Outdoor playing!

cbtj51 · Posted: Fri Dec 22, 2017 7:54 am Post subject: Outdoor playing!

I don't often play outdoors much anymore, but I had a Brass Sextet performance in a neighborhood Park last night just after dark for Carol sing alongs, food and fun! Humidity was about 95% and it was unseasonably warm. The stage and our seats were damp when we arrived. Very large crowd!

My fellow musicians and I experienced a huge need to dump moisture from our horns at every opportunity. Much more than I can ever remember! The air seemed heavy as well and our sound almost seemed muffled, at least from my side of the horn. Has anyone ever had this experience? How do you handle it?
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trickg · Posted: Fri Dec 22, 2017 8:23 am Post subject: Re: Outdoor playing!

dstdenis · Posted: Fri Dec 22, 2017 8:25 am Post subject:

Yes, I have. I play in a jazz band that does a few outdoor gigs each year. The biggest issue is pitch. I check tuning during warmup and set the tuning slide wherever it needs to go to get me in tune with the electronic keys (then it's just careful listening and adjusting from there). I resist the temptation to try and compensate for being outdoors in other regards, like whether the sound is carrying, is muffled, etc. I try to play like I would in a good hall and leave it at that.

Congrats on getting a chance to entertain this crowd. Sounds like fun!
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TKSop · Posted: Fri Dec 22, 2017 8:28 am Post subject:

As unhelpful as it may be...

Remind yourself that just because you're not hearing it come back to you as well doesn't mean you're not being heard.

It can be hard at times, but you have to trust the sensations and play at sustainable volume... especially if it's not particularly fun, you need to get to the end of the gig unscathed, and changing too much (especially volume) can land you in trouble pretty quickly.

As far as the moisture goes, you just have to find opportunities to dump it - it's a pain, but the show goes on.

kehaulani · Posted: Fri Dec 22, 2017 8:31 am Post subject:

I had a big band gig once on Okinawa where it was so steamy and humid that my music actually accorded down (folded in on itself) on the music stand. You could look at a street light and not see the light itself, rather just a diffused halo around it.

On the other end of the scale, played a concert in Palm Springs where the temperature was, literally, 110 degrees in the shade and we were in one of those portable Winger trucks/stages. Clothes were soaked through before the first piece ended. But it was dry heat.

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cbtj51 · Posted: Fri Dec 22, 2017 2:47 pm Post subject:

Bflatman · Heavyweight Member Joined: 01 Nov 2016 Posts: 720

I believe we are the representation of everything we do and have learned.

What I mean is this, we choose an instrument that we can work with easily, we choose a mouthpiece on which we can generate the tonality we desire and with familiarity can do that dependably and reliably, and we practice so much that our musicianship becomes faultless.

Furthermore we gain such a depth of experience that unconciously we choose the right things to do to compensate for our surroundings and environment.

We learn how to deliver a solid performance without fretting over small details that would mar our performance and we exude professionalism because of all these things we have learned to do.

When performing we then become a rock upon which the ensemble can build its performance and its reputation.

How do we deal with difficult environments, through good choices, good practice, and a wealth of good experience.