A multiphonic is an
extended technique
In music, extended technique is unconventional, unorthodox, or non-traditional methods of singing or of playing musical instruments employed to obtain unusual sounds or timbres.Burtner, Matthew (2005).Making Noise: Extended Techniques after Exper ...
on a
monophonic
Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction (often shortened to mono) is sound intended to be heard as if it were emanating from one position. This contrasts with stereophonic sound or ''stereo'', which uses two separate audio channels to reproduc ...
musical instrument (one that generally produces only one note at a time) in which several notes are produced at once. This includes wind, reed, and brass instruments, as well as the human voice. Multiphonic-like sounds on string instruments, both bowed and hammered, have also been called multiphonics, for lack of better terminology and scarcity of research.
Multiphonics on wind instruments are primarily a 20th-century technique, though the brass technique of singing while playing has been known since the 18th century and used by composers such as
Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (18 or 19 November 17865 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and critic who was one of the first significant composers of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas, ...
. Commonly, no more than four notes will be produced at once, though for some chords on some instruments it is possible to get several more.
Technique
Woodwind instruments
On
woodwind
Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and re ...
instruments—e.g., saxophone, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, flute, and recorder—multiphonics can be produced either with new fingerings, by using different
embouchure
Embouchure () or lipping is the use of the lips, facial muscles, tongue, and teeth in playing a wind instrument. This includes shaping the lips to the mouthpiece of a woodwind instrument or the mouthpiece of a brass instrument. The word is o ...
s, or voicing the throat with conventional fingerings. There have been numerous fingering guides published for the woodwind player to achieve harmonics. Multiphonics on reed instruments can also be produced in the manners described below for brass instruments.
It is said to be impossible to recreate exactly the conditions between one player and the next, due to minute differences in instruments, reeds, embouchure, and other things. This, however, is not entirely true; the multiphonic will depend on the room temperature and other such things, but essentially multiphonics sound the same due to the harmonic structure of the multiphonic. A multiphonic fingering that works for one player may not work for that same player on a different instrument, or a different player on the same instrument, or even after switching reeds. This is often the result of slightly different construction of two instruments from different makers.
Brass instruments
In brass instruments, the most common method of producing multiphonics is by simultaneously playing the instrument and singing into it. When the sung note has a different frequency than the played note (preferably within the
harmonic series of the played note), several new notes that are the
sums/differences of the frequencies of the sung note and the played note are produced; leading to the popular term
trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
/
trombone
The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...
/
horn
Horn most often refers to:
*Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound
** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments
*Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...
growl. This technique is also called "horn chords". The tone sung doesn't necessarily have to be in the played tone's harmonic series, but the effect is more audible if it is. The tone quality of brass multiphonics is influenced strongly by the voice of the player.
Another method is referred to as "lip multiphonics", in which a brass player alters the airflow to blow between
partials, in the harmonic series of the slide position/valve. The outcome is just as stable as any multiphonic and perfectly structured. When the frequencies add together or subtract from each other (essentially merge), the fundamental is recreated. For example: A 440 and A 220. This would combine to make 660, creating a new fundamental of the second lowest B of the piano.
A third method, known as 'split tones' or
double buzz Split tones are a multiphonic effect on brass instruments. During normal play, the upper and lower lips will vibrate together at the same speed. If, however, the lips are set to vibrate at different speeds two pitches may be perceived. When not don ...
, produces multiphonics when players make their lips vibrate at different speeds against each other. The most common result is a perfect interval, but the range of intervals produced can vary broadly.
String instruments
String instruments can also produce multiphonic tones when strings are bowed or hammered (as in piano multiphonics) between the
harmonic nodes. This works best on larger instruments like double bass and cello. Another technique involves the rotational oscillation mode of the string, which might be twisted to adjust the rotational tension. Other multiphonic
extended techniques
In music, extended technique is unconventional, unorthodox, or non-traditional methods of singing or of playing musical instruments employed to obtain unusual sounds or timbres.Burtner, Matthew (2005).Making Noise: Extended Techniques after Exper ...
used are
prepared piano
A prepared piano is a piano that has had its sounds temporarily altered by placing bolts, screws, mutes, rubber erasers, and/or other objects on or between the strings. Its invention is usually traced to John Cage's dance music for ''Works for p ...
,
prepared guitar
A prepared guitar is a guitar that has had its timbre altered by placing various objects on or between the instrument's strings, including other extended techniques. This practice is sometimes called tabletop guitar, because many prepared guitar ...
and
3rd bridge
The 3rd bridge is an extended playing technique used on the electric guitar and other string instruments that allows a musician to produce distinctive timbres and overtones that are unavailable on a conventional string instrument with two bri ...
.
Vocal multiphonics
The technique of producing multiphonics with the voice is called
overtone singing
Overtone singing – also known as overtone chanting, harmonic singing, polyphonic overtone singing, and diphonic singing – is a set of singing techniques in which the vocalist manipulates the resonances of the vocal tract, in order to arous ...
(typically with secondary resonant structure) or throat singing (typically with additional tones from throat trills).
There is another technique done in whistling, where whistlers hum in their throats while whistling with the front parts of their mouths. This is well known for achieving a spacey "ring modulation" sound (e.g. by
Jim Carrey in ''
The Truman Show
''The Truman Show'' is a 1998 American psychological satirical comedy-drama film directed by Peter Weir, produced by Scott Rudin, Andrew Niccol, Edward S. Feldman, and Adam Schroeder, and written by Niccol. The film stars Jim Carrey as Tr ...
''). All three vibrations—whistle, voice and throat trill—can be combined also.
How multiphonics work
In general, when playing a wind instrument, the tone that comes out consists of the ''fundamental''—the pitch usually identified as the note being played—as well as pitches with frequencies that are
integer
An integer is the number zero (), a positive natural number (, , , etc.) or a negative integer with a minus sign ( −1, −2, −3, etc.). The negative numbers are the additive inverses of the corresponding positive numbers. In the languag ...
multiples of the frequency of the fundamental. (Only pure
sine wave tones lack these overtones.) Normally, only the fundamental pitch is perceived as being played.
By controlling the air flow through the instrument and the shape of the column (by changing fingering or valve position), a player may produce two distinct tones not part of the same
harmonic series.
Notation
Multiphonics may be notated in score in a variety of ways. When exact pitches are specified, one method of notation is simply to indicate a chord, leaving the performer to figure out what techniques are necessary to achieve it. Common on woodwind music is to specify a particular fingering underneath the required note; as different fingerings produce different qualities of sound, a composer who is concerned about the precise effect created may wish to do this. (The same fingering can cause different result on instruments from different manufacturers, due to variations in construction.) Approximate pitches may be specified by wavy lines or in
cluster
may refer to:
Science and technology Astronomy
* Cluster (spacecraft), constellation of four European Space Agency spacecraft
* Asteroid cluster, a small asteroid family
* Cluster II (spacecraft), a European Space Agency mission to study t ...
notation to designate acceptable ranges of sound. There is, however, a wide range of notation used to designate multiphonics, with several individual composers preferring notations not in common use. Piano multiphonic notation can include, among other factors, the numbers of sounding partials or fingering distances on the string. Such notations have been developed in recent studies by C. J. Walter and J. Vesikkala.
Use in literature
The first real use of multiphonics in literature are of the brass "horn chord" style.
Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (18 or 19 November 17865 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and critic who was one of the first significant composers of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas, ...
used this technique in
horn
Horn most often refers to:
*Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound
** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments
*Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...
compositions, leading up to his well-known
Concertino for horn and orchestra of 1815.
\new Staff \relative c
Woodwind multiphonics and brass lip multiphonics did not make appearances in
classical music until the 20th century, with pioneering compositions such as
Luciano Berio
Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental work (in particular his 1968 composition ''Sinfonia'' and his series of virtuosic solo pieces titled '' Sequenza''), and for his pioneering work ...
's ''Sequenzas'' for solo wind instruments and ''Proporzioni'' for solo flute by
Franco Evangelisti using them extensively.
The technique is used in
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
as early as the 1920s by
Adrian Rollini on his bass saxophone. Then it was largely forgotten until
Illinois Jacquet
Jean-Baptiste "Illinois" Jacquet (October 30, 1922 – July 22, 2004) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, best remembered for his solo on " Flying Home", critically recognized as the first R&B saxophone solo.
Although he was a pioneer of ...
used them in the 1940s. Multiphonics were also widely used by
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music.
Born and raise ...
, and jazz flautist
.
Some composers who use multiphonics:
*
Gloria Coates
*
Kazimierz Serocki
Kazimierz Serocki (3 March 1922 – 9 January 1981) was a Polish composer and one of the founders of the Warsaw Autumn contemporary music festival.
Life
Serocki was born in Toruń. He studied composition with Kazimierz Sikorski and piano w ...
*
William O Smith
*
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th and early 21st-century ...
Some musicians who use multiphonics:
*
Ian Clarke – flute
*
Michael Vetter
Michael Vetter (18 September 1943 – 7 December 2013) was a German composer, novelist, poet, performer, calligrapher, artist, and teacher.
Biography
Vetter was born in Oberstdorf in the Allgäu region of Germany, and received a conventional scho ...
– recorder
*
William O. Smith – clarinet
*
Gloria Coates – vocal
*Ryoko Ono – saxophone
See also
*
Didgeridoo
*
Singing bowls
A standing bell or resting bell is an inverted bell, supported from below with the rim uppermost. Such bells are normally bowl-shaped, and exist in a wide range of sizes, from a few centimetres to a metre in diameter. They are often played by st ...
*
Musical acoustics Musical acoustics or music acoustics is a multidisciplinary field that combines knowledge from physics, psychophysics, organology (classification of the instruments), physiology, music theory, ethnomusicology, signal processing and instrument build ...
*
Physics of music
*
Harmonic series (music)
References
Further reading
*Gerald Farmer, ''Multiphonics and Other Contemporary Clarinet Techniques'', Shall-u-mo Publications, Rochester, New York, 1982
*Murray Campbell: "Multiphonics".
Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy. Accessed 24 Jan 05
(subscription access)*Richard E. Berg and David G. Stork, ''The Physics of Sound''. Prentice-Hall, Inc. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1982.
*Ian Mitchell, "Smith, William O(verton)
ill ILL may refer to:
* '' I Love Lucy'', a landmark American television sitcom
* Illorsuit Heliport (location identifier: ILL), a heliport in Illorsuit, Greenland
* Institut Laue–Langevin, an internationally financed scientific facility
* Interlibra ...
, ''
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...
'', second edition, edited by
Stanley Sadie and
John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan, 2001.
*Kurt Stone, ''Music Notation in the Twentieth Century''. W. W. Norton, New York, 1980
*
Robert Dick
Robert Dick (January 1811 – 24 December 1866), was a Scottish geologist and botanist.
Life
He was born at Tullibody, in Clackmannanshire. His father was an officer of excise in nearby Alloa.
At the age of thirteen, after receiving a good ...
, ''The Other Flute''. Oxford University Press, 1975
*Nora Post, ''Multiphonics for the Oboe''
*
Paul Keenan, Document accompanying Ph.D. ''Lip Multiphonics and Composition''
*
John Gross
John Gross FRSL (12 March 1935 – 10 January 2011) was an eminent English man of letters. A leading intellectual, writer, anthologist, and critic, ''The Guardian'' (in a tribute titled "My Hero") and ''The Spectator'' were among several pu ...
. ''Multiphonics for the Saxophone: A Practical Guide; 178 Different Note Combinations Diagrammed and Explained'', Advance Music, 1999.
*Randall Hall, ''Multiphonic Etudes for Solo Saxophone''. Reed Music, 2009
*
Jean-Marie Londeix, ''Hello! Mr. Sax''. Alphonse Leduc, 1989
External links
The Woodwind Fingering Guide, containing multiphonic fingeringsThe Virtual Flute*
ttp://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/multiphonics-for-tuba-digital-sheet-music/20108969?ac=1 Multiphonics For Tuba
{{Extended techniques
Musical performance techniques
Extended techniques