 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Arnoldstang
Date: 2020-09-04 20:30
Here is a question to orchestral/classical clarinetists who use vibrato on occasion, and to clarinetists playing jazz or ethnic/folk music.
1. Would you use a) so called “diaphragm” vibrato or b) lip/jaw vibrato on clarinet?
2. Do you perceive the pitch fluctuation in vibrato is mostly above, mostly below, a combination of above and below or no pitch fluctuation at all?
Freelance woodwind performer
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Author: Fuzzy
Date: 2020-09-04 21:17
From a jazz perspective:
1. All of the above - whatever fits (there aren't any rules) - though "most" of the time, I find myself using lip/jaw.
2. The perception I have is that the fluctuation is centered around the tone (otherwise, even with vibrato) you'll sound out of tune - however, in reality - there's a good possibility my modulation tends more to the flat, with emphasis on the "on pitch" portions of the vibrato to make the pitch sound centered. (It is easier for me to go way flat than way sharp - and my embouchure gets refreshed from using vibrato, not tired - so this is just conjecture on my part.)
Fuzzy
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2020-09-04 21:28
I was much more willing to use vibrato very early on.......inspired by Gervase DePeyer.
Those who I heard use diaphragm vibrato tended to have a faster more "nervous" quality and I was not fond of it.
If you think about it, string players MUST use pitch vibrato because they are doing a micro shift along the string.
Singers I would think must use pitch vibrato as well. I could not imagine belting out that way AND having to quickly modulate that pressure.
As for pitch, there is the (mostly tongue in cheek) old British maxim: It is better to be sharp than out of tune. That rings true because we perceive flatness much easier than sharpness (that's also why when violists tune, they dip down and back up to the "A").
So I'd say on clarinet, you'd vibrate most naturally with the jaw up and back.
In those early days I was fortunate enough to do Don Giovanni with Dutch conductor. At one point in the first rehearsal he looked at the two of us clarinets and asked, "Can you guys play with a vibrato?" My friend and I were both vibrato fans at the time. We just smiled and had the best run of an opera any two young clarinet players could have.
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I need to update this. Trying vibrato against a track, I found that what I do now is to start the pitch center higher and wobble downward. It still achieves the same effect though but the mechanics are a bit different than what I said above.
...............Paul Aviles
Post Edited (2020-09-04 23:33)
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Author: Arnoldstang
Date: 2020-09-05 02:12
After practicing with a tuner I didn’t come to any conclusion. I do have a slowdowner app and if I can figure out how to use it I might have some concrete ideas on this subject.
Freelance woodwind performer
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Author: kdk
Date: 2020-09-05 03:20
FWIW, I've heard string players say that most or all of the pitch change should be downward. When I listen to a string player or flutist practicing vibrato, the pitch definitely drops - it doesn't rise noticeably above the starting point, You can hear the pitch much more clearly in exercises that start with very slow pulsations and gradually increase the speed.
If you only consider jaw vibrato on a reed instrument, it seems to me there really isn't much room to go above the pitch before you close or at least pinch the reed, assuming you're starting off with a normally set embouchure. Most or all of the change has to be a drop for the sound quality to remain full and unobstructed.
As with the flutists I mentioned above, when I practice a breath ("diaphragm") vibrato methodically - e.g. starting with 2 pulses per beat, then increasing to 3, then 4, etc. - it seems to me I hear the pitch drop, then return. I'm not sure that it doesn't go above the pitch a little if I deliberately increase the intensity (loudness) of the pulsations in addition to the speed, but intuitively I don't think blowing harder at the peak of the pulses can be pushing the pitch of the system much above its naturally stable level (where it would be with no deliberate vibrato).
Karl
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2020-09-05 06:02
Attachment: Blob.jpg (126k)
Technology to the rescue!
Let me describe what you're looking at. This is a sung word in a program called Melodyne. The word is "trouble." Melodyne refers to this artifact as a "blob."
The left hand vertical margin indicates the note that is being sung by the singer. In this case it is a concert G. If you were to imagine a horizontal line placed exactly at the center of "G," that would represent the singer singing perfectly at A=440. In this case you can see she is sharp, perhaps by eight cents. The horizontal center of her note is the whitest part and her center of pitch. The wavy single red line is the actual pitch variation of the held note.
[had to edit: I originally said the red line was the wave form......not so]
You can see that her vibrato is about equally above and below her center of pitch. At the end she does a bit of a set for a scoop up to the next word and that set up rides a little low.
So for this professional singer anyway, vibrato is equally distributed above and below the center of pitch.
.................Paul Aviles
Post Edited (2020-09-05 08:38)
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Author: Arnoldstang
Date: 2020-09-05 07:52
I did get my slowdowner to work. I recorded jaw/lip vibrato. At half speed I hear a pulse that is very close to a muting effect. Similar to a doo nn doo nn . The nn part doesn’t seem to be much different in pitch. If this is the case each small
movement of the jaw dampens the tone for an instant. This is the pulse we hear.
This are my own findings of course.
Freelance woodwind performer
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Author: ruben
Date: 2020-09-05 15:40
Karl: Normally, when we blow harder, the pitch goes down. It certainly does in a crescendo, which means we should consciously or unconsciously tighten our embouchures when playing a crescendo.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: Tom Piercy
Date: 2020-09-07 06:18
1. Would you use a) so called “diaphragm” vibrato or b) lip/jaw vibrato on clarinet?
I use both of the above. Sometimes one or the other, sometimes a combination of both at the same time. It depends on what the music needs at the moment.
2. Do you perceive the pitch fluctuation in vibrato is mostly above, mostly below, a combination of above and below or no pitch fluctuation at all?
I believe my pitch fluctuation when using vivrato is usually centered (above/below) around the center of note's pitch. There are times when I consciously approach from above or below. Again, depending on what the music needs at the moment.
Tom Piercy
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