Brrr...
It seems like wicked cold weather always attends the January Chamber Orchestra concerts at the Bijou. The
edict has been issued from management: “Do Not Use The Stage Door
To The Bijou For Any Reason!” Unlike the Tennessee Theatre, where
the stage door is a floor down from the performing level, the stage
door of the Bijou opens right on to the stage, letting in whatever
bus exhaust, Harley-Davidson noise (even with the door closed you get
that), and- COLD AIR.
To ensure good instrument and musician
health, there are contractual guidelines assuring that the
temperature onstage will be at a minimum of 65 degrees. Any colder
than that, and players' fingers are at risk of injury. The woodwind
and string instruments have a minimum temperature requirement for
structural health, but I must add that it is the wide fluctuations in
temperature that cause the most problems, not the cold temps
themselves. A cello or a bassoon, for instance, can't help but cool
off when being toted from a warm car (or bus, or train, etc.) to the
hall. For a string player, this means opening the case and mingling
the warmer indoor air with the cooled air inside the case, before
pulling the instrument out in earnest. Different pieces of the
instrument expand and contract with the heat at different rates, so
there is a chance that they will come unglued. The friction fit of
the pegs is affected by these different expansion rates also, which
is why we often open our cases to find that one (or more) of our
strings has come unwound. The glue which holds a stringed instrument
together is purposely not super strong, in case there is some
tectonic shifting due to temperature differential. Any glue that is
stronger than the wood itself will cause the instrument to tear
itself to shreds when exposed to a drastic temperature change. You
want the glue to let go, not the wood itself. Humidifying devices,
the most common of which is called the Dampit, are inserted into the
f-holes to raise the humidity inside the instrument. The humidity
plummets because of the dry forced-air heat that is so prevalent in
our modern winter world.
A woodwind player's plight is
different here, in that the player's warm breath blown into the
instrument is at a way higher temperature than the ambient air, even
on a summer's day. For this reason, woodwind instruments also need
time to become acclimated to the cold. Another danger for wind
instruments makes itself known at the end of a rehearsal or concert,
when players leave through a door that allows cold air to enter. (A
woodwind instrument takes quite a bit longer to put away; you can
always count on the woodwind players to still be on stage at least 10
minutes after work). This cold air always seems to make a beeline for
the woodwind instruments, which have become toasty warm from the
indoor warm air and from being played. Principal clarinetist Gary
Sperl can tell you some horror stories about cracks that his
clarinets have sustained this way.
I have always been puzzled by the
amazing condition of some string instruments that are 350+ years old.
Most modern classical musicians, if not all, have every convenience
and amenity to keep us warm in this weather, but what about 300 years
ago? How on Earth did musicians in Europe and especially Russia cope
with winter weather? Obviously Strads, Guarneris, etc. were owned by
the upper class, who had ample means of keeping things warm, but what
about the poor grunts that had decent but not world-class
instruments?
It will probably get above freezing by Sunday at 2:30, when the Knoxville Symphony Chamber Orchestra will
present music of Mozart, Stamitz and Strauss. It will definitely be
above 65 inside the Bijou Theatre. So come warm up with us!
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