Environmental changes-Conditions and changes in conditions many times will lead to playing errors which we had not considered or prepared for.
You might ask what kind of environmental changes could occur and I will list a few.
Environmental changes-
1. Weather
This is a true story. The names have been included in order to illustrate how stupid some trumpet players can be. I accepted a playing job which was scheduled the day before I was to perform the Joseph Haydn Trumpet Concerto on campus. As it turned out the gig was outside in subzero weather where the mouthpiece stuck to the lip when playing. The gig was the Farm Progress Show in Western Iowa in the middle of December with an actual temperature of -10 degrees. We played to a few people who were interested in seeing the new Ford Tractors. Needless to say, by the time I entered the stage to perform the concerto, the lip was not working at all and I stumbled through it.
2. Untested lip creams
Our Faculty Brass Quintet was scheduled to perform a recital in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on the Coe College Artist Series. That concert was to be on Sunday. The day before, I spent the whole day in the field with my German Short Hair Pointer participating in dog field trials. Oh, did I mention that it was in Iowa in the middle of December…..again. While the quintet was driving from Cedar Falls to Cedar Rapids, I mentioned to the other trumpet player that my lips were a little chapped. He offered to loan me his “New” ChapStick which had just come out. I thought nothing of it until we reached the concert hall. Little did I know that I was allergic to the “New” ChapStick. We began the concert and by the midway point in the first number, I raised my hand and announced that I could not get another note out of my horn. The concert was over.
3. Too hot to perform
While play one of many Ringling Bros. Circus shows, a friend of mine complained of having trouble playing. Due to the fact that he was playing the third cornet part, I was surprised. After closer examination we decided that he was a completely dry embouchure player and because of the heat in the stadium, the perspiration on his lips caused his mouthpiece to slide from its usual position. No matter how often he mopped his face with a towel, his problem would not go away. This is just another example of environmental changes causing mistakes in ones playing.
4. Too cold to perform
This past year, I performed in a pit during a new show in Branson called “Wartime Romance”. The orchestra was not in its usual location because of staging requirement. Our location was behind the scenery and limited to a very small area off the risers. During our first performance, I noticed that the air conditioning was blowing directly on us from underneath the stage. The breeze was a constant cold and everyone was freezing from the draft. That would have been enough of a problem if it were not for the fact that I had a very exposed solo at the end of the show where I played a very slow a cappella trumpet rendition of taps at a very moving point in the show. There I was playing an unaccompanied, soft, heart wrenching solo of taps as my fingers were numb, my arms were shaking and my nose was running. Each show, I dressed with a heavier layer of clothing, trying to stay warm during the ten minute rest before taps was to play. My solution to the problem was adding long underwear, heavy socks and a piece of cardboard strategically placed in front of my stand to deflect the direct breeze flowing into the pit area.
5. Too loud
Somewhere in my past, I decided to learn to play a harp (harmonica) and performed a few times with bands in the area. One such band invited me to play with them in a local club and I accepted. That night I was able to hear the band easily from the parking lot outside the club and I knew I was in for a very bad evening. As I opened the door to the club, the volume of the band was overwhelming and painfully loud. Even before I was asked to join the band on stage, I had deeply imbedded my industrial strength ear plugs into my ears and hoped for the best. When we finally got to my solo, it was impossible to hear myself no matter how much I crowded the mike or blew. I am convinced that I missed every note I struggled to play due to the fact that I could not hear anything other than five out of tune, crank it to 10 on the dial, guitar players. That was the last time I played with that group. Your environment can affect your playing even when you think you have thought of everything.
6. And if you still need examples of how your environment can affect your playing, check this out ….
Making mistakes while performing will happen and in some cases we have little control over our surroundings. But each time we have these mishaps, we learn from our mistakes and hopefully guard against it happening again.
