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Re: flute vibrato
- From: AGREENBA <AGREENBA...>
- Subject: Re: flute vibrato
- Date: Thu 28 Aug 2003 19.46 (GMT)
In a message dated 8/28/03 12:23:34 PM, sefirah (at) earthlink(dot)net writes:
> Ah! Speaking of flutes, are there any listers here from the Los
> Angeles area who'd be interested in taking on a flutist for your band?
> I play, but never thought of incorporating it into a klezmer band!
>
Actually, my daughter MAY start a student klezmer band at USC; she's a first
year there and was in a student group at home. But needless to say, from this
girl - moi - flutes ARE traditional instruments for klezmer bands so don't be
shy. I'm fairly traditional in my approach as many know: wood flutes -
conical, simple system, and Boehm - and you really need to be "careful" as to
placing
yourself "against" clarinet or brass leads, for starters. Anway, on to
vibrato, a fairly complicated issue. First off, classically speaking, it
"begins" at
the diaphragm level, for wider and stronger puslations. The faster, shallower
vibrato is closer to the throat with a "silent" coughing, but no noise really
happening. If you understand that vibrato is a change in pitch - be it slight
or great - then you work with flute like you would pushing the air stronger
without adjusting for pitch, hence getting sharper, and then relaxing the air,
hence getting flatter. This all happens, of course, very quickly. And now we
can talk about whether the flutists who played solos so we could hear detail:
Misters Anon., Kosch, and Chazzin. You will hear absolutely straight sounds
and you will also hear VERY fast vibrato. NO slow, regular pulses. Not the
goal, not the sound here. And now for the kicker, from someone who strongly
believes that finger vibrato (call it battement, vibrati,), I believe that the
tradition of finger vibrato, long since in use for a couple of centuries and
existed and still does in other folk styles and baroque music as well, is very
much
a possibility. I began a little discussion of this either on this list or
elsewhere (perhaps woodenflute list?) and I received mostly support from
listers
on other lists, not this one. Anyone wish to chime in? There are very clear
examples in my ear of clarinetists choosing only certain notes to use finger
vibrato (which makes sense because not all notes are possible, in fact, very
few
the more complicated the system of fingering beyond the Simple) and, although I
should have kept notations, I would eventually be able to find tracks on CDs
for examples - when I have the time....
But anyway, especially if this discussion hasn't taken place, I'd be
interested to have votes "ferr" or "agin"
For me, I either do (very little....because I'm still learning simple
system...) finger vibrato or 90% straight. It also means that vibrato is almost
like
an ornament rather than something that intrudes on the overall passion you
express with your air streem. That's my 5 cents for now :-) Maybe I'll up it to
a
buck if listers would like more discussion :-)
Adrianne
_________________________________________________
Adrianne Greenbaum
Associate Professor of Flute, Mount Holyoke College
Klezmer flutist: “FleytMuzik” and “Family Portrait”
Classical: "Sounds of America"
fluteworld or cdbaby