Clarity in Executing Lines on the Vibraphone Through the Use of Dampening by Jerry Tachoir
A vibraphone is not a marimba with a pedal!
Being that most mallet players were brought up through the ranks as drummers who were turned on to the timpani and later xylophone or marimba, one of the biggest problems is: "what the heck is that pedal for on a vibraphone?" One of my earlier teachers, who I thought of highly, told me not to worry, it's something
you won't need to deal with now. Just play the same as you do on your marimba. So, for the longest time I either ignored the pedal or used it to keep time with my foot.
The fact that the pedal dampened the notes of the vibraphone was obvious to me. However, it didn't seem right to use to pedal after every note a quarter note or longer in duration, and I wasn't getting the clarity or phrasing of lines the way a horn player could. I discovered rather by accident, that my hand could be
used to dampen notes in going from one register to another to create a softer phrasing and almost a slide into a help-step. At that point it came to my attention that this wasn't the same instrument as a marimba. Unlike a marimba, I didn't have to roll to produce a sustained tone. I could add other notes to
already sustaining notes to produce harmonies. I could remove (dampen) notes as they ring to change harmonies. Come on percussion teachers of the world, this is a VIBRAPHONE, not a marimba with a pedal!
I've narrowed the dampening techniques down to five types:
1. Slide dampening- for scale type passages
2. Touch tone- for interval dampening
3. Adjacent note mallet dampening
4. Hand dampening- primarily for half step use
5. Pedaling -for changes in harmony or fast passages
Slide Dampening
This technique is used primarily in scale type passages. A mallet in the hand that is not playing the note merely follows the playing mallet, dampening as the scale passage is executed. The object is to dampen a note at the same time that the next note is attacked to make a smooth line and not hear the
dampening taking place.
In the following example, the right hand outer mallet is playing the scale and the left hand inside mallet should be dampening.
X- means dampen previous note
In this example, the opposite is taking place. We have a descending line played by the inside mallet of the left hand, the dampening is taking place by the right hand inside mallet.
Touch Tone
This dampening technique is primarily for intervals. The object is to dampen a note by depressing the mallet head against the ringing note at the same time that a note is played by the opposite hand. Try to dampen as smoothly and quietly as possible.
All four mallets should be able to perform this technique. To eliminate excess hand motion, try assigning a specific area for each mallet. For example, the left hand outside mallet might cover the low F to the octave F. The left hand inside mallet might cover middle C through the octave E. (Note the slight
overlap.) The right hand inside mallet will cover A above middle C through the octave to high C while the right hand outside mallet will cover the last octave F to F.
Make sure to dampen completely and go for center bars. Try the following examples and don't be discouraged, it takes coordination and practice.
Adjacent Note Mallet Dampening
This is a fairly easy technique which again should be practiced by all four mallets. This technique is for adjacent notes of either a step or a half-step. The mallet which played the first note will play the next adjacent note, and at the same time slide the mallet to the previous note which is ringing and dampen it. The object is to dampen the first note at the same time the second is attacked in one smooth motion, without hearing the dampening attack. Try the following exercise.
Hand Dampening
This technique is used primarily in dampening notes from the bottom register (white notes on piano) up or down a half-step to the top register (black notes on the piano) with the use of the area between the first and second knuckle of the pinky finger of the same hand. I mainly use this method in the right hand but it can be done in the left hand as well.
As the right hand is going from a D to a D flat, the dampening takes place by the right hand pinky at the same time the D flat is played. Again, try for a smooth execution and a complete dampening of the first note. (Ringing half-steps sounds bad.)
Try these examples.
Pedaling
The most obvious use of the petal is to sustain tones. However, with the use of the above mentioned dampening technique, the most vital usage will be clear to the harmony in preparation for a new chord sound.
In the playing of a tune, the pedal will be depressed for each chord, providing your dampening techniques that we've covered are producing the clarity in bringing out the melody or improvisation without ringing together.
Try the following example.
Should the melody be very fast, a half-pedaling or flutter pedal technique might be necessary to execute the line without a total staccato effect. Flutter pedaling is accomplished by finding the point in pedaling where the damper bar just clears the keys, which should be about half-pedal, and alternating up and down for the fast notes. This techniques provides a somewhat smoother more legato phrasing of fast notes.
In summary, these techniques are important to master to be able to have the desired phrasing on the vibraphone and achieve the same clarity in melodic lines as would a horn player.
Jerry Tachoir
Vibraphone/Marimba Clinician
Jerry Tachoir is a graduate of Berklee College of Music in Boston. First to receive a bachelors degree in applied music for the vibraphone and mallet instruments, he graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1976. His performance experience is extensive and includes performances with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, American Wind Symphony, and the International Symphony in Switzerland.
For twelve years, Jerry Tachoir was leader of his own jazz quartet and performed throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe at colleges, jazz clubs, and leading international jazz festivals including Montreux, Montreal and Pittsburgh Jazz Festivals, the North Sea Jazz Festival in Holland, and the Pori Jazz Festival in Finland.
He has appeared on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation network and recorded two cable television features airing nationally on the TNN Network.
Jerry Tachoir can be heard with his quartet on his Truetone recording of FORCES and CANVAS on the I.T.I. label.
Acclaimed by critics for his talent, versatility and his studious grasp of the jazz idiom, Jerry Tachoir brings to his clinics an exciting and inspiring dimension.
