Klarinet Archive - Posting 000749.txt from 1998/01
From: avrahm galper <agalper@-----.com>
Subj: VIBRATO IN WIND PLAYING
Date: Fri, 16 Jan 1998 14:55:31 -0500
Vibrato in Wind Playing
This article was written before Mr. Bellison' death and delivered to the
Clarinet, a Symphony Quarterly.
The following are the editor's (James Collis) remarks.
Mr.Bellison was a warm hearted, mild and quiet man. Rarely did one hear
him raise his voice. No matter how excited his colleagues might become
over an issue, he would discuss the problem in a quiet and reasoned
language.
This article is a veritable call-to-arms against the use of vibrato.
Those who knew him well will chuckle at it's fire and excitement ,
prompted by his zeal only to perfect his art. It will warm your heart
whether or not you may happen to agree with his views.
Vibrato in Wind Playing
In music, vibrato means a wavering of the straight line of sound
produced by an instrument or voice
Many wind players use vibrato to impress the audience with their sound.
But musicians gifted with the fortune of a fine sound do not need
vibrato.
Some of the worried ones, attempting to cover a deficiency of sound,
vibrate slowly. Others do it slightly faster and the rest go ahead full
speed.
But nobody is sure if he is right or wrong. Because there are no rules
or mechanical means of measurement to regulate the tempo of wavering
Everyone does it according to his own taste, which too often means with
no taste.
We see and hear such "artists" on radio, television, in movies and "in
person".
One vibrates with his lips. The other used his throat or muscles. And
some use everything comes to their minds.
And so the land has become filled with young and old musicians,
vibrating at home, at school and in the orchestra
What was once a fad is now a style.
What makes it worse is that it is contagious and has spread to the
better class of musicians, thus affecting symphonies and schools
This kinds of playing, of course, in used to the greatest extent in
dance music and jazz.
themore such players shake, the more they are recognized as artists.
And little by little they promote themselves to the tittle of" King of
jazz. In other words they are now
geniuses.
We hear such artists everywhere, day and night.
Their most popular instruments are the saxophone and the trumpet. Both
these instruments compete with each other to prove virtuosity.
The speed of the vibration and loudness play main roles in the
performance.
And to arouse the ardor of the audience, the players twist themselves
and their instruments up and down and sideways, and at the climax of
this Saint Vitas dance look like victims of convulsion.
That is "hot" playing in the language of these virtuosos.
The rest of the world dances to music, too. Musicians play different
dances-slow ones, classical and national. All are happy and free of
vibration
During the many years that I have been a teacher and performer, music
schools and individual teachers have sent me many letters to ask about
my experience with vibrato.
I did not pay much attention to this problem before, but now that it has
become a plague, I decided to tell openly what I think and know about
this shaky playing.
IN OTHER LANDS
The question of vibrato does not exist in Europe. All winds as a rule
must play without wavering.
They use their natural color in orchestra, chamber music and solo
playing
Vibration in winds sounds as unpleasant as strings without vibration.
Winds must not vibrate and most European conductors see to that they do
not. Teachers, too, are spared the difficulty
When Toscanini took the NY philharmonic took a concert tour of Europe in
1930, the conductor and orchestra were highly praised for their artistic
performance. Yet the brass and winds were severely criticized for their
vibrato.
Wind players and students begin to vibrate because they are disappointed
with their sound.
They do not know how to correct the sound and become impatient.
Here is where the teacher must come to the rescue..
He must change the reeds and the mouthpiece, making sure that they suit
the lips of the students.
Besides taking care of the embouchure, he might require a better
instrument. But the vibration must stop.
The only instrument free to vibrate-but carefully - is the saxophone,
even if it sometimes played in a symphony.
It was born with a menagerie sound and is worse without vibration
As a musician with a European background, I play with out vibrato.
But at times I hear -or feel- a few seconds of vibration as I play.This
happens in Romantic music where the there is an expression of a delicate
phrase in a love scene.
This vibration is entirely different. It is natural and comes from
inside. It disappears as mysteriously as it came.
Vibrato is dangerous and hard to get rid of. If America would follow the
example of Europe it would get rid of shaky playing once and forever.
Thus it would cast off the menace that kills the taste and development
of legitimate music,
I just want to add that this was published in 1953, long before the
current debate on Vibrato. I have the feeling this was aimed for the
Jazz craze. Interesting -no mention of clarinets. Avrahm Galper
