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Hot Weather Playing

Author: vboboe
Date: 2005-08-05 19:46

Whew!
What c-o-o-l tips have warm temperate or tropical zone players got for cool temperate zone oboe players during their brief hot season?

HOT DRY summer weather has arrived here, and with it a whole new set of playing challenges, such as
- reed air-dries to not-moist-enough very quickly, in just a few rest bars it seems
- much much harder to play ppp, notes just stop by themselves
- ff goes squeaky or squawky very easily
- lower notes simply don't speak as easily as they do in cooler humid weather
- spit line doesn't develop down to the bell, or runs dry during rest bars
- less humidity in wood oboe itself, sounds "harder" tonally, more vibrato needed to soften up
- spit 'rattles' in the reed, ditto in more notes generally
- spit's thicker too, sticky and gummy after only a short time playing
- more squeaks and squawks, pads don't seem to close tightly enough, have to press keys harder
- salty sweat drips off face onto instrument and silver keys have given tiny electric shocks occasionally
- sticky sweaty fingers seem to glue themselves to the keys, delaying lift-off for micro-seconds, which is an interesting syncopated effect ...!

So, what to do differently in hot season playing?

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