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From: Scott Gold
Date: Mon, 12 Jul 1999 22:01:19 +1000
Subject: re: Humidity and Harps

as i sat on my balcony overlooking
a squall dumping rain in the mid-pacific,

Larry Boy in his subject:was relating
his woes regarding humidity:
Humidity and Harps
(Sat, 10 Jul 1999 20:27:17 -0400):


>We played a gig at the Frederick Blues Festival in Frederick, MD. today.
>Lots of good bands from the Balto./Washington DC corridor. Headliner was
>the Nighthawks. We opened the fest at Noon in a light rain. Thank goodness
>the stage was covered. Did I say stage? The flatbed was covered. I found
>the humidity affected the harps a lot. The 2 blow would choke out on me if
>I hit it too hard. This happened with T-Bones and LOs, but not as much
>with the one Special 20 I still use (an E). I just had to adjust a little
>to hit the 2 hole more direct and with less power. Any body else have to
>deal with this?

hello, Larry Boy, glad to see
you're playing such fun venues!
out here in the tropics,
humidity and rain are constants:
elements that need to be respected and addressed
if one wishes to survive.

90% of our gigs are outdoors,
and it's raining or typhoon-ing
another 90% of the time.

i've lamented on-list about
your very query a few times in the past:

fiesta tents being pulled off their
stake anchors in gale winds,
flying away leaving the band "nude";

playing as fast as i could
to finish up quickly since
i and my amp were standing
in a small pond;

choking reeds leaving my harp speechless;
and, of course, the ubiquitous sound:
of my green bullet rusting. . . .

how many times have i done a little
pre-gig practice at home in my
air-conditioned nightmare -
all perfectly set up,
and then have them all choke out on me
on-stage?

i recommend, if possible, allowing some time
for your harps to acclimatize
from the A/C to the outdoor environment.
also, play them briefly
before the performance.

finally, you might consider switching from
beer to something less sticky -
such as gin'n'tonics.
this has helped me out in more ways
than i can elaborate here.

hope this helps!

all the best from the inter-tropical convergence zone,

-sg
tumon bay





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