[Harp-L] Drinks and playing harmonica

[ian osborn]

Quick poll question for everyone..

When out jamming or gigging and having a drink and then playing the harp,
what do people feel?? In the sense of getting gunk and stuff into the reeds
etc..

A. Don't worry, just clean your harp later??

B. Whatever you drink, make sure to have a glass of water nearby to for
when you play to rinse out your mouth a bit

C. I find drinking (fill in the blank) never seems to affect my
harmonicas...

Thoughts???

Ian

[Leonard Schwartzberg]

Ian: Good evening. I'm a level 1, intermediate player with some very definite ideas as to gunk and drinking. I play mostly Seydel Session Steels, and need to be particularly careful, as they are well sealed and allow for very little air leakage, therefore easily get sticky reeds. A. Clean your harp always and continually. i.e. slap the spit out on your pantleg often; when you put the harp in your pocket, make sure it's the pocket without the bubblegum, peanuts, or leftover tuna sandwich; do lots of glissandos, both inhaling and exhaling, that's a quick way (as you're playing) to clean the instrument, and perhaps provide an interesting texture to your music; after each session, dunk the harp (diatonic) into some warm water, I use an instant coffee jar with the lid on so I can shake it baby, shake it, and then take out, slap it, and let dry. B. Drink water. In case you're asking if you should rinse out your mouth after drinking, re-read the start of this answer. Drink water. C. I find drinking W-A-T-E-R, W-A-T-E-R, W-A-T-E-R never seems to affect my harmonicas, lowers my blood pressure, is good for my arthritis, keeps me thin, young, and handsome, and gives my harps a better tone. Hope this helps to keep your reeds clean. Leonard

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[ian osborn]

So, ummm water??
🤔
LOL
Thanks for a great answer!

Ian

[Dennis Fischette]

I feel the worst thing to drink is sugar drinks like soda pop. Beer is better to drink than pop. But I feel after you eat or drink other than water, dental floss and rinse with water . Happy harpin, Dennis Fischette

Sent from my iPhone

[Steve]

> On 22 Jan 2017, at 03:36, Dennis Fischette <dmfis...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> "I feel the worst thing to drink is sugar drinks like soda pop. Beer is better to drink than pop. But I feel after you eat or drink other than water, dental floss and rinse with water."
>

> Well I won't be going to the pub with dental floss in my pocket. What on earth would they think if I was caught flossing in the gents? Playing after eating is bad. Allow at least 15 minutes and several good swigs of beer first (water if you're in mourning). With harps that are unvalved and all metal/plastic, just wash in warm water when you get home and give them a good shake-out. You can't do that with unsealed wood combs though I might risk a quick wash for sealed wood. I'm far more respectful of harps with valves and I wouldn't risk a chrom with anything other than a clean mouth. By the way, beer will gunk up the harp just as much as sugary drinks, as beer (at least the decent UK type) contains unfermented long-chain carbohydrates that will set like glue inside the harp if you don't do anything about it. In the old days the excise man would visit the inn wearing leather trousers and sit on a chair made wet with beer. After a while he'd stand up, expecting the chair to stick to his posterior. If it didn't, the landlord would be fined for watering his beer. A cautionary tale for harmonica players.
>

[Mike Wilbur]

Beer is always better than NO beer...

Fooling around will Phil Wiggins one time I made the statement that two glasses of a good Rhum helped me to play better.
Phil said " when I have three glasses of Rhum, you sound better ! "



Mike Wilbur

[David Brown]

I'm 54 and have been playing since I was 16. Countless gigs.

Here's a ten dollar answer for a one dollar question:

My own rules:
1. I eat at least 2 hours before the gig. I don't like that heavy gut feel
during a set.
2.PLAIN BOTTLED WATER AT ROOM TEMPERATURE (better for the vocal chords) in
a plastic bottle (doesn't break when knocked over).
I drink nothing carbonated as it may make me burp while playing.
3. NO SALT Dries out my mouth. Also, salt, in general, makes my tongue
feel, for lack of a better way to describe it, "thick".
4. NO SUGAR.Its probably just my imagination but I think the sugar in
typical soft drinks like Pepsi, etc. transfers to the reeds and
occasionally makes them stick.Is it carried in my breath? I don't know. I
don't have a lot of saliva in my mouth when I'm playing.
5. SPILLS Keep the water away from the harps. Some idiot (probably me)
bumps into the drink and guess where it spills ;-).
6. SCATTER Keep the harps away from the other band instruments and players
or the harps will, invariably, get knocked all over the place. Whether its
my amp or some other player's on stage, I never put my harps on an amp or
speaker cab.

Other rules (while I'm on a roll....):
7, DRUNK DRIVING I drink two of anything I want when I walk into the door
and chase them with plain bottled water at room temperature so that the
sugar or salt in the drinks don't get breathed into the harp (See Rule 1).
After the gig I can then drive home without worrying about a drunk driving
issue with the cops. If I want to drink more than I ought to, I arrange(
before hand) to have someone else (who isn't over the limit) drive me home.
8, TROUBLE It doesn't happen much anymore, but in my earlier days I played
in some very rough places... so.....I didn't drink to excess. I didn't want
to get into shit I couldn't see coming coming.
9. WOMEN (See Rule 72).


Yes, I know, all this is obvious, common sense butI have to learn things
the hard way.


On Sat, Jan 21, 2017 at 4:54 PM, ian osborn <davidia...@gmail.com>
wrote:

[David Brown]

Revised:

9. WOMEN (See Rule 8).

[Wilbur Euler]

Good common sense.

Sent from my iPad

[har...@cox.net]

I perfer a short cigar between sets ...

[Dane Paul]

I agree with all those rules pretty much the only thing I can add is Car portable toothbrush never play after eating or harp cheese will abound.


Dane Paul