 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: emilymac19
Date: 2012-09-20 04:19
I am a senior in high school and my audition for concert season is coming up in a couple weeks. I will be auditioning on my chosen piece of Scene and Air from Luisa Di Montfort (by Bergson). Along with my private teacher, I think it sounds pretty great... but this is my last year auditioning for our AA Symphonic Wind Ensemble and I really want to impress my band director by maybe using some vibrato on the more expressive sections of the piece. Do you have any recommendations on the easiest way to use vibrato on clarinet? Or any advice regarding vibrato at all? What are some other things I can do to impress my director (i.e. create a better tone)?
Thank you so much for the help!
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Author: brycon
Date: 2012-09-20 05:26
Vibrato is awful; Orchestral clarinet player X never played with vibrato.
Vibrato is fantastic; Historical clarinet player Y may have played with vibrato.
Figured since I was up late, I should save everyone the trouble.
This site has a search feature that is sure to render a head-smashingly large amount of vibrato threads. I seem to remember Tony Pay and a few others having some very good thoughts on the subject. Happy searching!
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2012-09-20 08:20
There are two separate techniques. The first and easiest is to just merely vary your jaw pressure. This will give you the most pronounced vibrato which is also a pitch variance vibrato.
The other method is what flute players use, which is accomplished by pulsing your abdominal muscles. This doesn't affect the pitch really, just the intensity of the sound. Some feel this sounds more natural, like a singer, but it requires more work.
In some areas of Europe (Netherlands?) there is a greater acceptance of vibrato for classical music. If done only subtly and occasionally there's no reason not to use it as a means to increase your repertoire of different sounds (or moods).
...................Paul Aviles
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2012-09-20 09:20
I don't know the piece you are performing, so I can only give you some educated advice from playing for a bit. (47 years, however I'm just a kid compared to the other greats on this site.)
To learn how to do this in a short time when playing a whole note try using less force with your lower lip and drop the pressure of your lip fast then returning your lip to it's normal position also very fast.
Some players use their lower jaw, instead of their lips. Depending on the piece I often use both styles such as the beginning of Rhapsody in Blue. If you like playing jazz, which I do a few times a week, it's a blast. You can get pretty crazy with jazz and rock, but tenderness and quality is a must in most pieces in your concert band.
This is one of the pieces that most people should learn to do because it insures flexability plus tonal and sound quality.
Developing a pleasent vibrato takes flexability and if you start practicing by taking a long note and playing around with moving your lower lip an perhaps your jaw at a slow pace, I would think that in just a few days you will know how to play notes with a vibrato. Be careful to keep it tight and pleasing. Tight meaning don't drop you lip a lot. Just like a quivering effect.
I've heard singers drive me nuts with vibratos. When signing, their notes takes a half step down. For example they may be singing a G and their voice drops down to an F# or worse. One time I couldn't take and and had to walk out.
My point - Be soo careful and be musicial. It's a fine skill to know how to do.
Vibratos are really nice, and should probably be used with notes something greater then a dotted quarter note. With whole notes it's excellent. I like starting this note without vibrato and add to it ever so slightly, and of course the opposite. With any long note you really need to do something with this note. Don't just play it. You can get a tiny bit louder and then softer, or you can add vibrato, or a combo of all.
Last point is every note means something. So if the piece in reference could use vibrato, go for it. However some pieces should be played as written.
Talk to your teacher for the final verdict. Let us know what happens. Best of luck to you.
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
Post Edited (2012-09-20 09:33)
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Author: William
Date: 2012-09-21 15:42
The motto for the business world is, "dress for success". So for auditions, it is best to try to play what you think the committe members most want to hear. If your audition is for mostly soloist playing, than perhaps a tasteful vibrato would be prudent. However, if you are auditioning for more ensemble situations where tonal blend is key, than a very beautiful but "staight", in tune sound is more desirable. It is good to be versatile and do both as your playing venue demands.
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Author: DrewSorensenMusic
Date: 2012-09-21 17:03
There is so much you can do phrasing wise, maybe it's best to start there, and put a hold on the vibrato for a while. Unless you're playing Klezmer or Benny Goodman styles, I don't know if vibrato is the most musical addition you could impart on your clarinet playing. Maybe start listening to some operatic singers, and imitating their musical phrasing (without vibrato). Lean into important notes (like suspensions or minor thirds), to make the release from those notes that much more appealing. Find the musical sentences in the piece, and really know what you are saying. Every note longer than a quarter note is an anchor to a statement. Play like you are singing, and be emotive. My oboe teacher really likes Placedo Domingo. There's a ton of his stuff on youtube.
Drew S.
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2012-09-21 17:19
I think your best counsel on musical issues, including whether or not to add vibrato to your repertoire of color effects, is your private teacher. Unless you already know your band director's attitude toward vibrato in clarinet playing, you may be barking up a completely wrong tree in trying to use it to impress him. No one here has really come down strongly against using vibrato, but there are lots of clarinet players, not to mention non-clarinetists, some of whom direct bands, to whom clarinet vibrato on "classical" music is anathema. If your band director is one of those musicians, using vibrato in your audition, however tastefully, could have an effect opposite to what you intend. You can't fail to impress with clear, musical phrasing applied to accurate, clean playing, none of which is really subject to musical taste in the way vibrato is.
Talk to your teacher about it and take his advice. If he thinks adding vibrato is a good idea, he can be your best model (assuming he knows how to produce it) and give you the most accurate feedback on your own attempts as you learn.
Karl
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Author: hans
Date: 2012-09-21 18:07
Attachment: Artie Shaw on Vibrato.jpg (575k)
Here is what Artie Shaw, one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century, had to say about vibrato in his Clarinet Method book:
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Author: Joseph Brenner, Jr.
Date: 2012-09-21 18:57
Since the audition will occur within a few weeks, you should play your pieces perfectly. Accordingly, you should keep anything from going wrong; this includes changing mouthpieces OR your instrument, OR taking up finger wrestling, OR switching from single lip to double lip...OR if you have not already mastered vibrato, starting to learn to produce vibrato in time for the audition. You don't have enough time to perfect a new technique, and producing an imperfect or ill-suited vibrato can destroy your performance. I am not opposed to vibrato. The late Harold Wright used it beautifully in the Brahms sonatas, but he did not learn vibrato in the three weeks before he recorded the sonatas with Harris Goldsmith or Peter Serkin. Best wishes on your audition.
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2012-09-21 19:26
I wasn't denigrating the use of vibrato (or supporting it). Artie Shaw will not be hearing or judging the OP's audition. If he were, the situation might be very different.
Karl
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Author: DrewSorensenMusic
Date: 2012-09-21 20:58
As great as Artie Shaw is, I think it pertinent to restate that the "norm" is to play clarinet with a straight tone. I think the only ones in this world allowed to break the rules are the ones who've made or mastered them in the first place. Maybe it's better to stick to tradition and you will be impressive doing that very well.
Drew S.
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Author: FDF
Date: 2012-09-21 22:11
Ask your director what qualities he/she is looking for in a clarinetist.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2012-09-22 00:37
It has, I think, been conclusively proved that "diaphragm vibrato" does not exist. No matter how it feels, vibrato involving the airstream comes almost exclusively from the throat. See http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1151&context=ppr. This was proved by Chris Weiat, who did groundbreaking work with a fluoroscope (X-ray) to show exactly what happens http://libres.uncg.edu/ir/uncg/f/M_Burns_Thoughts_2005.pdf.
Most sax players and jazz clarinetists use jaw movement. Gino Cioffi said that he occasionally used lip movement (he played double lip). At the end of his career, Marcel Tabuteau could no longer produce a vibrato and shook his oboe instead. From the sublime to the semi-ridiculous, when I play flute, recorder or oboe, I feel the vibrato in my throat. Despite many attempts, I've never been able to produce even a bad diaphragm vibrato.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Arnoldstang
Date: 2012-09-22 14:10
A bad diaphragm vibrato is not hard to achieve. Just pulse very slowly with a belly laugh approach. It becomes untenable (too much work) at faster speeds. Teachers avoid the term 'throat vibrato' not because of its appropriateness but more for avoiding tension in the throat during playing.
Freelance woodwind performer
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Author: DrewSorensenMusic
Date: 2012-09-22 17:14
If you have a good teacher of throat vibrato, there will be no tension caused by the action. Also, it tends to be less dramatic, keeps it's pitch stability and, I know this subjective, is more musical in my opinion. Also, don't we all strive to sound like singers, who I'm pretty sure use throat vibrato as their main source. I could be wrong.
Anyhow, I was taught to learn correct throat vibrato in this manner: Start by whistling. Whistle with a straight "tone", then begin to stop and start the whistle in rapid succession, using only the throat (no tongue, just keep the tongue in the same position). This is the place where throat vibrato exists. Use the same muscles to create your vibrato.
Drew S.
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Author: runner
Date: 2012-09-26 19:36
Wow, you received great responses Emily. The clarinet solos in "Rhapsody in Blue" should have some vibrato. I added what I thought was a hint of vibrato in Poulenc's Sonata for clarinet and piano (Remember that story from lessons?) and Victoria came up to me before orchestra rehearsal and said the music is the star, not the vibrato. My rationale was that Benny Goodman premiered the piece and thought it as an homage to Benny.
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2012-09-27 16:24
Use it sparingly and in good taste, that's my best recommendation to anyone playing "classical" music. It it doesn't enhance the music then it isn't neccessary though sometimes it helps to "hide" poor intonation with another player.
ESP eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2012-09-27 19:10
Ed Palanker wrote:
> though
> sometimes it helps to "hide" poor intonation with another
> player.
>
Ed, that's an interesting observation. I've always considered unisons and exposed ensemble textures as the *last* place to use vibrato because it makes tuning more difficult (my worst pitch problems are with flute players whose vibrato in octaves and unisons makes their core pitch almost impossible to find). I've never used it anywhere except in solo lines.
It is true, though, that sting sections hide a lot of bad intonation in vibrato, so I guess it's a viable approach. Thanks for mentioning it.
Karl
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Author: DrewSorensenMusic
Date: 2012-09-27 19:29
If the outside voices are playing straight tone, and the inside voice is using vibrato, believe me, if you are the one playing straight to, you will want to shoot the vibrato playing fool.
Situation: Hairspray musical. Horns: Tpt, Alto Sax, Tenor Sax. I'm playing Tenor. On every chord, especially on chords with crescendo, the rat Alto player always put on this God awful 1920 vibrato, wide and obnoxious. Thanks for letting me rant. Glad it's over.
I guess the moral of the story is, know your situation. You could have the most beautiful vibrato, but if it's out of context and not appropriate to the music, it will not be appreciated the way you would hope.
Drew S.
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2015-02-17 22:27
In my quest to produce a pleasing vibrato on the clarinet, I seem to get the best results using the throat, in the manner described by DrewSorensenMusic above. But I find this very difficult to produce consistently and it feels quite unnatural to me. I have the feeling that small amounts of motion produce far greater vibrato when I sing, but when playing I have to work extremely hard to produce only subtle fluctuation. Perhaps it's just a matter of practice? Or does the clarinet require more movement in the throat to produce results as compared to singing or other woodwind instruments?
I found it interesting in the article that Ken Shaw linked by Dwight C. Manning, that he wrote:
"as expected, there was no laryngeal activity for clarinet since vibrato was produced by the jaw. Vibrato activity for flute, oboe, and bassoon varied greatly between individuals, but there was no doubt that the vibrato originated in the throat, not the diaphragm."
Why would this be the case? Is there possibly a reason why laryngeal activity would be more difficult or less effective on the clarinet? I'd be especially interested to hear from players who also play on other woodwind instruments.
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Author: WeberBrahms
Date: 2015-02-24 08:26
i end up adding vibrato when i feel it...tends to be in romantic era and beyond. usually it's not a conscious choice. if i'm gelling with an accompanist on either brahms sonata, for example, sometimes it just comes out.
i recently played prayer of st gregory at a funeral, and it would be boring without some vibrato added. it just happens.
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Author: TomS
Date: 2015-02-24 21:10
Emulate Reginald Kell. (just kidding ...)
Sparingly and only on solo lines. Less is more.
It's mind blowing to hear the Grimethorpe Colliery Band Band synchronizing vibrato in an entire section of cornets!
Tom
Post Edited (2015-02-25 23:12)
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-02-24 22:08
I guess for those who are upset by perturbations of pitch, one would be more likely to go with laryngeal or diaphragmatic vibrato. I can also appreciate why this makes sense for singers and flute players since it is the air across the vocal cords and the air across the mouthpiece that makes it for them.
Making that statement to included bassoon and oboe doesn't make sense to me, as it is compared to clarinet, because we deal with the same issues. Perhaps it is just that oboe and bassoon players traditionally use diaphragmatic or laryngeal vibrato mostly anyway.
For clarinet it only makes sense to just get used to the pitch variance of "jaw" vibrato. It is sooooooo much easier.
.................Paul Aviles
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Author: MichaelW
Date: 2015-02-24 23:32
Attachment: Vibrato.jpg (231k)
On the oboe or recorder (a long time ago) I learned that only diapragmal vibrato was lege artis: jaw or lip vibrato were forbidden. I try to translate from Alfred Sous, "Neue Oboenschule", Edition Peters 1971 : "...vibrato means voluntary and even oscillation of pitch... pitch is a little sharpened by short and fast contraction of the diaphragm... as a result without dynamic (loudness) alterations...". S. emphasizes in this context the importance of embouchure. The last of a page with daily vibrato exercises is shown above.
I still feel that this helps greatly - if you use vibrato or not- in learning diaphragmal control (breath control, "Atemstütze").
Post Edited (2015-02-25 00:22)
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Author: TomS
Date: 2015-02-25 02:40
There is a story that Benny Goodman attended a performance of Pete Fountain. After the performance, Mr. Goodman remarked to Mr. Fountain: "I really like your vibrato ... how are you doing it?" Mr. Fountain replied: "I don't know!"
I guess it's good to know what you are doing, if you want to pass it along to others ...
Tom
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Author: WeberBrahms
Date: 2015-02-25 03:30
Toms, that's exactly the way I'd describe it. It just happens when I think the music is supposed to be that way. Not that I'm comparing myself to Mr. Fountain or anything.
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