Hi!
I’ve been playing the whistle off and on for
a couple of years, and the only way that I can seem to get a vibrato is with my diaphram. I am a singer, and I kinda “sing”
with my whistle. It sounds ok. Is this technique “acceptable” in tradional Irish
music?
Thanks and God Bless!
Trad players mostly make rapid fingering two holes away from the note being played.I prefer the wider and more expressive technique of rapid half hole fingering of the nearest hole to the note played.The diaphragm method comes in handy sometimes but would leave me exhausted if I did it all the time. Cheers, Mike
Don’t listen to the naysayers. I am a singer turned whistler and I use diaphragm vibrato, too, because it seems to come naturally. It’s all for fun anyway. Go right ahead and do what makes you feel comfortable.
Jessie
It’s fine to do whatever sounds good to you. I use both for different effects. Diaphram works really well for me when I want to hold a note and go into a soft vibrato like in a slow air. At the same time however, I also use fingering, especially in the lower octave for ‘haunting’ effects.
Basically, do what you are comfortable with, and everything else will come along naturally with a bit of practice!
I believe Joanie Madden uses both, especially on slow airs…if it’s good enough for
Joanie…
I agree completely with Jessie, do what makes you comfortable and enjoy. It will happen naturally!
I think it’s worth mastering both.
I have a good diaphragm vibrato, or maybe
it’s just that I’m weak and wobbly.
But I find the finger vibrato is very useful
and expressive, too. The trouble I had with it was that I had a hard time learning to do it, but I find that if one encorporates it on long notes, it gradually gets easier.
I do breath vibrato, but I’m trying to learn finger vibrato, too. I like the sound of it on some tunes. Breath vibrato is a bit more expressive and easy to control for me, but the finger vibrato almost makes the whistle sound like a different instrument. It’s hard, though.
Which I suppose goes to show that I am better endowed with hot air than with coordination.
Tom
Hi Tom,
Heres a handy vibrato shortcut tip you and others may wish to try…extend your right index finger to to add vibrato to the 2nd and 3rd holes instead of using your left hand 2nd and 3rd fingers and you will easily execute a consistent,evenly controlled vibrato.I learnt this from my friend Niki Eggle who I’m sure wont mind me passing it on. peace, Mike
[ This Message was edited by: mike.r on 2001-09-30 16:26 ]
[ This Message was edited by: mike.r on 2001-09-30 18:45 ]
Ok. I’m trying to picture this technique. Sorry to be dense, but can you give me a bit more explanation for this?
Jeff
I assume you’re asking about mike.r’s technique. I gather you’d use it only when playing B’s and C#'s. Normally you’d vibrato a B by fluttering the left hand third finger over the 3rd hole, and a C# using the 2nd hole and left hand 2nd finger. Mike is suggesting using the right hand index finger in both cases instead of the left hand 2nd and 3rd fingers for better control.
On 2001-10-02 13:21, gitchel wrote:
Ok. I’m trying to picture this technique. Sorry to be dense, but can you give me a bit more explanation for this?
Jeff
I like to do vibrato using my mouth. I sort of change my mouth shape by articulating something that sounds like yayayayaya. Works pretty good on flute too.
Jeff,
I use the right hand index finger on the open hole next to the note I am fingering eg cover the first two holes to play A,then tap the edge of the 3rd hole with your RH index finger…the effect will vary depending on how much of the hole is covered and offers more control over vibrato depth than the 2nd hole(trad) method.Stabilising the whistle with the tip of your pinky is a good idea when doing this. Mike
Like Dr. Frankenstein, I resurrect these dead posts the the best of intentions.
Hmmmm…Matrix worthy, this one is.
Dazed in LA: You’re a troublemaker, I tell ya!
You expect me to leave a thread name like that alone without a joke? I’m dyin’ here.
My answer is something along the lines of, “its a long way up from there, but if you can shake your whistle, why just go ahead…”
But seriously folks and I wanna tell you (rimshot), the fellow in Battlefield Band uses the fluttery finger vibrato a lot.When on low D he just shakes the whistle and you still get it. I tried it on the low A CHieftains whistle I own and it works like a charm (the bigger the holes the better it works I think). Oddly enough, you can do the same thing on a guitar for vibrato by shaking a string an octave above or below the sounded note. Like, you can make the low E vibrato by shaking the D string fretted at II (cl. guitar trick).
I had read in authoritative sources never to use it in IRTRAD. If you care about such things, you may be crossing the Irish Sea when you use it but most of us aint Irish anyway. Where’s Laban when you need him?
Being a whistle-shaker myself, I would like to say that technically, this produces tremolo rather than vibrato, but why be picky? Just play me a tune and see if it moves me!
Slainte,
BB
Hi, Skywatcher –
YES, use your diaphram to make a vibrato! That is how you do it on all woodwind instruments (flute, oboe, sax), except the clarinet (which isn’t played traditionally with vibrato).
The tinwhistle takes so little air to blow that you don’t need to pump that diaphram much, as you probably have already figured it out. It’s very easy to nudge the sound into a vibrato, providing you have a decent instrument.
–Barb
Hi BB,
What is the difference between tremolo and vibrato?
Erik
Erik,
tremolo is a rapid reiteration of the same tone and vibrato is somewhat less intense with slight and barely perceptable fluctuations of pitch.
Mike
edited for spelling
[ This Message was edited by: mike.r on 2002-05-16 06:49 ]