Klarinet Archive - Posting 000063.txt from 1994/02

From: Cary Karp <nrm-karp@-----.SE>
Subj: Re: Vibrato
Date: Mon, 7 Feb 1994 18:30:38 -0500

On Mon, 7 Feb 1994, Jay Heiser wrote:

> Isn't vibrato yet another
> string technique that wind players need to understand & attempt to
> emulate?
>
> I was surprised to learn about the variety of difft vibrato sources.
> Finger? Wow.

There's nothing in the historical record that suggests that string
players were using vibrato before wind players were. On the contrary,
the Baroque wind instrument tutors provide what are both the first,
and remain among the most extensive instructions about the musical
applications of vibrato.

Finger vibrato is not some odd-ball technique. It's one of the primary
expressive devices used in all sorts of bagpipe traditions (where wind
vibrato is pretty much impossible) including the Western classical one.
It's influence on present-day wind traditions cannot be underestimated.
If you want to hear what it sounds like, listen to a contemporary Irish
piper. There are plenty of them knocking about. Liam O'Flynn is one of my
favorites.

My comment about the keywork on the modern clarinet being a lesser
impediment to the technique than, say, the keywork on a modern flute
would be, was ill considered. The technique is not viable on the modern
clarinet.