Author: vboboe
Date: 2006-01-09 00:21
... commenting now, as a listener, vibrato adds warmth and colour to notes so it depends what colour is wanted as to what kind of vibrato sounds best, at least to my ear, so that's subjective right there, so here are some personally subjective comments first
... as a listener, it makes (subjective) sense to me to hear wider & slower vibrato on lower notes, and shallower & faster vibrato on higher notes
... too much warble is generally annoying to me, but delectably applied to flowery and ornamented music, sounds right
... altissimo notes sound absolutely wonderful to me if played 'crystalline' but that wouldn't be appropriate in cantabile style, where fast throat warble would be more appropriate
Now if singer or oboe player is breathing & playing in a comfortable & relaxed manner, natural vibrato happens anyway, and that's as highly individualistic, variable, unpredictable, inconsistent as every natural human being can be, but it also sounds very comfortably musical too -- if we can all discover our own natural tendencies here, i think our general vibrato and intonation would probably sound pretty good
... applied vibrato is a technic though, so it seems best to direct discussion to the technic of applied vibrato? Applied vibrato is what could get out of hand, methinks, could get to be too-hoo much, simply because it could so easily sound artificially applied (in some modern era music, that would be most appropriate!)
... if we carefully and deliberately apply vibrato technic, we could subtly evoke different things, such as (for starters ... floor's open, everyone add something else)
slow diaphragm vibrato to higher notes, it sounds allargando, could also sound lonely / melancholy because of the great sense of distance between the longing (lower) and the aspiration (higher)
slow diaphragm vibrato on lower notes, just the right frequency per note sounds relaxed or serene; but slower sounds wintry, bogged down
fast throat vibrato to lower notes, it sounds vivace; very fast is excitement or exhiliration; just the right frequency per note is sunny, mellow and warm
... so what ideas do you folks have about applied or natural vibrato?
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