 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2009-12-20 10:39
...is a challenge. Played outdoors yesterday, for a good cause. Play two, three pieces, then watch your instrument freeze in your hands, ice chunks forming on tone holes, keys binding, syrupy and then sticking valves.
Before you swedge keys and hone brass machines, ask the players at what temperatures the gig is to be performed. Not even my trusty Bundy with the, uhm, rather relaxed key fits could cope with the freezing breeze.
I wonder how they handled that cold at Obama's inauguration. Guess we should take the weather into consideration next year.
But hey, it was fun.
--
Ben
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Author: stevensfo
Date: 2009-12-20 12:11
Since we came to Italy, my son's trumpet teacher- at the school - invites me every December to go for their traditional Carol concert held in the evening at the top of a smallish mountain.
This year was the first time. I took my my Hanson hard rubber clarinet which serves me well outdoors.
It was the first time I have ever played in such conditions!!! After two carols, I had to count my fingers. Towards the end, I could feel the keys starting to stick. Then suddenly I had to sight read a piece with 4 sharps, which normally wouldn't be a problem in a nice warm room! (Wind bands make Bb players very lazy wrt sharps & flats).
Fortunately, somebody started handing out some hot Gluhwein and after a few cups, I felt great!
I did enjoy it, but once a year is probably enough!
Steve
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2009-12-20 13:54
At the Obama inauguration, the the trio synched to a pre-recorded performance.
-10 C is 14 degrees F -- a piece of cake. In the West Point Band, I played honor guards when the temperature was near zero F. The worst problem was that you got there 20 minutes early and stood around waiting for the dignitary to arrive. By that time, you had no sensation in your lips or fingers, particularly if you were using the thin white kid gloves the band supplied, which had half of each finger cut off.
A big advance was gloves with thin plastic at the fingertips. I discovered that I could put white knit wool gloves on first, with the plastic-tip ones over. It was hard to move my fingers, but it was possible, and I maintained sensation in my fingers.
The worst honor guard, which I've written about before, was a day when it was 32 degrees. As we came up the hill to Trophy Point (where they hold the honor guards), the skies opened and we got over an inch of freezing rain in about two minutes. After we stood around in the rain and sleet for half an hour, the dictator of Paraguay arrived and decided he didn't want to stand in the rain. He got back in his limo and we followed him down to the field house, sloshing through a 4-inch deep waterfall flowing down the hill.
The more irreverent among us began to sing "Oh the gallant old Duke of York, He had ten thousand men, And he marched them up to the top of the hill, And he marched them down again." The colonel was not amused.
The dictator gave a 20 minute speech in Spanish, followed by a consecutive translation. Then the dictator's son delivered a 30 minute speech, with consecutive translation. We had on 20 pound overcoats, which had absorbed another 20 pounds of ice water, not to mention shoes full of ice water. A couple of cadets even fainted, but the band did OK. One of the older guys -- a bari sax player -- was said to have been on the Bataan Death March, and he shrugged off this one.
Ken Shaw
Post Edited (2009-12-20 13:59)
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Author: BobD
Date: 2009-12-20 14:24
During WWII our band played at the train station for departing Army inductees and it was always early in the morning. In winter it was a real test especially for the brass players.
Bob Draznik
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Author: Iceland clarinet
Date: 2009-12-21 01:18
Playing up to -8 to -10°C is ok for most instruments but you will sound terribly out of tune. But there is no way at this temperature that a tuba will be playable. The keys get stuck in a moment. The keys on the tuba will get stuck very badly after just 3-4 minutes. We once played at -10°C and we had to get inside to defroze the tuba after each song and at the end after 20 minutes the keys were so stuck that it wasn't possible to play any longer.
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Author: hinotehud ★2017
Date: 2009-12-21 02:28
I played in the Michigan State University Marching Band from 1964-67. One of those years, we were playing at Indiana U or Illinois U in -10 degree F. at game time. We combined for the National Anthem and somehow enough people played to have the song heard, but around me, all I could hear was a lot of swearing.
Before halftime, we had to kneel down in the endzone and wait the the 1st half to end. Someone stepped on my hand and bent all the keys on my clarinet. What really bothered me was I couldn't feel it!
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Author: Chris J
Date: 2009-12-21 02:54
Played carols outdoors 2 nights ago in 30 degrees.
Fortunately my only problem was a rapidly drying reed. Had to keep licking it like it was a melting ice cream.
Yep, that's 30 deg C, not 30 deg F.....
Chris
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Author: DixieSax
Date: 2009-12-21 02:57
I played in the Penn State marching band in the early '80s. The marching band had no indoor practice facility and no access to one then, and rehearsals were held out on an intramural field late afternoons 3 days a week, and from 7 until about 9:30 on Tuesday nights just off the university golf course.
The wind really came whipping across that golf course. Penn State regularly appears in bowl games, so naturally practice continued through the month of December in preparation for travel to some warm weather destination, but there was absolutely nothing worse than those Tuesday night rehearsals in December in the wind out on that golf course. Bitter cold.
I lucked into finding an old plateau clarinet that I fixed up so that it would play, and thus I could at least wear thin gloves. Some were not so fortunate.
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