winter practice annoyances

[bloke]

Brett,
The temperature isn’t the only factor.
Furnaces and air conditioners change humidity, humidifiers and dryers still don’t feel completely natural, and forced air systems force chilled or heated air out on to people, and it’s not the same as going outside and being in usually-calm air that is the same temperature.

When air is calm, a much wider temperature range is tolerable and completely comfortable.

The problem is that tubas aren’t as accepting of a wider range of temperatures than am I and a very large percentage of others.

[Doc]

Doc (who is cut out for Yankee weather, but not for everything "Yankee")

Having lived "out east" most of my life, I had never attributed that word to anything except for New England -- new to me!

Seems like two conflicting types of Scandinavian mindsets here, and which of these are hygge, mys, lagom... I don't know. But it's a lot of that culture baked in here -- it's cold and gray outside. Plenty to do and plenty to be done outside, life does continue through the winter... but when you are inside, it's got to be good.

First, there's the frugal nordic attitude. When it gets cold, put on a sweater. When it gets really cold, put on two. Big socks. Drink a good amount of coffee during the day, and you'll get through it just fine. There's plenty to do and plenty to be done inside. Go to bed early and sleep through a lot of it. Body heat (yours plus someone else's ) keeps you warm. Plenty of August births around here, you know.

And then, the attitude that the home should be inviting, social, warm, and comfortable. After all, you're not outside anymore and you're not an animal. It sucks outside, so get inside, get warm, stay warm. If you're cold, we'll make it warmer. If it's too warm, take some clothes off (plenty of August births around here, you know).

I hear ya, but around these parts, you can take all your clothes off and still be miserably hot, sometimes even during that season some folks call "winter." We sleep with fans year round, as do many folks down here. If my wife is in my bubble, and it is too hot, she is banished to the other side the bed. That's usually not necessary, as she, too, can't sleep when it's too warm.

Regarding the original topic:
As far as winter practice annoyances, the cold is rarely an issue, although during cooler temps, it does take a few minutes to heat up all that brass. I'm not sure I've used my lexan blokepiece rim for any winter playing, but I've definitely used it during the summer.

After all, you're not outside anymore and you're not an animal.

IMG_7021.JPG (95.48 KiB) Viewed 535 times

[Doc]

If I ever were to come up to Minnesota, I'd be parked on your couch the whole time...72 inside is perfect. (Especially when it's Arcticly below 40 outside).

72 degrees outside in July, and people say it's the best weather and most comfortable thing ever.

72 degrees in your own house on a cold snowy day... and people don't like it?! I don't get it.

BTW, in Minneapolis, it's not uncommon to get below zero temperatures (or even high temperatures that are below zero). The -40F stuff usually doesn't come this far south. @MN_TimTuba gets more of that stuff. The coldest I've experienced here was about -35F, one time, a few years ago.

Typically in my life, I approach new things with an "act like you've been here/done this before" attitude. But on that -35F day, I was a complete joker, and made every effort to be ridiculous and test it out to see what it was really like:
* Eating ice cream outside to warm up (ice cream kept at 0F... 35 degrees warmer!
* Walking outside with no shoes on (ouch!)
* Throwing a cup of boiling water in the air to make snow (throw it down wind from you!)
* Going on and on about how it's a 100 degree difference in temperature between outside and inside
* ^Going well beyond that by using our condo building's sauna, and then running straight from there to outside. Kind of the sweat lodge idea, but the arctic version. Talk about jolting and invigorating!

72 degrees outside would only be really nice and comfortable here (to me) with low humidity (less than 40%), but we rarely have that (usually 90-95%). A bright, clear day with low humidity and 72 degrees is pretty pleasant. As it is, however, I'd prefer it 60-65. Or less. We get those "perfect" days about five times per year. And humidity is the key to comfort or misery, indoors or outdoors. Some folks love this climate. Others, me included, not so much. I'd take LOW humidity anything at this point.

[bort2.0]

Brett,
The temperature isn’t the only factor.
Furnaces and air conditioners change humidity, humidifiers and dryers still don’t feel completely natural, and forced air systems force chilled or heated air out on to people, and it’s not the same as going outside and being in usually-calm air that is the same temperature.

When air is calm, a much wider temperature range is tolerable and completely comfortable.

The problem is that tubas aren’t as accepting of a wider range of temperatures than am I and a very large percentage of others.

Oh, I know, and I'm sort of being facetious. Just saying, y'all going to come over to my house and say "it's kinda hot in here..."

[bloke]

Yeah… I get that.
With air conditioning though, 72° feels cold, whereas with heat, 72° feels hot…
…particularly when I’m within 10 feet of a register.

I do make it cooler at night in the summer, because - again - I like to sleep in a cool room… but it’s a lot cheaper to cool the house at night - in the summer - than it is to cool it in the daytime.

[KingTuba1241X]

Brett,
The temperature isn’t the only factor.
Furnaces and air conditioners change humidity, humidifiers and dryers still don’t feel completely natural, and forced air systems force chilled or heated air out on to people, and it’s not the same as going outside and being in usually-calm air that is the same temperature.

When air is calm, a much wider temperature range is tolerable and completely comfortable.

The problem is that tubas aren’t as accepting of a wider range of temperatures than am I and a very large percentage of others.

Oh, I know, and I'm sort of being facetious. Just saying, y'all going to come over to my house and say "it's kinda hot in here..."

My dad runs his wall heater almost year round in a fairly nice climate here. Literally, Thanksgiving could be 75 outside...and inside the house is so hot (90 degrees almost) your clothes catch fire as you walk through the door.

[tubanh84]

Does anyone else have trouble with playing in cold rooms - due to trying to save some utility bills money? I wonder if I should pick up some sort of quiet radiant heater, and just plug it in and turn it on close to where I’m going to practice - perhaps ten minutes ahead of time, and with the instrument(s) nearby, as well.

I've spent the past 11 years in Alaska and New Hampshire. So. I've got some insight here. Nothing works well when it's cold. The horn, your lips, your fingers, breath, anything. Part of it is the cold. Part of it is that when you get a cold snap, it's also dry. Hard to play when you can't produce saliva (sorry...WATER. It's WATER).

We prioritize keeping our music room warm. Mostly because I have a lute, and my daughter has a violin. Which are much more greatly affected by the cold and dry than my tubas. And I find that a large part of the battle is getting the mouthpiece warm before you start playing. So if you know you're going to be playing in an hour or a half hour, throw a mouthpiece in your pocket to warm it up.

Otherwise, there is no substitute for keeping your environment adequate to play. Whether to heat the room or not isn't an issue for us here when it's -15. It doesn't cost much more to keep the room at 65 than it does to keep it at 60.

In New Hampshire, we had a finished basement, which was great all year. Kept a very stable temperature without having to do too much to it.

But a final caveat - I'm a cold weather person. So a room at 60 for me is just fine. I can defrost windshields with my hands, and I warm up horns quickly.

[Three Valves]

My wife always thinks it’s too cold.

I always think it’s too hot.

Wife seeks heat/life essence/precious bodily fluids.

I relent.

[bloke]

I hate cold mouthpieces too, and one of the reasons that I make my mouthpieces thin-walled, is so they will warm up very quickly.

I used to run hot water over them, back when I played other makers’ stock silver plated brass mouthpieces.

[sdloveless]

We keep the house at 68F in the winter, low 70s when running the AC. I'd keep it colder, but the wife-type complains. I suffer from a condition called hyperhidrosis. In short, I'm the sweatiest guy in the room. Primarily affects my scalp. Gravity does the rest. The solution is cooler temps, drier air, and a little air movement. Ironically, I've lived in warm, humid climates my whole life. Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, east Texas, Florida, and now south-central PA. My next move is to Wyoming, with or without the wife-type.

Most of my practicing happens in the basement, where it's generally a few degrees cooler than the main floor. 10-15 minutes of warm-up resolves any tuning issues during the winter.

[tubanh84]

The other thing, regarding humidity and the lack thereof during cold snaps in winter - HYDRATE. I’m not good at this because I’ll drink coffee all day. But making sure you’re drinking a good amount of water does wonders. And I’m amazed at how much water I can drink during winter without causing any extra trips to the bathroom. And that will keep your lips feeling good.

[GC]

My wife does not handle cold well, so we keep the house fairly warm (central HVAC & heat pump). And winter or summer, I keep a fan on me most of the time if I'm sitting still or trying to sleep. We're fortunate that we're at the southern edge of a TVA-supplied electric co-op, and our rates are very low. We also have propane, and our mom-and-pop provider has very low rates and excellent customer service. Things would be very different if we lived a mile and a half away on the electric, and the natural gas provider in that same area is knows for gouging.

[russiantuba]

My basement where I practice doesn’t have heat and it is a large area. I use 2 space heaters, one is smaller and the other is this one https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002QZ11J6/r ... UTF8&psc=1

My basement is underneath the entire house, so heating does become a challenge. I normally run on the treadmill before which helps warm it up and then both heaters on the horns. Unfortunately I don’t have enough or any well positioned outlets to position them where I want, but if you have a smaller area that heater would work perfect.

[bloke]

Knowing me probably I probably already posted something like this in this thread above, but 40° is just about perfect chainsaw, digging, or heavy construction weather, as long as there’s no rain.

Further, it’s pretty easy to heat an (at least somewhat insulated) house up to 68° or 70°, when it’s all the way up to 40° outside.