Wind and brass instruments have been pushed far beyond their conventional limits. Extended techniques for winds and brass are now standard equipment for any composer writing after 1960.
THE EXPANSION OF WIND TECHNIQUE
The mid-twentieth century saw an explosion of interest in extending the technical and timbral range of wind and brass instruments. Composers, working directly with virtuoso performers, discovered that instruments could produce sounds completely unlike their conventional tones — and these new sounds became a new vocabulary.
MULTIPHONICS
Multiphonics on wind instruments are produced by simultaneously producing two or more tones through combinations of unusual fingerings, altered embouchure, and sometimes humming while playing. The resulting sound contains two or more distinct pitches (and their combination tones) simultaneously.
Multiphonics are unpredictable and vary significantly between players and instruments. For this reason, they are typically notated with general pitch targets rather than exact pitches. The sound can range from a dense hum to a harsh rattle, depending on the interval and the technique used.
The oboe and clarinet are particularly rich sources of multiphonics. Vinko Globokar's compositions for woodwind soloists and the extended technique studies of Bartolozzi ("New Sounds for Woodwind," Oxford University Press) are essential references.
FLUTTER-TONGUE
Flutter-tongue (German: Flatterzunge) is produced by rolling the tongue while playing, creating a rapid tremolo effect. On flute, it produces a rough, growling sound. On trumpet, it creates an aggressive, military snarl. On French horn, it is used for passages of unusual drama and force.
Mahler uses flutter-tongue in his early symphonies; Stravinsky uses it in "The Rite of Spring"; it has become entirely conventional in contemporary orchestral writing.
CIRCULAR BREATHING
Circular breathing allows a player to breathe in through the nose while continuing to push air out through the mouth using air stored in the cheeks — allowing theoretically continuous, uninterrupted sound. It is used in some non-Western traditions as a standard technique (didgeridoo, naqqara) and has been adopted by contemporary classical performers.
Composers writing for circular-breathing virtuosi (saxophonist Steve Lacy, trumpeter Jon Hassell) can write phrases of effectively unlimited length.
MICROTONAL INFLECTION
Many wind instruments can produce microtonal pitches through embouchure adjustments, unusual fingerings, or half-valving. Brass instruments can produce microtones by partially depressing valves or, on the trombone, by using the slide at intermediate positions.
French horn stopped technique (muting by inserting the hand in the bell) raises the pitch by a semitone or produces a distinctive muted "wah" quality when used as a color effect.
UNPITCHED AND PERCUSSIVE EFFECTS
Wind players can produce purely percussive sounds: key clicks (snapping the keys of a flute or clarinet without blowing — producing a dry, pitched click), breath tones (blowing without producing a pitch — a rushing, white-noise effect), and lip buzzing without the instrument.
Brass players can use the mouthpiece alone (higher, thinner buzz), the slide alone (trombone), or the valve mechanism as a rattle.
QUARTER-TONE PLAYING
Some wind instruments can be built specifically for quarter-tone performance. Ivan Wyschnegradsky and Alois Hába wrote music requiring special quarter-tone clarinets and flutes. More commonly, quarter-tones are produced through embouchure and fingering on standard instruments.
NOTATION
Extended wind and brass techniques require specialized notation. The New Grove Dictionary of Music (Oxford University Press) and the reference works of Bartolozzi, Rehfeldt, and Blades are standard references for notation conventions. Publishers including Edition Peters, Universal Edition, and Boosey & Hawkes have standardized some notations in their contemporary scores.
SLAP TONGUE AND PERCUSSIVE WIND TECHNIQUES
Slap tongue, originally a jazz saxophone technique, is now standard in contemporary classical writing for saxophone, clarinet, and (less commonly) bassoon. The player slaps the tongue against the reed and pulls away rapidly, producing a percussive sound with definite pitch but heavily attacked timbre. The effect is between a key click and a normal attack: pitched, but rhythmically aggressive. Edison Denisov, John Adams, and many contemporary composers use slap tongue extensively.
THE BENDING TECHNIQUES
Wind instruments can bend pitches through embouchure manipulation:
- Flute and recorder: bending the pitch downward by rolling the embouchure inward, or upward by rolling outward. Quarter-tone bends are reliable; larger bends are difficult.
- Clarinet and saxophone: lip bending allows bends of up to a third on the saxophone; less on the clarinet.
- Oboe and bassoon: the double reed allows bends primarily downward, with effort, and is more difficult to control than single-reed instruments.
Brass instruments bend pitches by partial valving (depressing valves only partway), lipping (changing embouchure), or, on the trombone, micro-positions of the slide. These bends are reliable for jazz-style phrasing.
MULTIPHONIC FINGERINGS AND THEIR USES
Multiphonic fingerings on woodwinds were systematically catalogued by Bruno Bartolozzi ("New Sounds for Woodwind," Oxford University Press, 1967) and later by Phillip Rehfeldt ("New Directions for Clarinet," University of California Press), Karen Geoghegan, and others. Each multiphonic has its own particular character — some are smooth and rich, some are dirty and unstable, some require subtle embouchure adjustments to produce reliably. Composers writing multiphonics should consult these resources and ideally collaborate with the actual performer who will play the work.
The clarinet's multiphonics are among the richest. The oboe can produce dyads (two-note multiphonics) more easily than triads. The bassoon's multiphonics tend toward grumbling, broken sounds. The flute's multiphonics are produced through specific fingerings combined with controlled overblowing.
JET WHISTLE AND TONGUE RAM (FLUTE)
The flute has several characteristic extended techniques:
Jet whistle: the player blows hard across the embouchure without producing a normal tone, instead producing a rushing, whistling sound. Used for atmospheric effects.
Tongue ram: the player blocks the embouchure with the tongue and forces air through, producing a percussive, almost flatulent sound an octave below the written pitch. Used for percussive effects.
Key clicks: snapping the keys without blowing produces a quiet but precise pitched click. Effective in soft, intimate passages.
Whistle tones: very soft, whispered tones produced by minimum-pressure breath; almost inaudible but ethereal. Effective only in extremely quiet contexts.
LIP MULTIPHONICS ON BRASS
Brass instruments can produce multiphonics by humming a pitch while playing a different pitch — the two pitches and their combination tones produce a chord-like sound. The technique is associated with hornist Tom Crawford and trombonist Stuart Dempster. It requires considerable practice but is now part of the extended-technique vocabulary.
STOPPED HORN VARIATIONS
The French horn's stopped technique includes several variations: standard stopped (right hand fully in the bell, raising the pitch a semitone, producing a nasal sound); brassy stopped (forceful, with a buzzing edge); echo stopped (very soft, distant); and gestopft glissando (sliding from stopped to open positions during a held note, producing a "wah" effect). Britten and Ligeti use these variations extensively.
DOUBLE-TONGUING ON BRASS
Brass double-tonguing (ta-ka-ta-ka) and triple-tonguing (ta-ka-ta or ta-da-ka) allow rapid articulation beyond the speed of single tonguing. The trumpet and horn double- and triple-tongue with great facility; the trombone double-tongues less easily because of the slide's slower response; the tuba's double-tonguing is limited by tubing length but available to skilled players.
BREATHING AND ENDURANCE
Wind and brass players have limited endurance. Sustained playing fatigues the lip (brass) or the embouchure muscles (wind). Orchestrators should distribute demanding passages across multiple players when possible, give players adequate rest, and avoid writing virtuosic passages immediately after exhausting tutti playing. Brass writing in particular requires careful endurance management: the first horn cannot play the entire concert at maximum dynamic with no rest.
NOTATION CONVENTIONS
Notation of extended wind and brass techniques varies. Common conventions include:
- Multiphonics: written as chords with text indicating "multiphonic" or with specific fingering diagrams.
- Flutter-tongue: three slashes through the stem with "flz." or "flutter" written above.
- Key clicks: notated with X-shaped noteheads on the staff at the relevant pitch.
- Slap tongue: notated with rectangular noteheads or with text indication.
- Air sounds: notated with diamond-shaped noteheads at approximate pitch.
The performance notes at the front of the score should explain any non-standard notation.
EXERCISE: EXTENDED TECHNIQUE TRANSCRIPTION
Listen to a recording of Luciano Berio's "Sequenza" for any solo wind or brass instrument. Identify at least three extended techniques by ear. Read the score (available through Universal Edition or in library collections). Note how the composer notates each technique. Write a brief description of the acoustic effect and what "normal" technique it replaces or extends. As a second exercise, listen to Varèse's "Density 21.5" for solo flute, written for the inauguration of a platinum flute (whose density is 21.5 g/cm³) — the work systematically explores every available flute technique, from low breathy notes to extreme high registers.