 The Fingering Forum
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Author: sÖmeone
Date: 2002-11-17 03:40
Hi people!
So theres this case where my band conductor wants me to do oboe vibrato on a solo part in 'celebration variations' by James Curnow. Well....unlike the clarinet or saxaphone, i can't do vibrato with moving my lower lips and it'll sound,
well, like your neighbour asking you for a punch....
So anyway, ya ppl (oboe guy's topic) were talking about too much biology and can someone just tell me how do i do vibrato on an oboe and any more suggestions please?
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Author: oboeguy
Date: 2002-11-17 04:06
First off, I will tell you, vibrato should be used very sparingly. Otherwise it gets repetitive and very boring. What is it? It is a subtle fluctuation in pitch.
Most importantly, you MUST be able to produce a good solid tone without vibrato, because vibrato should decorate, and spruce up your sound, not masque discrepencies in tone. Don't use it when you are playing a tutti part with another instrument, because it will sound funny(namely because it is a fluctuation in pitch.)
Now, to produce it. It is, in the easiest dialogue, laughing into your instrument. If that analogy is kind of wierd, just think of very subtle pulsations of air going through your instrument. Like any other skill it must be practiced:
choose a nice note(middle f is a nice one)
Set your metronome to 88.
Now, every time that it clicks "bump" your air. It will sound a little wierd now, but hold out.
Once you have it, increase the metronome three numbers.
Repeat this process until you are at 250.
Set the metronome to 125.
Now, for every tick, bump your air twice.
repeat until you reach around 200.
Through my practices I start to produce a natural vibrato around this number. Make sure you always play with the metronome.
It is of good taste to only use vibrato at the end of long notes. i.e. if you do have a solo, don't vibrate short notes, it sounds ridiculous.
Last but not least, only use vibrato where you feel it should be. Don't let your band teacher indicate exactly where the vibrato should be; that's up to the performer.
Oboeguy
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Author: sÖmeone
Date: 2002-11-17 06:47
thnx oboe guy!
thats what i wanted!
any other other suggestions for the ol' begginer me?
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Author: Torus Tubarius
Date: 2002-11-17 16:08
Ah vibrato, probably the most nebulous aspect of playing any instrument, especially oboe. Oboeguy kindly covered pretty much everything I would tell you. I would only add a few things:
First, remember that vibrato should only be used to give your playing a singing quality. Vibrato gives your tone life and can greatly aid in effecting the expression of a variety of moods through your instrument. It should not be used to cover up flaws in your tone, and also it should never serve to cover up any discrepancies in pitch. If you're vibrating the notes in an effort to stay in tune, something is wrong. If you're playing out of tune, it will sound bad whether or not you use vibrato (unless of course you like playing quarter tones).
I believe you can use vibrato when playing a line with other instruments (just watch any string section in an orchestra), but the way you use vibrato in a tutti section versus how it is used in a solo are different. When playing with other instruments, your vibrato needs to be more subdued, and expression should be achieved more with dynamics and changes in tone color. Using too much vibrato here will cause your sound to stand out instead of blending with others. In playing a solo, vibrato assumes are more prominent role in expression.
Also, as your use of vibrato becomes more natural, you will find that in any given phrase there may be short notes which need a very subtle vibrato. This should not cause these notes to stand out, rather the idea is to "vibrate through the phrase" instead of merely vibrating notes. When you reach this point, your playing really will have a singing quality to it. However, this is really a more advanced idea that you should only think about after being able to produce a steady tone, be on pitch, produce a natural unobtrusive vibrato, etc. Don't start vibrating every note you see; just as oboeguy said, vibrato should be used sparingly. Too little is better than too much.
And as an aside because this just came to me , I think when players start to analyze the particulars of expression in music, it's very easy for your perception to get more and more narrow. You obsess over this note, or that crescendo, but lose sight of the big picture which is the phrase containing those notes. Basically what I'm saying is that it's possible to pick apart a phrase so much that it loses it's coherency. That's why I confess I was nervous about telling you that some short notes do call for vibrato, because this is merely an <i>effect</i> caused by a much larger idea--maintaining coherency in phrases of music.
Hehe, and if you're going to continue to play oboe, better get used to thinking scientifically. The oboe is so finicky an instrument, that at times it does require an almost scientific understanding of how it is played in order to pull it off. Good luck.
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