From: BluesGe~ol.com Date: Mon, 30 Nov 1998 09:53:11 EST Subject: Altitude is a force of nature (was: Re: Acoustic harmonica)
In a message dated 11/29/98 9:53:10 PM, b~-2000.com wrote:
>I just finished a weekend playing a harmonica concerto with the Mexico City >Philharmonic; Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights in a 2,000 seat hall >with a 60 piece orchestra and all acoustic. > >That's right, there was no sound system. I had to work really hard to >project over the orchestra and at a mile high and with air quality that was >consistantly unhealthy, this was a real pain. At times I felt I wasn't >going to make it through phrases without gasping. > >The concerts went well, but my suggestion if you play in Mexico City. Call >ahead and arrange a sound system and bring O2!
Club players coming to Colorado can leave the O2 home, because many of the clubs over 10,000 feet here provide O2 for the touring players and tourist dancers.
Just the same, I have a good laugh watching sea-level harp and horn players getting winded at altitude. Short breath = short notes = short phrases short solos. Problem is, lot's of these guys don't want to come back, and many don't.
Surprisingly, and fortunately, Kim Wilson played a full 12-minute feature solo in Woodland Park, just 4 thousand feet below the top of Pike's Peak (Did I mention how much I like to see a good harp player work those long-ass instrumental breaks all night?) When he was done, a pretty young thing yelled out, "Do it again!" His reply, "At 10,000 feet you only get it once a night."
