Chiff and Fipple Forums

I've observed some really great whistle players who, when playing longer tones, will shake extra fingers below the lowest covered hole, to give the tone a vibrato. I've tried this, so far never in public, but it always sounds kind of hokey when I play this way. Or maybe it sounds fine, just not to the player herself?

I'm assuming this is a technique developed by pipers, who can control subtleties of the air flow only with their fingers. But is it a preferred whistle technique too, or is my breath-controlled vibrato acceptable? It's much slower, but sounds more natural to me.

Tell me whether I should be practicing finger-controlled vibrato along with everything else.

Jennie

I don't know if there's a "right" way, but I produce vibrato the same way I do when singing, i.e., not with my fingers.

Both ways are used. They produce different sounds.

Some say finger vibrato is the accepted way as most articulation is done with the fingers. People will probably dissent with this statement as well placed tonguing goes a long way, but I only repeat what I hear.

When you shake you'r fingers, the notes think they are being scolded and vibrate out of fear.

michael_coleman wrote:Some say finger vibrato is the accepted way as most articulation is done with the fingers. People will probably dissent with this statement as well placed tonguing goes a long way, but I only repeat what I hear.

Finger vibrato was the way on flute, until the Boehm flute came on the scene with keys for all fingers. Finger vibrato is the only (?) (i think) way on the pipes.

On Irish flute, you rarely see any other vibrato, just finger. On whistle it's supposed to be the same, but i think i can hear "throat" vibrato from many of the top players.

My own humble opinion is that vibrato is to be used as an ornament, not as a constant component of the sound. I prefer finger vibrato, but the other kind is available too, and produces a different kind of sound that sometimes may be useful.

i remember jerry posting recently, stating that you can even shake your leg while playing, you'll get a vibrato too.

I think in a traditional setting, people mainly play finger vibrato. It would be helpful to learn that first, if you plan on playing in traditional settings.

Classical players all learn diaphram vibrato on wind instruments and can easily transfer that to the whistle. It sounds great (ever hear Joannie Madden do it?) and if you plan on playing non Irish stuff then it would be good to learn.

A well rounded player could do both.

I can do neither, well, and work on mostly finger vibrato when I do it.

And yes, it sounds worse hearing yourself do it than it does to other people. Tape record yourself and see.

Okay, I'll work on the finger vibrato.

But... that means I can only produce vibrato for the notes that have corresponding open holes-- at least a couple of them-- that are free for finger-flapping. Is it kind of like trying to roll the middle octave D, then ? You just roll where you can, and leave out rolls on notes where it doesn't work. Same with finger vibrato?

Thanks. I'm getting more of a feel for how it fits, anyhow.
Jennie

Cranberry wrote:I don't know if there's a "right" way, but I produce vibrato the same way I do when singing, i.e., not with my fingers.

I had a friend who used to grab the skin near his Adam's apple and shake it to get a vibrato while singing.

I mostly use diaphragm vibrato on the whistle, but sometimes I shake the whole whistle. I find it difficult to get finger vibrato to fit in seamlessly.

Fortunately, I have no one to play with, so I don't have to fit in.

I think really skilled players can half hole vibrato on the D hole to play the E.

Fingers. I'm with Glauber.

Jennie wrote:Okay, I'll work on the finger vibrato.

But... that means I can only produce vibrato for the notes that have corresponding open holes-- at least a couple of them-- that are free for finger-flapping. Is it kind of like trying to roll the middle octave D, then ? You just roll where you can, and leave out rolls on notes where it doesn't work. Same with finger vibrato?

Thanks. I'm getting more of a feel for how it fits, anyhow.
Jennie

I tried finger vibrato recently for the first time, having always used diaphram vibrato before then. I was surprised how easy it is.

Of course, I wondered what happens when all the holes are already covered. So I tried wiggling the pinky of my bottom hand when playing a D, and I found I still got a perfectly respectable vibrato.

Then I experimented some more and found it didn't matter much what I wiggled. It didn't seem that the effect was created by the closeness of the wiggling finger to any particular open tonehole, but rather, by the simple effect of wiggling, no matter where the wiggling was. And yes, I did find that you can create a vibrato effect by wiggling your foot.

By revealing the following without filing for the patent, I may be passing up an opportunity to make millions, but I'll tell you anyway ...

I'm designing a vibrato pedal for whistlers. It won't have to be connected to the whistle in any way, no modifications, no electronics, no batteries, nothing to plug in or hook up. It will be just a pedal that you put your foot on while you're whistling. Then, whenever you want a vibrato effect, you just work your foot on the pedal at the desired speed, and you'll get a vibrato effect of that speed. You can do fast vibrato, slow vibrato, whatever you want. No knobs or settings at all. Just your foot and your creative imagination. I've begun testing prototypes, and preliminary results are promising.

Best wishes,
Jerry

Jerry Freeman wrote:Then I experimented some more and found it didn't matter much what I wiggled. It didn't seem that the effect was created by the closeness of the wiggling finger to any particular open tonehole, but rather, by the simple effect of wiggling, no matter where the wiggling was.

Oh, then it's more like what I do when I wiggle the whole whistle.

I'm designing a vibrato pedal for whistlers. It won't have to be connected to the whistle in any way...

At this point, I began laughing so hard that I couldn't even finish the paragraph.

amar wrote:i remember jerry posting recently, stating that you can even shake your leg while playing, you'll get a vibrato too.

Yeah, I heard that Michael Flatley developed those fast feet by overusing leg vibrato when he was first learning the flute. Evidently he was using it in reels rather than just in airs.