Mysteries of the universe, continued (not OT) ...

Jerry Freeman · Post by **Jerry Freeman** » Mon Aug 09, 2004 6:56 pm

I was looking at that whistletooter website the other day. I liked the way Sean videotaped his playing close up so I could see what he was doing.

I saw him do finger vibrato. Now, I've always used a bit of diaphram whenever I want some vibrato. I've seen Paddy Maloney do finger vibrato and thought it must take considerable skill to wiggle your finger just the right distance from the tonehole to get just the right effect. However, when I saw Sean do it, it looked easy enough. I thought, "I can do that," so I tried it.

It worked great! And on the first try.

So I experimented a bit and discovered that it doesn't matter what finger you wiggle or how far it is from a tonehole or for that matter, whether it's anywhere near any tonehole at all. You get vibrato just by virtue of wiggling something that's more or less connected to the whistle. In fact, when I showed this to Arleen a few minutes ago, I discovered that it even works if you wiggle your foot!

I thought you would want to know.

Best wishes,
Jerry

P.S. I'm sure there are subtleties I'm missing, so please don't flame me for being an irreverent simpleton. It's intended to be humorous.

Whistling Willie · Post by **Whistling Willie** » Mon Aug 09, 2004 7:07 pm

Jerry ,I'm now in the process of wiggling everything

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Mon Aug 09, 2004 7:09 pm

Whistling Willie wrote:Jerry ,I'm now in the process of wiggling everything

I prefer to wag.

Whistling Willie · Post by **Whistling Willie** » Mon Aug 09, 2004 7:18 pm

Wiggle wag,sure it's all the same

TonyHiggins · Post by **TonyHiggins** » Mon Aug 09, 2004 8:08 pm

Just visualizing vibrato may be enough. You can develop a beat frequency between the 3rd and 4th chakras that'll do it, but that requires fasting and meditation. I guess waggling the fingers would be the most sensible.
Tony

BillChin · Post by **BillChin** » Mon Aug 09, 2004 10:29 pm

I recently saw the Temptations live in concert. At one point the band invited audience members up to the stage to sing one verse of "Sunshine." Before singing, they prelude with "Do you know this song," and then, "Can you wiggle your hips, can you wiggle your hips..." So put two and two together and an Elvis Presley outfit and the whistle vibrato takes on a whole new persona

+ Bill

JillyKB · Post by **JillyKB** » Mon Aug 09, 2004 11:03 pm

Wow! That really is a pretty nice way to do vibrato. I had been trying to create vibrato with just my breathing, but it was murder on my already weak breath support. Thanks for pointing that out.

Darwin · Post by **Darwin** » Tue Aug 10, 2004 1:55 am

I sorta shake the whole whistle sometimes, though I normally use breath vibrato. I find finger vibrato a bit trickier to get consistent.

John S · Post by **John S** » Tue Aug 10, 2004 4:37 am

Another thread title intended for psychics.
I use finger vibrato a lot, and it works well on the Whistle too (Fnarr Fnarr).

John S

peeplj · Post by **peeplj** » Tue Aug 10, 2004 6:40 am

I've heard of some people able to produce a finger-vibrato-type effect on flute on D (with all fingers down) by shaking the flute.

I've never gotten it to work, but you've just given me motivation to go back to the idea and try it again.

--James

Jerry Freeman · Post by **Jerry Freeman** » Tue Aug 10, 2004 8:22 am

On a whistle with all toneholes covered, wiggling the right pinky produces a vibrato. (Wiggling the left pinky does too, but being right handed and the pinky being the least coordinated finger, it's easier for me with the right.)

Best wishes,
Jerry

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Tue Aug 10, 2004 8:36 am

Jerry Freeman wrote:I was looking at that whistletooter website the other day. I liked the way Sean videotaped his playing close up so I could see what he was doing.

I saw him do finger vibrato. Now, I've always used a bit of diaphram whenever I want some vibrato. I've seen Paddy Maloney do finger vibrato and thought it must take considerable skill to wiggle your finger just the right distance from the tonehole to get just the right effect. However, when I saw Sean do it, it looked easy enough. I thought, "I can do that," so I tried it.

This is called The Bob Ross Effect.

Jerry Freeman wrote:It worked great! And on the first try.

Unlike painting with the late Bob Ross.

Daniel_Bingamon · Post by **Daniel_Bingamon** » Tue Aug 10, 2004 8:27 pm

Diaphragm vibrato and finger vibrato each have their places. I use breath vibrato most of the time but the finger vibrato works good when you want something slow and more controlled.

SirNick · Post by **SirNick** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 10:28 am

I just use the "whammy bar" on my whistle. Why are you guy's doing it the hard way?

Post by **Nanohedron** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 11:11 am

Just a stodgily serious note to add that some finger vibratos can sound better than others, depending on your instrument and the register you're playing in. Experimenting for the best effect is a good thing. Some whistles and flute are more touchy about this than others, and a "bad" finger vibrato is pretty gnarly.

Okay, I'm done being serious for now.

Chiff and Fipple Forums

Mysteries of the universe, continued (not OT) ...

Mysteries of the universe, continued (not OT) ...

Re: Mysteries of the universe, continued (not OT) ...