Colder weather playing

B

buzzbuzz

Member
I'm playing a gig outside on Friday night. It's not supposed to be too terribly cold - lower 50's. Would you wear gloves or use some hand warmers? At least I don't have to take my fan to the gig!
 
No gloves or hand warmers, but do a light warmup and some stretching exercises before.
 
What about cymbals? I worry about that playing them in the winter. My back room gets a bit chilly and I worry about smacking them below 65 or so. They always FEEL so cold.
 
In college I played drums in the pep band at all the hockey games. It was probably high 40's/low 50's in the ice rink, and I never had any problems if I just warmed up for a few minutes. Once you get the blood flowing in your fingers, you should be just fine.
 
They feel cold because they're 35 degrees or so colder than your body temperature. Don't worry about it at that temperature.... or any temperature for that matter. Metal has to be seriously frozen at unbearable temperatures before it gets brittle enough to be that easily damaged. If you don't habitually break cymbals, you won't be more likely to break them in the cold.
 
I played an outside gig last month at a house party in ridiculous 30 degree weather for almost 2 1/2 hours! Wear a hat, keep the torso warm, get up and stretch the legs between each song, stay hydrated and hope for the best! :) (and no, I didn't wear gloves though I probably should have).
 
You'll be fine..and I mentioned this before... your only problem will be listening to the guitar players whine about how cold there fingers are..
 
Heres an idea. Try getting one of those little pouch looking things that quarterbacks wear. Its fairly small and snaps around your waist. Theres also a pocket in there where you can put a hand warmer packet. You can keep your hands in there inbetween playing to help keep them warm.
 
It's at the business plays one of the band members owns - so not contract opt out. Just looked and the low is in the low 50's so I should be good to go.
 
hey GD very good ... too good actually - i've been so busy having fun with my boy that i have been relegated from administrator to pioneer member and back again. fair enough - i do wish i had more time for DW since its given me so much over the years. but choosing between bouncing my boy on my knee and spending time on a computer ... the choice was obvious. how are you?
 

Attachments

  • xxxx.jpg
    xxxx.jpg
    81.2 KB · Views: 112
I remember one winter gig many years ago where it was also windy and we ended up needing to fold nails over the legs of the cymbal stands as they kept trying to take off. Wild to watch as they didn't just tip over, the weight of the stand underneath acted like a kites tail and they would literally lift off the stage and start motoring across.
 
buzzbuzz said:
It's at the business plays one of the band members owns - so not contract opt out. Just looked and the low is in the low 50's so I should be good to go.
Click to expand...

Shouldn't matter; there's a point where you don't just ask someone to do something which is harmful to their health! Hopefully there won't be a wind chill of 24.

Mike

http://www.mikemccraw.com
http://www.dominoretroplate.com
http://www.patentcoachmike.com
http://www.youtube.com/drummermikemccraw
http://www.myspace.com/drummermikemccraw
http://www.facebook.com/mike.mccraw
http://www.linkedin.com/in/mikemccraw
http://twitter.com/mikemccraw
 
Aeolian said:
I remember one winter gig many years ago where it was also windy and we ended up needing to fold nails over the legs of the cymbal stands as they kept trying to take off. Wild to watch as they didn't just tip over, the weight of the stand underneath acted like a kites tail and they would literally lift off the stage and start motoring across.
Click to expand...

Last year we played a haloween parade.. My guitar player noticed my china cymbal could become a giulloltine and behead me .. it was windy plus we were moving.going around sharp corners..ect...I took some plumbing strap the kind with holes in it and ran strapping from stand to stand screwing it to the floor of the trailer every chance I could..(I now have a rack) this straping of stands does work well in windy/parade type conditions.
 
buzzbuzz said:
I'm playing a gig outside on Friday night. It's not supposed to be too terribly cold - lower 50's. Would you wear gloves or use some hand warmers? At least I don't have to take my fan to the gig!
Click to expand...

Please take note of this: when playing in the cold you will have little or no grip at all on your sticks and your palms will just slide against sticks. This will become painful especially on the area of your hand between the thumb and index finger.

Buy some wax! You can get it from any drum store and believe me it will do wonders for your playing in any condition. I cannot recommend this stuff enough and I never do a gig without it anymore it gives you so much more control.
 
I played a show a few nights ago and it was about 30 degrees out. What I always do is keep my hands warm no matter what. I wore gloves and got all my drums into the venue as quick as I could. If you play first, try to do some warm ups before you get on, and make sure your hands don't get cold because then you will tense up.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top