Author: Kevin Bowman
Date: 1999-08-11 17:05
OK - here goes my 2c on vibrato. These are random thoughts in no particular order.
As has been mentioned above, there are several ways to create a vibrato
1) jaw
2) diaphram
3) throat (tye "you" method)
4) fingers
I submit another way:
5) reed pressure - but without changing the jaw
This last way can be controlled by changing the upward pressure of the right thumb - only effective for very light, slow vibrato
I personally use only the jaw and diaphram methods. I use the diaphram method for slow, light vibrato and the jaw for faster, heavier vibrato.
I disagree with Hiroshi's 4 beats per second vibrato speed concept. IMO, the speed should vary with the style of music.
BTW - my personal vibrato speed for *all* "legit" music (classical) is zero - I don't use it. However, I do employ vibratory quite liberally in jazz and pop music and quite often for show music (in the pit). Why? just a personal preference.
One should realize that adding vibrato by any means *will* effect the tone. I'm not sure why tone does not seem to effected by vibrato on flute, trumpet, oboe, etc. but here are the reasons tone is effected on clarinet:
1) any change in pressure on the reed from the "ideal" causes the tone to deviate - the reed cannot vibrate optimally and upper harmonics are stiffled. Increased pressure causes the tone to become thin and decreased pressure causes the tone to become muffled. My vibrato goes to the side of less pressure because I prefer a little more "airy" tone in jazz to a thinner one.
2) any change in breath support (needed for diaphram vibrato) causes the tone to deviate. Technically, one should always use as much breath support as possible. Using less breath support causes the tone to weaken, become softer, or become thin.
3) any change in the oral cavity (needed for throat vibrato) causes a change in tone. The speed and focus of the airstream is effected.
Now, when it comes to "legit" music, I don't use vibrato because I just don't think it sounds good. Richard Stolzman's vibrato, in particular, irritates my audio senses. (However, I think Jonathan Cohler's vibrato is beautiful.) I don't think *my* vibrato sounds good on legit music.
As I mentioned above, I do use vibrato in jazz and show music. I play quite a bit of jazz, both on clarinet and on
sax. But I'm accutely aware of the tonal problems incurred while producing a vibrato and I evaluate the tradeoffs before choosing a method (either jaw or diaphram) or deciding the depth and speed.
Many more thoughts on how to apply vibrato, but I'll refrain due to the length of this message - whew!
Oops - please mentally change all "diaphram" to "diaphragm" above, I just realized I consistently spelled it wrong!
Kevin Bowman
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