In defense of vibrato
Sheila Beardslee
to save the Ship of Early Music from capsizing over the vibrato issue:
Jonathan, I think if you read between the lines and through all the prose
you'll find that most of the folks on the 'net have agreed with you.
One way to translate all of the vibrato rages is that the person using it must
be aware of his/her own "natural" vibrato in the voice and must actually
choose to add more....
From my own experience of 14 years in directing the early music ensemble
at Tufts University, I can say that _some_ (not all) voice teachers will no
doubt go overboard in "developing" their students' awareness of vibrato to
the point that a young college-age woman came in to join our collegium and
her voice had a wobble big enough to drive through: she looked 19 and sounded
54 (and no, she did not have blue hair!). This is a serious (and an
all-too-real)
misrepresentation of "vocal techniques" which too many of us -- especially "us"
instrumentalists where such playing techniques are specifically NOT encouraged
-- are assaulted with by singers who, as you have pointed out, are NOT in
control of themselves or theor voices.
>I hear the flogging squad on their way to North Carolina, I shall offer them
>home brew and when they have tired of flogging will subject them to my
favorite >Bruno Walter recordings.
Jonathan, I was visiting early music friends in Triangle Park over Valentine's
Weekend (great ice storm, thanks a lot! -- I left Boston for that?). And had
I known you were offering homebrew, we might have stopped in for a taste
while driving from Greensboro....my Jonathan is a great beer afficionado (as
are
all Morris dancers!)
Sheila Beardslee
she...@hgl-mail.harvard.edu
Jonathan D. Green
is to keep the boat from tipping completely over. Hopefully, my weight on the
other side will keep the rest of you from drowning in a capsize of commisery.
I challenge you to find a scienifically-based treatise on singing that doesn't
support that vibrato is a natural function of an unrestricted and well
supportedvocal production. The truth is that vibrato is inherent in vocal tone
unless
the singer is not providing reasonable support or is physically interfering
withthe flow of air. This can be done rather effectively through the use of
added
tongue tension or a slight tipping of the jaw. It must be understood; however,
that singing without vibrato means that the singer is removing this natural
quality of the voice and that the presence of it is not an affect. Like all
thing natural and unnatural, there are unpleasant extremes, which are either
indication of poor taste of lack of control.
This same natural "pulse" of the breath is most evident on the flute because of
the lack of physical resistance from the instrument. Other instrument which
foster back pressure (not unlike a human bagpipe) prevent the appearance of the
free fluctuation of the air. Players of these instruments must create vibrato,
if these so choose by artificial means, like lip motion.
The introduction of vibrato in instruments like the violin and guitar, or for
that matter, the pipe organ, are surely an attempt to emulate the singing
voice.This does become an aesthetic issue, but I vote yea!
I hear the flogging squad on their way to North Carolina, I shall offer them
home brew and when they have tired of flogging will subject them to my favorite
Bruno Walter recordings.
Jonathan D. Green, Director of Choirs, Elon College, GRE...@VAX1.ELON.EDU
Allyn Weaks
<gre...@VAX1.ELON.EDU> wrote:
> This same natural "pulse" of the breath is most evident on the flute
> because of the lack of physical resistance from the instrument. Other
> instrument which foster back pressure (not unlike a human bagpipe)
> prevent the appearance of the free fluctuation of the air. Players of
> these instruments must create vibrato, if these so choose by artificial
> means, like lip motion.
I disagree. Recorders have even less back pressure than flutes, and
absence of vibrato is the norm. If you want vibrato on recorder or flute
or oboe, the standard technique is exactly the same: intentionally pulse
your abdominal muscles. Straight tone is quite easy (though beginners will
of course wobble because they don't have control over their breathing yet).
If you use vibrato too often, it tends to become a bad habit, but most
early wind players are pretty good about using vibrato as an ornament, not
an embarassment. Also, many of the vibrato ornaments you hear are really a
flattement, or a wiggling of the finger over an open hole to change the
pitch, while the volume is separately controlled with the breath. If
vibrato were coming naturally and unstopably from the air stream, you'd
never be able to sync a flattement with it well enough not to make a mess.
> The introduction of vibrato in instruments like the violin and guitar,
> or for that matter, the pipe organ, are surely an attempt to emulate the
> singing voice.This does become an aesthetic issue, but I vote yea!
Every early "how to play the {oboe/flute/cornetto/violin/lute/etc}"
treatise I've looked at has praised their instrument as the best because it
comes closest to the voice in expressive powers, and urged players to study
the voice and imitate it. Many go on in the same paragraph to chastise the
bad habit of vibrato, and urge the player to keep their breath as steady as
possible. Tastes vary, then and now. I prefer to hear as little as
possible because it not only destroys tuning and harmony, but it sets my
teeth on edge in even small doses. But then, being an instrument
chauvanist, I've also always wondered why the majority think that voices
are so wonderful and perfect - the best I can tolerate on occasion, but on
the whole, I much prefer listening to instruments, pretty nearly any
instruments. (Oh no! Where's my asbestos suit?!)
By the way, are there any string quartets that play with less than average
vibrato, and well in tune? I'd like to study and analyze some, but
everything I've listened to wobbles so much that I can't begin to hear what
the harmony is supposed to be. I don't even care which compositions they
play, as long as recordings and scores can be found. Wonderful phrasing
and expression is less important to me for this than good tuning (though of
course it would be nice to have it all :-))
--
Allyn Weaks
al...@u.washington.edu
Bruno Cornec
> In article <0097C98D.D4...@vax1.elon.edu>, "Jonathan D. Green"
> <gre...@VAX1.ELON.EDU> wrote:
>
> > This same natural "pulse" of the breath is most evident on the flute
> > because of the lack of physical resistance from the instrument. Other
> > instrument which foster back pressure (not unlike a human bagpipe)
> > prevent the appearance of the free fluctuation of the air. Players of
> > these instruments must create vibrato, if these so choose by artificial
> > means, like lip motion.
>
> I disagree. Recorders have even less back pressure than flutes, and
> absence of vibrato is the norm.
Yes you're right, if my lessons serve
> If you want vibrato on recorder or flute
> or oboe, the standard technique is exactly the same: intentionally pulse
> your abdominal muscles. Straight tone is quite easy (though beginners will
> of course wobble because they don't have control over their breathing yet).
> If you use vibrato too often, it tends to become a bad habit, but most
> early wind players are pretty good about using vibrato as an ornament, not
> an embarassment.
I agree also on that, especially for recorder players (you already guess
that I'm one of them -:)
> Also, many of the vibrato ornaments you hear are really a
> flattement, or a wiggling of the finger over an open hole to change the
> pitch, while the volume is separately controlled with the breath.
Yes I think that recorder player use the three kinds of vibrato :
pulse with abdominal muscles
flattement (which is a fake in fact)
mouvements of the mouth to change the rythm of the air in the
recorder
I remember what seems to have been the last concert of Brueggen (as a recorder
player) in Paris, and he uses all of the three techniques alternately to give
life to some long notes (Bach sonatas on the traverso) or more as an ornament
but it was first absolutely *controlled*, and then *expressive* at key moment
of the piece.
>[...]
> By the way, are there any string quartets that play with less than average
> vibrato, and well in tune? I'd like to study and analyze some, but
> everything I've listened to wobbles so much that I can't begin to hear what
> the harmony is supposed to be. I don't even care which compositions they
> play, as long as recordings and scores can be found. Wonderful phrasing
> and expression is less important to me for this than good tuning (though of
> course it would be nice to have it all :-))
> --
Try to hear some of the Haydn or Mozart quartets by the Mosaique Quartet
(Astree) and give me your impression. they have IMHO the same approach
with the vibrato as I described just above.
> Allyn Weaks
> al...@u.washington.edu
Bruno.
--
Bruno Cornec E-mail : cor...@stna7.stna.dgac.fr Phone : (33 1) 60 79 82 28
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William Chesters
# I challenge you to find a scientifically-based treatise on singing
Errr ... you win.
Seriously though, it's a bit silly to go looking for `scientific'
evidence on this point. If somebody proved that Isabelle Poulenard
was in fact `naturally' ugly in some sense, it wouldn't change a
thing. Similarly if you don't like the way she sings, that's
something we can argue about (de gustibus most certainly disputandum!)
but not by saying "whether it's nice or not isn't the point---it's
just not right".
Edwin van Ouwerkerk
gre...@VAX1.ELON.EDU wrote:
> well supportedvocal production. The truth is that vibrato is inherent in
> vocal tone unless the singer is not providing reasonable support or is
> physically interfering withthe flow of air.
which I agree with.
But
> This same natural "pulse" of the breath is most evident on the flute
> because of the lack of physical resistance from the instrument.
has as far as I know nothing to do with the presence of vibrato in a voice.
The flow of air in a vibrating voice is constant, it's the small movement of
the larynx which causes the fluctuation in tone. This freedom of movement seems
to arise naturally from relaxing the muscles in the throat - which is what is
usually associated with a "well-supported, relaxed voice". This also means that
a natural vibrato is *down* (not up as someone else said) from the sung note -
the larynx slightly reduces the tension in the vocal cords.
Offcourse there is a certain amount of control over this wobble, and some
singers are better at this than others (e.g. Emma Kirkby), but in general
removing vibrato in a naturally "wobbly" voice just adversely influences
timbre. (And v.v.)
Personally, I prefer a judicious use of vibrato in solo-singing, somewhat less
so in choral music.
CU,
Edwin (edw...@dragons.nest.nl)