtle physiological shifts in between the tones that sound dull and the tones that sound brighter, I’m quite sure it’s my larynx, and a little bit in the way I produce my vowels. Really focusing on my larynx in my mid-range eased the transition between head and chest pitches/range. I was even able to do a semi-decent Mesa di voce.