Vibrato

[Ron Ofir]

Heh, I actually love vibratos (vibrati?)... Jimi Hendrix (followed by Stevie Ray Vaughn and others) also used lots of trills instead, which gives it a very nice sound. I actually find that many singers don't use it enough, which makes their singing quite dull. Then again, I'm talking about Pop/Rock and not classical music.

[Silhouette]

Originally Posted by Benny190891

It's mostly classical period and later like Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, a little Mozart here and there... violin and cello concertos pretty much.
I have a great recording of Debussy's Sonata for Violin and Piano (vague I know, but that's all it says on the track list!) where there is great use of vibrato-not heaps but enough for atmospheric purposes...

I agree that singers should settle down with the vibrato but my mum tells me that that was the style, especially for Rococo and Baroque singing...

Regards, Benny

Hehe I'd maybe agree that there's too much vibrato in string concertos, but then again I over-do it a little in my flute solos! I think I must get carried away... especially in music like faure's!

Yeah it must definitely be an old-fashioned thing to sing a lot of vibrato in classical music, like your mum said, it's the style, but funnily enough I always thought baroque singing was quite a pure singing tone? I'm thinking of music such as the messiah by Handel.

Oh and Ron Ofir I definitely think vibrato should be OVER USED on guitar! hehe Hendrix did get many young people to start learning after hearing him play as well. I do also find that pop singers nowadays do skip the vibrato and concentrate on the lyrics- look at lily allen and the streets! It's all getting a bit saming now, we need to mix some pop and classical together like they did in the past (when they wrote their own songs or even had a say in them!).

[bassistah]

It completely depends on the context. If you listen to Russian orchestras playing Tchaik, Rach etc, they use huuuge vibrato and it sounds incredible. Some orchestras, ie St Petersburg, actually have their string players do vib at the same amplitude and frequency! This is incredibly hard to achieve, but somehow magnifies the sound and is mindblowing to listen to.

Earlier stuff like Bach and Mozart needs less, but it´s very effective to warm the sound and when used properly sounds heavenly.

It´s like anything. Autowobble is bad. Using it as an expressive device is good. It´s just another colour in the palete.

Commonly people do vibrato far to fast and in an uncontrolled way. You can keep the frequency constant, or increase or decrease it with great effect.

The key is to listen to the truly greats and really listen closely to how they use it. This of course will vary greatly as it goes in and out of fashion faster than hipster jeans (vib= the new black?¿?) but listen to how they use it. Increasing the amplitude of the vibrato as you come to a climax, suddenly switching it on in the middle of a long note, decreasing the frequency as you come to the end of a phrase.. the variants are practically infinite.

To practice it, control it first. Vibrate in semiquavers at crotchet=60, then quicken. Wind players should use the diaphragm, not the throat as that constricts the sound. String players should keep the hand movement relaxed and at a constant rate. When you can control it, vary it.

[Rod Corkin]

I suggest this constant use of vibrato with almost every note is the curse of classical music, be it vocal or instrumental. How such a thing became the norm is a mystery to me, perhaps because of the increasing academisation of the art form has allowed such devient tendencies to prosper? At most it should be an occasional ornament. On even a purely aesthetic level I find it grotesque.

[Ballaw de Quincewold]

I totally use too much vibrato when I'm playing my piano. My teacher always scolds me for it, saying things like, "you're defying the laws of piano playing."

[reith]

Originally Posted by Rod Corkin

I suggest this constant use of vibrato with almost every note is the curse of classical music, be it vocal or instrumental. How such a thing became the norm is a mystery to me, perhaps because of the increasing academisation of the art form has allowed such devient tendencies to prosper? At most it should be an occasional ornament. On even a purely aesthetic level I find it grotesque.

Yes, well - almost every note, I agree. In fact, in (strictly) classical playing it's thankfully lost in the bulk of the orchestra most of the time though I've heard a few oboists in Beethoven thinking they have special license.

It probably started with the romantics and long sentimental melodies that wouldn't work without some kind of added interest in the shape of vibrato - excuse: expression. It started on the organ with the romantics as did expressive crescendos once the swell box got invented - something the baroques would have shunned, I bet.

Singers? They've been at it since the renaissance gave over to the baroque.

Originally Posted by Ballaw de Quincewold

I totally use too much vibrato when I'm playing my piano. My teacher always scolds me for it, saying things like, "you're defying the laws of piano playing."

I'd love to know how you get vibrato on a piano! It's the one instrument that has been saved from this technique, surely?

[Ballaw de Quincewold]

Originally Posted by reith

I'd love to know how you get vibrato on a piano! It's the one instrument that has been saved from this technique, surely?

I was mainly joking, but there is a way to do it, although the sound is not nearly as noticeable as it is on a violin. It can only be done long notes and only on piano that have reasonably high keys (it works better on uprights because they don't snap near the bottom like grands do). All you do is, after you have played a note that will be held for a reasonable amount of time, move your hands up and down very fast but do not lift them high enough for the hammer to strike the note again.

[Rod Corkin]

Originally Posted by reith

Singers? They've been at it since the renaissance gave over to the baroque.

Well not all the singing I have heard is quite like this, on rare occasion you find a singer with a strong enough voice and good judgement to present a good few 'clean' notes, but the likes of Maria Callas were just wailing warbling banshees as far as I am concerned - there is no law which states singers HAVE to sing like this, it is just the prevailing aesthetic of musical establishment, a deviant aesthetic in my opinion.

[reith]

Originally Posted by Rod Corkin

.....but the likes of Maria Callas were just wailing warbling banshees as far as I am concerned - there is no law which states singers HAVE to sing like this, it is just the prevailing aesthetic of musical establishment, a deviant aesthetic in my opinion.

Ha! Well, there're a few singer-members here so I have to tread carefully but being a bel canto fan I can say that I find Callas' 'interpretation' of Donizetti, well, not my cup of tea!

[Silhouette]

I don't know, I don't mind Maria Callas, but that may be due to the fact that she's EVERYWHERE so you simply get used to her warbling!