Tremulant, Do you use it much ? Options

[fsharpminor]

Most organs have a tremulant, but I have to say I hardly use it at all.
Do you ? And what sort of stuff might you use it for, and with what registration.
I have used it for 'Herzlich tut mich verlangen' (JSB) with an oboe solo, and maybe a couple of places in the Mendelssohn sonatas (again with oboe), but really its a waste of time !

[Swell Box]

Very rarely.

The Tremulant on one of our parish organs doesn't work at all, whilst the Tremulant on another organ makes such a racket that nobody likes to use it; and it doesnt really add a great deal to the music anyway.

Meanwhile, the Tremualnt on most of the electronic organs that I have ever played sounds just horrible to me. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

In my very limited experience, and very humble opinion, I would say that the Tremulant is probably best used with great moderation, but I daresay it depends on the instrument concerned. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

SB

[mel2]

On our instrument it makes a) the sort of sound you would get in a Las Vegas chapel of rest at viewing time, or b) a good imitation of a busy helipad.

Jess Yates might have liked it but I don't think I have ever used it publically.

[Cyrilla]

On our instrument it makes a) the sort of sound you would get in a Las Vegas chapel of rest at viewing time, or b) a good imitation of a busy helipad.

Jess Yates might have liked it but I don't think I have ever used it publically.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

[fsharpminor]

Actually Cyrilla, I dont think I ever used the tremulant on your Parish church when I played there.
If I remember rightly its a Rushworth & Draper organ, same make as I play now, but a little bigger.

[mel2]

The one I play is a Rushworth and Dreaper. That much I do know about it. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Maybe Tremulants weren't their stong suit.

[Holz Gedeckt]

I have used it for 'Herzlich tut mich verlangen' (JSB) with an oboe solo, and maybe a couple of places in the Mendelssohn sonatas (again with oboe), but really its a waste of time !

No, a well-regulated and well-adjusted tremulant is most certainly NOT a waste of time.

Although not, of course, as flexible as a vibrato on voice and certain other instruments, it certainly has its place in the world of the organ and its music, and has been used in organs for several centuries. J.S. Bach certainly enjoyed using the tremulant, as did the composers of the early French school who frequently called for it, and expected two different sorts of tremulant - a 'tremblant fort' and a 'tremblant doux'. It's not just the Romantics who enjoyed using it!

The normal use of the tremulant is with a solo stop, or with a combination of stops providing a solo voice. See http://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/850433 for further details about tremulants.

Unfortunately, the tremulant was often shunned by 'classical' organists in the middle decades of the last century due to its association with the theatre/cinema organ.

[liebe_klavier]

i use it when it is necessary.

[mel2]

i use it when it is necessary.

I'll try anything once but so far have never played anything that required it. (How would you know? Is it listed in the registration suggestions at the top of the page or is it used ad lib with that unquantifiable thing called taste and experience?)

[Plein Jeu]

I only use the tremulant on certain pieces. The Bach (as mentioned above) and the Elegy in Bb by G. Thalben-Ball, where he specifically asks for a Viol, Flute and Tremulant on the Choir or Solo.

[hello_cello]

How does it actually work?

[Holz Gedeckt]

How does it actually work?

Oi! HC! Have a read of the link in my post above! Cor, these bell ringers! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Swell Box]

How does it actually work?

Very simply, by creating a continual cyclical variation in the wind pressure supplied to selected parts of the organ, (usually the Swell), thereby creating a vibrato type effect.

(See, you can always count on a fellow bell ringer to help you out). (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)


SB

[diapason]

Unfortunately, the tremulant was often shunned by 'classical' organists in the middle decades of the last century due to its association with the theatre/cinema organ.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif)

Sad, but true. I trust that organists of today are more enlightened !!!!!?????

Have you never sat at a console, a chorus of tibias, vox humanas and strings beating away with a sobbing throbbing tremulant (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[vectistim]

I will use the working one I have access to sometimes, but only with a single 8' stop (sometimes with its octave coupler) for bits of quiet infil - usually during communion. Its quite effective for that sort of thing, but I don't like its sound with much more than a single stop in use.