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Common cold and playing
Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 6:18 am
by ttf_anonymous
Hi, I've had a cold for over a week now, but luckily I think it's about to go away. I have tried to keep up playing, but it has really been hard to keep my motivation, since my sound has been awful these days. I figured it was because of the cold, making my throat stuffy and my lung capacity bad. I complained about it to my wife, but she said I sounded quite ok. I just assumed she was being nice and wanted to encourage me, but then I thought, maybe it's my own impression of the sound that's being clogged up by the cold, more than the sound actually being bad.
What's your experience on this? If you're having a cold, do you sound like you've never played the trombone before? And do your listeners agree, or is it just the subjective perception of the player himself that suffers?
Common cold and playing
Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 7:49 am
by ttf_BGuttman
A lot of it is the congestion in your ears. Everything sounds odd when you have a head cold. The ears are more a problem than the lungs (you can compensate by just breathing more).
Now that you are more-or-less over the virus, make sure to clean your mouthpiece well. Maybe a trip through the dishwasher (not plastic, though!) or an overnight soak in mouthwash. Don't want to reinfect yourself.
Common cold and playing
Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 11:21 am
by ttf_crazytrombonist505
Quote from: BGuttman on Yesterday at 07:49 AMA lot of it is the congestion in your ears. Everything sounds odd when you have a head cold.
Yep, the congestion in your ears will make your playing sound odd to you.
Common cold and playing
Posted: Sat Jul 08, 2017 7:13 pm
by ttf_dershem
Common cold and playing
Posted: Sat Jul 08, 2017 8:00 pm
by ttf_BGuttman
Common cold and playing
Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2017 5:56 pm
by ttf_dershem
Quote from: BGuttman on Jul 08, 2017, 08:00PMHave you ever played this? It's a riot!
It's a hoot! I bought the sheet music a few decades ago, and have only found a couple of groups willing to play it, but it's a lot of fun. And who else uses "Sneezando!" as an expression?
Common cold and playing
Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2017 8:13 pm
by ttf_BGuttman
My problem was the odd instrumentation for the ensemble. It calls for 2 trumpets, 2 horns, and a trombone. Not much other quintet music can be played with such a group.
Common cold and playing
Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2017 10:59 pm
by ttf_FlamingRain
I had a sinus infection my senior year of high school when I had to do a bunch of musical performances - playing horn... my ears were full of fluid and I really couldn't hear anything. Everything FELT normal playing wise except that I couldn't hear very well - I could only hear the sound of the buzz in my mouth to tell that I was on the right pitch, and I was playing HORN, which I'm surprised I made it through 3 or 4 shows like that...
Common cold and playing
Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2017 10:59 pm
by ttf_FlamingRain
I had a sinus infection my senior year of high school when I had to do a bunch of musical performances - playing horn... my ears were full of fluid and I really couldn't hear anything. Everything FELT normal playing wise except that I couldn't hear very well - I could only hear the sound of the buzz in my mouth to tell that I was on the right pitch, and I was playing HORN, which I'm surprised I made it through 3 or 4 shows like that...