Re: [Harp-L] Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson's timed vibrato

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

Sounds like throat to me. Or to be more precise, glottis used to start and stop the pulsation, and tongue on the back of the soft palate to add the pitch change with each pulse.

One way to learn the timing is to first isolate the !uh sound of a soft, polite cough done with the glottis, and do individual pulses at will. Then start stringing them together in a slowly timed sequence. As you get comfortable with this, start speeding up the sequence. Eventually you'll be able to stop thinking of the individual pulses and start just setting them in motion.

Winslow

 
Winslow Yerxa
Author, Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5
            Harmonica Basics For Dummies, ASIN B005KIYPFS
            Blues Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN 978-1-1182-5269-7
Resident Harmonica Expert, bluesharmonica.com
Instructor, Jazzschool for Music Study and Performance


________________________________
 From: David Fairweather <dmf273@xxxxxxxxx>
To: "Harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx" <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx> 
Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2013 1:53 PM
Subject: [Harp-L] Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson's timed vibrato
 
I'm about half way though reading Rebecca Winters' biography of Alan
Wilson, "Blind Owl Blues".   I've just finished a chapter devoted to his
harmonica playing.  Although it contains some new, to me information - like
his doing the bullfrog thing with his cheeks when he played a la Dizzy
Gillespie, so far I'm disappointed to find no mention of his superb timed
vibrato.   To me that vibrato is unique and I've been trying to emulate it
ever since I picked up a harp, with only limited success.

So I think its time once again to turn to the experts here on Harp-L.  How
do you think he did it?   Listen, for example, to Canned Heat's "Goin' Down
Slow".  http://youtu.be/lRPcxbagJ-U

How do you think he's doing it?  I always thought it was a diaphragm or
throat vibrato or a combination of the two, but Jason Ricci told me that he
thinks its tongue vibrato!  The tongue would certainly allow for the
perfect timing, but I can't get that fullness of tone with just my tongue.
Can you? On the other hand, even after years of practice I can't quite get
that perfect timing with my diaphragm or throat..