Stage fog

Craig Swartz · Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2017 12:18 pm Post subject:

Heck- you're in Texas so I wouldn't think it'd be much of a thing. If you were in CO like Don I'd figure the THC added to the fog might be the problem

. I have to admit I've played many venues with fog added for the lighting effects and never really thought anything about it. Now I suppose you've got me thinking about it and it'll screw me up forever.

Thanks, Brad...

Brad361 · Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2017 6:36 pm Post subject:

Don Herman rev2 · Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2017 7:18 pm Post subject:

Hmph. I used to say that, since my house is at about 7500', all my notes are high notes.

Now, that could be taken wrongly...
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etc-etc · Heavyweight Member Joined: 19 Jan 2008 Posts: 6187

spitvalve · Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2017 8:27 pm Post subject:

I heard Craig Turley, who used to tour with the Osmond Brothers back in the day, tell a funny story about stage fog. In their stage show they used fog effects, and all that CO2 fog one night drifted down into the pit and the guys in the horn section had a hard time breathing. A roadie passed an oxygen tank around and they all took turns inhaling mostly pure oxygen. Craig, who was playing lead on that chart, then had to play a high D. He said the note came out so honking loud that Donny actually stopped singing for a moment and gave him a surprised look.
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Don Herman rev2 · Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2017 6:25 am Post subject:

Craig Swartz · Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2017 7:26 am Post subject:

Speaking of breathing out of a tank... About a hundred years back in my rock band days, we played a small Illinois town prom who chose "Feelings" as their motto tune. There were helium balloons all over the place and there was still a tall tank of it back stage the drummer and guitar player were screwing with during breaks. So, came time to crown the king and queen and the tune and dance, the singer who'd been out doing his own fog at the last break dragged the tank on stage up to the mic and proceeded to sing "Feelings" through intermittent hits of helium. It was about the funniest thing I'd ever heard but no one in the HS was amused. Had to do some major fence mending on the spot to get paid.

Brad361 · Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2017 8:58 am Post subject:

John Mohan · Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2017 9:17 am Post subject:

mm55 · Heavyweight Member Joined: 01 Jul 2013 Posts: 1412

cheiden · Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2017 11:26 am Post subject:

DoubleEagle · Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2017 10:25 pm Post subject:

I used to be be in a singing/acting group in the '90s that used two kinds of fog, depending on what we could get. The dry ice type fog had a couple advantages. It stayed low as it was heavier than air so it wasn't being breathed in by us, the singers. It actually looked like ground fog as well, which was the intent. The only ingredients were dry ice and a lot of very hot water. Given the amounts of each, I'm guessing the fog was really mostly water vapor and not CO2. While there may be other stuff out there in use, I'm not sure why high humidity at room temperature should cause big breathing problems, though I can see where horns might play differently in thicker air. There was no odor.

The "mechanical" fog was different. It's actually smoke from burning an oil. It tended to rise, making breathing (and singing) harder, and it smelled bad and tended to irritate the breathing apparatus. The device also made a big hissing noise which real fog doesn't do, so it spoiled the theatrical effect a bit. I guess I'd inquire about the materials used

We did did an original one act musical based on Addams Family characters in the family graveyard
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cheiden · Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2017 9:21 am Post subject:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatrical_smoke_and_fog
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DoubleEagle · Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2017 2:23 pm Post subject:

Well, I guess I stand corrected. I didn't know that there are only trace amounts of CO2 in the air naturally. I thought there was considerably more than there is. We got a fair amount of fog with a very small amount of dry ice and a cooler-sized container. The effect didn't last long.
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Benge CG, Early '70s Selmer piccolo, Early '80s Selmer piccolo, Conn 12A cornet, Conn 38A cornet, Conn 48A Connqueror "Vocabell", Conn Connquest 76A cornet, Conn Director 17A Coprion cornet, Conn Director 15A cornet, '50 Olds valve/slide trombone