Page 82 - Glasbenopedagoški zbornik Akademije za glasbo v Ljubljani / The Journal of Music Education of the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, leto 7, zvezek 16 / Year 7, Issue 16, 2011
P. 82
SBENO-PEDAGOŠKI ZBORNIK, 16. zvezek
Approach to ALF for cellists and composers
On the cello the increase in bow pressure is much higher than on the violin.
This is the reason why the composer Michael Maierhof, working with ALF,
which he calls “undertones” UT, suggests a fist grip for the bow.
Up to now, ALF playing on the cello has not been specified systematically.
Therefore my departure is from observational research, supported by frequency
analysis and analysis of the playing manners resulting in ALF.
To start with general observations on how to play ALF on the cello, I noticed
that:
– ALF occur suddenly.
– The fundamental jumps one or more intervals below the original tone.
– The structure of partials changes immediately.
– ALF are very loud.
– The character of cello ALF is “hard edged”.
– The fingering is not changed.
– The pitch depends on the amount of pressure and the bow-bridge distance.
Double stops of ALF and normal tones, as Kimura practices them on the
violin, seem to be impossible on the cello because the ways of tone production are
so different. The same problem occurs as soon as ALF on the cello are integrated
into a melodic line: the tone production as well as the character of the sound is so
different from the usual cello tone that ALF would disrupt a musical line.
Thanks to Prof. Kob, I had the opportunity to record ALF and multiphonics
and to make frequency analyses at the Erich-Thienhaus-Institute for acoustics at
the Detmold Music Academy, of which he is Head. I was invited to conduct a
colloquium on those playing techniques with live demonstrations and live
analyses, beamed on the screen for the students to watch the process (Biffio
2009).
On the figure below, the equal structure of the partial of a normally bowed
tone is visible in the beginning; (after the click), it suddenly changes to a very
dense partial structure with a lot of noise and the fundamental jumps below. The
apparently chaotic structure of the partials changes in form. The high partials
have a tendency to shift upwards.
82
Approach to ALF for cellists and composers
On the cello the increase in bow pressure is much higher than on the violin.
This is the reason why the composer Michael Maierhof, working with ALF,
which he calls “undertones” UT, suggests a fist grip for the bow.
Up to now, ALF playing on the cello has not been specified systematically.
Therefore my departure is from observational research, supported by frequency
analysis and analysis of the playing manners resulting in ALF.
To start with general observations on how to play ALF on the cello, I noticed
that:
– ALF occur suddenly.
– The fundamental jumps one or more intervals below the original tone.
– The structure of partials changes immediately.
– ALF are very loud.
– The character of cello ALF is “hard edged”.
– The fingering is not changed.
– The pitch depends on the amount of pressure and the bow-bridge distance.
Double stops of ALF and normal tones, as Kimura practices them on the
violin, seem to be impossible on the cello because the ways of tone production are
so different. The same problem occurs as soon as ALF on the cello are integrated
into a melodic line: the tone production as well as the character of the sound is so
different from the usual cello tone that ALF would disrupt a musical line.
Thanks to Prof. Kob, I had the opportunity to record ALF and multiphonics
and to make frequency analyses at the Erich-Thienhaus-Institute for acoustics at
the Detmold Music Academy, of which he is Head. I was invited to conduct a
colloquium on those playing techniques with live demonstrations and live
analyses, beamed on the screen for the students to watch the process (Biffio
2009).
On the figure below, the equal structure of the partial of a normally bowed
tone is visible in the beginning; (after the click), it suddenly changes to a very
dense partial structure with a lot of noise and the fundamental jumps below. The
apparently chaotic structure of the partials changes in form. The high partials
have a tendency to shift upwards.
82
