[Dixielandjazz] Bechet on clarinet

[Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis]

Marek Boym -----To my ears,
> that's what sets the jazz clarinet apart from the classical one.
_________________________________
I agree with that.  As I said there are several styles of vibrato starting 
with a very fast wide vibrato as used by early jazz players.  Typically it 
went all the time kind of like a vibrato control on an electric guitar amp 
or a Hammond organ through a Leslie.  Many flute players turn it on at the 
beginning and don't stop.  I don't really care for that much.

The next major type of vibrato is the Glen Miller (Chin) vibrato which is 
medium wide and in time with the beat.

In the modern vibrato the tone starts and the vibrato starts at zero and 
gets wider and may fade in and out.  The width and speed vary depending on 
the artist, the type of music and weather it's instrumental or vocal .

There are variations and that is the Appellation folk vibrato that sort of 
twitters and is primarily a throat vibrato and considered very bad on 
instruments because it constricts the throat but some people use it. The 
only male I can think of that used it was Burl Ives.  It's primarily used by 
women vocalists.

It sounds like to me anyway that Bechet may have used a combination of the 
throat and chin vibrato.  The throat vibrato can produce a very rapid 
vibrato whereas the Miller chin vibrato (saxes) typically can't.  Since 
Bechet's vibrato is very wide and fast I suspect a throat vibrato.  Almost 
always people who use a throat vibrato don't sound very good due to the 
constriction in the throat but Bechet seems to have been an exception.

The various styles of vibrato have their proponents. The diaphragm vibrato 
used on flute can produce a very nice vibrato on sax especially in slow 
ballad or jazz styles but is almost always useless for Miller style or OKOM. 
This kind of vibrato is an intensity vibrato like rapidly spinning a volume 
control up and down.  The throat vibrato is also an intensity vibrato (more 
than intonation) because the air is turned on and off rapidly.  I think it's 
more percussive than other vibratos.

The Chin vibrato is primarily an intonation vibrato where the tone goes in 
and out of tune rapidly more like an air raid siren.  This kind of vibrato 
is good for letting blood into the muscles and improving endurance as well 
as intonation but if used in a section must be together or you have a mess. 
It's also a lot more controllable by the artist.  The diaphragm is a large 
muscle that is more suited to larger, slower movements whereas the chin can 
be rapidly moved and varied.  A throat vibrato on horns tends to give you a 
sore throat after awhile.  It also is very regular and usually doesn't vary 
at all.

The only way you could really tell 100% what kind of vibrato Bechet had and 
what he was doing would be to digitally slow down a piece and analyze the 
intonation and volume of several notes watching what was going on.

When I was a young player I used a throat vibrato and just knew I didn't 
like it.  Eventually with the help of a friend who played well and slowing 
down recordings so I could hear what was going on and how exactly the 
artists used it did I finally get what I wanted.  Not only did my vibrato 
improve but my overall sound took a giant leap too because my throat was 
relaxed and open.

Since I have started playing OKOM I find that my vibrato is changing to a 
faster, wider style than that I used 10 years ago.

Another thing that I think that vibrato seems to make the sound carry 
further.  I could be wrong about that but it seems to help with projection.

Classically trained clarinet players lock on like a snapping turtle and use 
no vibrato which is a pity because the instrument becomes a whole lot warmer 
and interesting with vibrato especially in the low register.
Larry
StL
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Marek Boym" <marekboym at gmail.com>
To: "Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis" <larrys.bands at charter.net>; 
<Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2007 4:40 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Bechet on clarinet


> Gee, I love the vibrato!  That big, living, vibrating tone, which
> makes the clarinet sound almost like a string instrument.  To my ears,
> that's what sets the jazz clarinet apart from the classical one.
> Perhaps one of the reasons I don't like Buddy ce Franco and Tom Scott
> very much.
> I wouldn't know about the Minney Mouse vibrato - I don't listen to folk 
> music.
> Cheers
> On 18/09/2007, Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis