Playing and singing simultaneously on brass instruments

3. Production

The method of simultaneously producing a played pitch with a vocal one is no mystery and can be explained briefly as follows. While playing the player can make use of the air stream to vibrate his vocal chords. This is done by beginning with one of the functions on its own and then adding the other. This can be done even without the instrument when buzzing. Once the player has experienced this particular feeling, he should continue by playing different intervals. He will notice that there is no need to change his lip tension in order to vary the pitch of the sung note: this depends only on the vocal chords and is therefore independent of the played note. The player will need some concentrated practice to establish this production and to make this independence evident.

When the two pitches occur simultaneously, other notes are generated (cf. §5) and form a complex sound. The player should be able to produce the exact interval immediately, so he must have in mind the two pitches before blowing. Unstable intervals demand greater diaphragm effort to support a steady production.

The technique is effective with horn and trombone, fairly convincing with the trumpet and very effective with the tuba. This has to do with the existence of high harmonics in the sound, and the register of the voice in comparison with that of the instrument. This fact makes the generated notes sound evident and the voice integrated with the instrument. The size of the instrument and its bell is important for the amplification of the voice.

The voice register can pose many problems. Composers don't give enough thought to the possible range (especially at the lower end) of the average voice and to the number of female brass players who must find alternative solutions due to their inability to sing the actual pitches.

At this point, we should clarify why we avoid the term "multiphonics" which is often used for this technique. Multiphonics or multiple-sonorities, known first in connection with woodwind instruments¹⁸ are purely instrumental sounds. That means, sounds whose origin is the natural generator of the instruments' sound (but can be impure according to historical aesthetic conventions). Multiple sonorities are possible on brass instruments, but they are quite unsteady in production though similar acoustically. We prefer the term "playing and singing simultaneously" in order to emphasize this essential difference in the tone source. The term "double stop" borrowed from string instruments is sometimes used in the literature.