[Harp-L] What happens when bending

[Steve Baker <steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

In 2002 I served as guinea pig for a group of medical researchers in  
the ear, nose & throat department at Hamburg University Hospital who  
were investigating wind instruments. They stuck an endoscopic camera  
through my nose and down into the throat in order to film the larynx  
and pharynx from above while I played. An external camera with sound  
recording filmed neck and head from the side. On the resulting video  
it's possible to observe both bending and vibrato from inside the  
throat. On the basis of this material I would say that although the  
middle part of the tongue (which we couldn't flm at the same time)  
clearly must play an important role when bending, the activity  
definitely continues right down into the pharynx. The vocal folds  
also play a much greater role than I had anticipated in articulating  
individual notes as well as creating vibrato. I will be including  
excerpts from this film in a forthcoming instructional DVD,

Steve

Steve Baker
steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.stevebaker.de
www.bluesculture.com
www.youtube.com/stevebakerbluesharp