Last time I posted nobody replied. What an ego deflater! Well, here goes again…
Can anyone give me some ideas on how to add vibrato without overdoing it? I’ve heard some players and some amateur recordings on the Internet that sound good with a little vibrato, but when I do it, it’s too much.
Let me ask; how do you do it?
The throat way we were all taught as young children on our instrument of choice or
wiggling a finger up and down?
That will help us in telling you more about it.
lolly
I write on the assumption that you
are interested (at least partly)
in finger vibrato. Here’s a way
to do it but not overdo it, IMHO.
When you get to a long note and wish
to use vibrato, let the note sound
(that is play it for a moment without
vibrato),
then apply vibrato, then stop the vibrato and let the note sound and die.
So the vibrato is sandwiched between
two non-vibrato moments. The note ‘dies,’
when one reduces breath so that it
sinks and then ceases. Hope this helps.
Just today I was asking a woodwind playing friend of mine how to do vibrato. He told me it’s done from the diaphragm or the throat, but most typically the diaphragm. It’s part of the whole breath control issue.
He noted that clarinets do not do vibratto. Also, it’s used very little in Irish Trad.
I should note that he is a talented oboe player who also plays sax, flute and clarinet. He only tinkers with whistle but I heard him play today and he sounded great. He doesn’t know the ornamentation but I showed him McCullough’s book and he started whipping through the grace note exercises like nothing. I’m mad with envy.
Thanks for the input guys. I was thinking of throat of diaphram vibrato (but finger information was helpful). I can’t either throat or diaphram, so I tried to get something going by wagging my tongue. Sounded BAD. The good news is that it’s not used much, so it’s a technique I don’t have to worry about.
I usually just wiggle the whistle a little bit, although technically this produces tremolo rather than vibrato (OK, don’t accuse me of being a retentive technique geek). If you want finger vibrato, but don’t want it too “wide”, strike one hole down, but don’t cover the hole completely (sometimes, striking 2 holes down isn’t wide enough). I would say to just try various methods and see which one works best for you.
Being a classical flutist (not a professional yet but hope to be) I use vibrato all the time. What people were saying about the throat and diaphram is correct. I personaly use the throat method. Unfortunatly, vibrato is sometimes a natural thing, it just happens when you play and seems to be an instant reaction. Try reading the chapter on vibrato in Nancy Toff’s book “The Flute Book” it may help you. I use the same vibrato on the whistle as I do the flute.
I have a pretty good diaphragm tremelo
that I just do, and I didn’t want to
learn the finger vibrato. I raised the
issue on the board a couple of years
ago and came away determined to learn
finger vibrato.
Both methods are
useful to have in one’s bag of tricks
(they sound different),
and the finger vibrato is a part of the
traditional whistle sound. It’s utterly controllable once learned, learnable with a bit of time and patience, glad I did. Best
For what its worth: I stopped using finger vibrato for Irish music, partly because I heard it overused by the Battlefield Band, a Scottish group, and it just doesn;t seem to fit in the IrTrad. It’s such a diverse musical world, though, that I wouldn’t be surprised if some do use it occassionally, but I sure don’t hear it as a regular thing on any instrument and Breathnach recommends against it. This was discussed about two months ago, n’estce pas?? I think the thread was “How do I play vibrato”
Another observation is that the roll takes the place of vibrato in faster music, or at least that’s the way I hear it. If every long note that a roll replaces was still a long note, other types of musicians would play vibrato (or tremolo, see other thread) to make it interesting or sustain it, I think. Mandolin technique bridges this gap in the sense that they play tremolo for every long note because its not a sustaining instrument.
I use diaphragm vibrato on slow airs, done in a rhythmic way, so that the oscillations are slow and careful and “weave” into the end of the phrase or places where the music pauses in a purposefully dramatic fashion. One little thing too is using a cut right at the very end just to interrupt the long final note, but also in rhythm with the bar.
When I have figured out how to edit out silence while I fumble for the whistle after having started recording on Audacity, I will post examples on Chiffs and Slips. I love playing slow airs on whistle, but who doesn’t?
[ This Message was edited by: The Weekenders on 2002-07-20 12:41 ]
Thanks a lot guys. (Whistlers ROCK!!)
I’m glad someone else does that “shake the whistle” thing. I do find it gives the best effect. It looks a bit silly when overdone, and that keeps me from overdoing it. As a teen in Ireland I used to sit in a pub in my home town (Dundalk) and listen to local players. Even if they didn’t use much ornamentation, they would always end with a little extra tremelo, slide, whatever. Sometimes a lot extra. I always assumed they were seeking to impress or get a little applause. (or it was just how it was done, 'cause everyone seemd to do it that way). Now I understand the thought…you play a sad song in a slightly restrained fashion, some emotion but not too gushy. But at the end you can’t restrain your emotions, and it finally comes out… I find it much more effective than laying on ornamentation all though the piece.