Re: [Harp-L] vibrato vs, tremolo

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Winslow Yerxa wrote:
<Both vibrato and tremolo refer too ways of putting a recurring undulation (or <pulsation or wave) in the sound of a sustained note. There are three ways to do <this:
<- Changes in volume (loudness)- changes in tone color- changes in pitch
<Historically all three have been referred to as vibrato, but some people nowadays <insist that only pitch change is true tremolo and that changes in loudness should <be called tremolo. They usually don't address the matter of changes in tone color.
<I think a more comprehensive approach is to call all three vibrato, then specify <which kind. 

Unfortunately, taking this approach puts us at odds with established musical practice and terminology.  Established practice is as follows:
- tremolo refers to changes in VOLUME at a given recurring speed and depth ("speed" meaning how frequently the change takes place, and "depth" meaning how severe the drop in volume is).  
- vibrato refers to changes in PITCH at a given recurring speed and depth ("speed" meaning how frequently the pitch changes, and "depth" meaning the extent of pitch change; I have some synthesizers in my studio whose vibrato can oscillate as much as an octave, which makes for a pretty interesting sound).

There's nothing tentative about these definitions.  They've been in common use by players, instrument and amp manufacturers, and anyone else involved in making music with electric instruments for over half a century.  In my humble opinion, it's not a very good idea to attempt to redefine the terminology at this point.

I agree that it's a good idea to distinguish between the methods used to create either of these effects.  But calling them all "vibrato" is just going to mess everybody up.  

Thanks, Richard Hunter 


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