Klarinet Archive - Posting 000233.txt from 1994/02

From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.EDU>
Subj: Sprenkle's book on oboe
Date: Thu, 17 Feb 1994 16:53:17 -0500

Reference is made to Bob Sprenkle's book on oboe playing. I knew
Bob and taught several summers with him at a music camp in upstate
NY. He was a lovely man, a wonderful oboe players, and professor
of oboe at Eastman School of Music. But I am not at all sure that
Bob knew any more about the facts of vibrato on oboe than any of
us here (and from what I read, I find an enormous diversity of
opinion about the subject) know about vibrato on a clarinet.

Let me stress this: not knowing about a musical subject has never
been an impediment to (1) speaking about it, (2) writing about it, and
(3) teaching it to others. And it is not out of deliberate
deceit that these phenomena occur. I suspect that most of us
are convinced that we DO know about these things. We have heard
them from our teachers and other people whose opinions we respect
and cherish. We have spoken of them for so long that we have
ceased being objective observers motivated by the spirit of
honest inquiry and crticial thinking.

Within the last 4 months on this board, a variety of topics came
up each of which had a similar aura about it: (1) wood for
clarinets as opposed to other materials, (2) blowing out of
clarinets, (3) mouthpiece characteristics, (4) brand names
of specific clarinets as being "better" in some sense than
other brand names, etc.

Now we have another to add to the pile of "don't trust anyone
over 30" stories: vibrato.

The fact that Bob Sprenkle wrote about it does not necessarily
make it true (or false for that matter). People write about
the earth being flat and present solid arguments in support
of the thesis. And, I think - so it is with vibrato.

I want to hear from an anotomist. I want to know how that
large muscle that separates the stomach area from the lung area
is capable of the kind of motion that will produce pulsing
effects. Frankly, other than only moderate control over that
area, I think that most abdominal motion is involuntary and not
under concious control.

When someone quoted Jack Brymer as suggesting that the diaphragm
vibrato is used by singers, I got a chill up and down my back.
Singers don't use diaphragms for vibrato. They use diaphragms
for breath support. The vast majority of vocal teachers and
coaches will speak of the vibrato as coming from the throat
or through use of the jaw. And when I see that people are
now saying "the diaphragm and other muscles" my concern grows.
What other muscles? Precisely which other muscles? Exactly
how do these other muscles come into play? How do we control
them?

I'm repeating myself so I'll shut up on this subject.

====================================
Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
(leeson@-----.edu)
====================================

   
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