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Date: Fri, 24 May 2002 09:41:23 -0700 (PDT)
From: Winslow Yerxa
Subject: Re: vibrato

>My vibrato is getting better-louder, faster. It still
>does not sound at all like Howling Wolf or Junior
>Wells. Mostly I'm saying eheheheh like a kid making
>machine gun noises. Is there some frequency
>modulation-some subtle bending. I can a vibrato but
>it doesn't have that urgency, that tension. If I bend
>too much I get a yoiyoiyoi sound that's not very
>useful.

>From this I can't quite tell if you're able to
integrate bending (pitch variation) into your vibrato
- - but too much of it - or whether you can't get pitch
variation into it at all.

Each "eh" in the eh-eh-eh has the potential to bend
any bendable note to which you apply this technique.

A full "eh" touches the back of the soft palate to the
tongue and completely stops the airflow, giving a
series of staccato bursts - rapid separate notes. By
backing off the full close and just narrowing the
passage, you can have a continuous modulated tone
instead of separate bursts. But how do you get bending
into it?

Well, experimenting with what I do - which may or may
not help you: I start with the back of the soft palate
resting on the tongue and staying there, blocking off
any potential airflow (I'm not breathing through my
mouth yet). This is not literally my starting point
when I'm playing; it's just a way of examining the
process from a determined starting point.

As I draw air in, the suction lifts the soft palate
out of the way, opening up the passage. If I do this
very gently, the palate lifts slowly, and there is a
feeling of air drag - of suction, as the soft palate
lifts. This happens only at the point where the soft
palate is narrowing the air flow, and signals that the
air pressure and speed are changing at that point -
meaning that I'm forming a bending chamber in my
mouth.

Now, I can get the same effect if I don't close off
the passage entirely. This means I can get a
continuous modulated sound, and by digging in a little
with the suction created by the partial closing, can
add a little pitch depression to each throb.

I should emphasize that the suction is only local at
the narrowing point between the soft palate and
tongue. It does not occur anywhere else in the mouth.
Also, this is only a "detector signal" - it alerts you
to a condition in the mouth and helps you locate and
monitor it. Trying to go for strong suction in order
the achieve or heighten the effect may not be helpful.
Trying to finesse the narrowing point is really what
will lead to control of this wonderful activation
point that can do so many things - articulation,
attack, vibrato and bending.

Winslow

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