[Harp-L] Drinks and playing harmonica

[Wilbur Euler]

Good common sense.

Sent from my iPad

> On Jan 22, 2017, at 10:57 AM, David Brown <nonidesign at xxxxx> wrote:
> 
> 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 <davidianosborn at xxxxx>
> wrote:
> 
>> 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
>>