Date: Fri, 24 May 2002 21:38:41 EDT From: Snaru~ol.com Subject: Re: vibrato (directed by Harpie)
Hi all,
at first, the serious part, exceptionally.
Winslow, explaining what's going on in the mouth cavity during a vibrato, writes:
< 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. >
Yes, I think that's exactly what happens when a reed starts vibrating. The gap or offset at the reed tip is the narrow point where the socalled Bernoulli forces cause a suction and the self-excitation of the reed which then continues vibrating by the airstream.
< Trying to go for strong suction in order < the achieve or heighten the effect may not be helpful. >
Yep, it corresponds again to the general experience that a stronger blow leads to a reed shoking. That's all extremely interesting.
Some ideas now gradually changing the subject.
Notwithstanding that Winslow did his very best to describe the physiologic basics of producing an "inhaled" vibrato, the reader has to learn it by self-experiments.
It's the same as I asserted in another post that nobody learns whistling by a mere describing how it works.
Apropos, whistling. While typing these lines I whistle and watch myself what I'm doing when changing the pitch. Hey, hey, my cavity changes in the same way as if I bend a note on the harp.
Now I try to whistle when inhaling the air. Ooops, it doesn't work. Meanwhile, Harpie came in and wondered why Dad can only produce a blow-whistling but can't whistle the other way round (to tell the trueth, it works too, but only when done very cautiously).
Hmmh, Harpie, you are right to wonder. I forgot the context but remember that you once named the harp a kind of breathing aid.
Yes, Dad, most people consider the harp a music instrument but I know for sure that it's a signal device. How interesting, Harpie, can you tell us more.
Yeah, there are people who don't know when to inhale and when to exhale, commonly known as "harpers". Some even don't know whether they are letting air in or out, moreover, even profs are found among them.
Really? You mean that there are people who don't know professionally when to in- or exhale. Ooh, sh ..t, Harpie, now you are kidding. Don't interrupt me, Dad.
Finally, Hohner, a factory in a country where almost all inhabitants have problems what's in or out, invented a tricky device showing accoustically the air stream direction. A tiny metal strip, called "reed", gives the signal when it is time to inhale the life supporting air, consequently named a "draw". Another note, a semitone lower for better recognition, indicates that it is useful to clear out the lungs for the next draw.
Now, it's Hohner's outstanding service of having provided several possibilities (known as chambers or holes) for regulating the air stream depending on various circumstances. Additionally, Hohner's techs installed some important specialities:
1. In order to prevent a letal "circular breathing" they provided so-called "valves" (better named "wind-savers" because they save the wind from going into the wrong direction). 2. Harpers living in the mountains need more breath because of the thinner air. They can breath through greater chambers, called low notes. OTOH, harpers living in Florida or even below sea level as at the Dead Sea eg. breath with high notes. Apropos, high. The Scottish Highlanders don't need harps. They survive by means of bagpipes. 3. For harpers who might find it boring to have two signals only, Hohner provided a so-called "slide" which allows to play half of a scale while breathing and this leads to Hohner's greatest bull's-eye.
The Hohner guys ordered these signal stripes depending on their pitches with an amusing side-effect.
Confused harpers neither knowing whether they live in the valley or in the mountains nor knowing when to in- or exhale tried to in- and exhale on all holes almost simultaneously, anyway, in a complete chaos.
However, some of them detected that it was possible to produce a recognizable melody when keeping a certain breathing order.
Note: In this connection it's interesting to know that the Hohnerians called their invention "Mundharmonika" but the English breathing experts named it "mouth organ". The latter version is of course far better and more precise.
As we all know "organ" is an abbreviation of "organization" and this term points to the main purpose of Hohner's breathing aid, namly, to organize the breathing of persons who lost their orientation sense.
Well, back to earth. Nowadays, Hohner's original intention to give a medical help for persons suffering from asthma or other breathing defects is worldwide extensively unknown as so often. The side-effect to breath music is actually the main purpose, Toots Thielemans is standing for.
