Tremolo

[Jaded]

I was watching "The Chieftains" "Bells of Dublin" video this past week.

They use a lot of finger tremolo (or so it appeared). They also get a different sound than I do. When I attempt tremolo by tapping on the finger hole of my tin whistle or tranverse primitive flute, I get something that sounds more like birdsong.

I have to use breath based tremolo to get the tonal variation they achieved in the video. Are they just using the finger movements for show business flash and actually using breath based tremolo to get the sound, or is there some adjustment relative to which hole you tap on versus which note you are playing (possibly tapping on a lower note hole than the note you are actually playing)?

Any comments? Breath tremolo takes more out of me than finger tremolo, but with different results.

[flutepicc06]

By "tremolo" do you mean vibrato? There are two types of vibrato...One created with the airstream, and the other with the fingers, while a tremolo signifies something similar to a trill, but over a larger interval (generally a minor third or larger).

Assuming you're talking about vibrato, they're not just using those finger movements for show...They're actually using them to create a finger vibrato, which is a pretty common technique on primitive flutes. To do a finger vibrato, you finger the note you want to incorporate the vibrato on, and rapidly open and close one of the holes. The general rule is that you must leave one hole open between the actual fingering, and the hole you're using to produce a finger vibrato. In other words, if you're playing a G on tinwhistle, you'd use the middle finger of your right hand to create vibrato. Of course, this is only a general rule, and may have to be modified depending on what exactly you're playing.

It's possible to create this effect on Boehm flutes as well, and not unheard of for flutists performing Baroque music to use finger vibrato.

[Jaded]

I am trilled by the response. As for tremolo versus vibrato, I've tried to keep the airstream trembling for extended periods of time in some pieces, but it's hard to do, particularly with the minimal air requirement of low whistles. I like the effect. Makes the music sound more like a flute. Unfortunately, it can make you tired rather quickly, and with a low whistle, it is easy to shift into the second register if you are tired and attempt to use airstream vibrato (or tremolo) in the lower part of the base register. (I don't use trill - no need for that kind of fast shifting tone in what I play.)

Thanks for telling me which finger to use to produce the effect. It looked like they might have been using a finger below the one on the note, which seemed reasonable to reduce the severity of the effect and go back to "tremolo" (or "vibrato") rather than shifting by a half or whole tone by raising and lowering the finger on the note's tone hole. I'll attempt to experiment to improve the results. The finger effect should be less taxing than the airstream effect.

[atoriphile]

In my experience, finger vibrato is done by tapping the finger on the edge of the next open hole. Don't cover the hole at all. Tapping the edge is enough to affect the sound and create a flattement.

[Jaded]

Ah ha! That's why I was still getting "oo-oo-oo" when I was tapping two holes down, but fully closing the hole. Thanks for the tip.

Of course, this leaves me with air stream based vibrato for the lower two notes.