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Post by bleatoid on Jul 16, 2018 20:23:35 GMT
Cope with the heat of stage lights etc., that is.
I'm really struggling playing much at all in this weather.
I get sweaty mitts in no time and me callouses go all floppy.
Peter
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Martin
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Post by Martin on Jul 16, 2018 20:37:57 GMT
Fans make all the difference (both kinds )
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Post by dreadnought28 on Jul 16, 2018 23:22:42 GMT
Try 4 years in Florida!
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Post by andyhowell on Jul 17, 2018 6:33:12 GMT
It is certainly challenging at the moment. The other night I sang while watching streams of sweat rolling down onto the top of my guitar and the neck was as sticky as if it had been in a swamp!
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Post by bleatoid on Jul 17, 2018 8:25:10 GMT
Ah yes - but when practicing at home or playing in even the cosiest venue over there, you'd have the benefit of aircon. I was thinking that if I'm getting uncomfortable hands practicing in my little North facing spare bedroom, how on earth do people cope in, say, the basement folk clubs of this country - even before the adrenalin kicks in........the sort of circumstances that AndyH has just described. Peter
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Post by PistolPete on Jul 17, 2018 11:18:34 GMT
When I was playing with the band (which involved a fair bit more leaping around than I do now), I once vomited from the heat after coming off stage. Shortly afterwards I acquired one of these which still does me well. It's rare I even need to crank it past '1' on the dial.
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ocarolan
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Post by ocarolan on Jul 17, 2018 11:32:08 GMT
Sweaty mitts? That's what jeans are for, esp whilst still playing...though I do have a small towel that is useful for handwiping and instrument neck wiping too.
Keith
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Post by robmc on Jul 17, 2018 12:38:16 GMT
I'd be a sweaty mess at minus 40 never mind in a heatwave!
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Post by scorpiodog on Jul 17, 2018 16:29:04 GMT
I'd be a sweaty mess at minus 40 never mind in a heatwave! But the buzz afterwards makes performing worthwhile despite the nervous sweating during and raw fear before you start. You need to try it, Rob.
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Post by robmc on Jul 17, 2018 22:53:54 GMT
I'd be a sweaty mess at minus 40 never mind in a heatwave! But the buzz afterwards makes performing worthwhile despite the nervous sweating during and raw fear before you start. You need to try it, Rob. scorpiodog, when you put it like that...! I do feel the urge 👍
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Post by bleatoid on Jul 18, 2018 12:55:33 GMT
But the buzz afterwards makes performing worthwhile despite the nervous sweating during and raw fear before you start. You need to try it, Rob. scorpiodog , when you put it like that...! I do feel the urge 👍 Well I do, and I don't. By which I mean I would absolutely love to be able to perform a song well to an audience, or even do some busking for charity, but I've woken from the nightmare too many times - I would plan to start with "Don't think Twice" - a song I've played pretty much every day for the past 20 years as a little travis picker warm up - but I'd sit on my stool, look at the audience blankly and wonder why I was holding a piece of wood in my trembling, sodden wet hands. I would apologise for having been in the way, and walk shamefully out. I struggle to play anywhere near my competence level if my wife walks in. Odd really - I'm quite happy doing a presentation to a couple of hundred people. Peter
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Post by scorpiodog on Jul 18, 2018 15:26:41 GMT
Well I do, and I don't. By which I mean I would absolutely love to be able to perform a song well to an audience, or even do some busking for charity, but I've woken from the nightmare too many times - I would plan to start with "Don't think Twice" - a song I've played pretty much every day for the past 20 years as a little travis picker warm up - but I'd sit on my stool, look at the audience blankly and wonder why I was holding a piece of wood in my trembling, sodden wet hands. I would apologise for having been in the way, and walk shamefully out. I struggle to play anywhere near my competence level if my wife walks in. Odd really - I'm quite happy doing a presentation to a couple of hundred people. Peter It's one of those things like swimming in cold water. You can't do it if you're only up to your ankles. The strangest thing is (and I'm sure you won't believe this - it is odd) that all the fear goes when you strike the first chord or say something to the audience (I always start with "Good Evening" or "Hello" or something equally inane). Muscle memory is fab, although complete familiarity with the material is vital). It's not the same as when your wife walks in. A performance has a given starting point that you control. In case you're still worried, find a local group (a folk club or open mic) where the ethos is welcoming and supportive. You can find one by going along to a few as a member of the audience. Sing just one or two songs. Then, if it really is garbage and you freeze or foul up you haven't got too long before you can run away (but you won't as long as you are inside out familiar with the material). Before too long you'll be wanting to do it often and with longer sets, because the buzz is extraordinary. Or you can wait til the forum meeting in September and come to that. I can't think of a more welcoming and supportive environment. You can swim, bleatoid but you need to get into the water first!
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Post by bleatoid on Jul 18, 2018 23:37:06 GMT
Ah - I really appreciate your encouragement Scorpiodog - your analogies and insights are spot on - but it just isn't going to happen, in this lifetime, for me.
I'm condemned to a perpetual audience of zero, and I accept the sentence happily.
It's OK - it's safe - nothing can go wrong, beyond my own disappointment with my own performance to myself. There's never any upside buzz, certainly, but there's no risk of global humiliation and shame from a complete blank out. I'll settle for that. The applause may be a tad muted when the performance surprises and delights - but that's OK too - if nobody's about, I might even give myself a subdued whoop.
Come to think of it, maybe I'll just settle for a hint of a smile.
Just in case.
Someone could hear a subdued whoop.
And that would constitute a public performance - I might freeze.....in mid-subdued-whoop.......
Peter
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Post by andyhowell on Jul 19, 2018 6:54:02 GMT
I’m struck by the suggestion that public performance requires competence. Personally, I’ve never worried about that :-)
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Post by scorpiodog on Jul 19, 2018 9:48:16 GMT
I’m struck by the suggestion that public performance requires competence. Personally, I’ve never worried about that :-) No competence here, Andy. But preparation is necessary to create confidence. Oddly, a recent flyer at an event which featured Men In Black did include, in the description of us as performers "a triumph of confidence over competence". I found it hard to take offence for two main reasons: 1) It is true. 2) I wrote it.
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