Covid-19 Closing Down Music Venues

GeorgeB

@ROWUK said in Covid-19 Closing Down Music Venues:

I do not know of one single musician with nothing to work on. This is a wonderful opportunity to break normal lifes lockdown on our grooming of basics.

I have been reading and hearing so much beefing about the shut down of our band from the members and when I ask if they are practicing, 90% said they were not. Sheesh ! I am going to send Robin's quote above to every damn member.
I for one have been using every valuable moment of the shut down to improve on my playing...and not only technical stuff but no less than 12 tunes and ballads every afternoon.

adc

In PA 2/3 of the cases are nursing homes. And all things being equal 80% are those are over. 60. I take the disease seriously. But almost every single case involves an underlying health issue even under 20 years old. In Pa and most other states if a person dies and has the virus its attributed to COVID-19.

I am 74..yes old..I run....and my doc has said I am one of the healthiest folks at the age of 70.

So I now go against the grain. I wear a mask when I go shopping to protect others. This country can not stay locked down tis way. You can see what is happening. Take responsibility for yourself.

SSmith1226

@adc
I would still be very cautious and not underestimate this illness. We all have to do what we have to do, but consider, below is a before and after photo of a very healthy 43 year old who spent 6 weeks in the hospital and wasted away 50 lbs. When off the Ventilator and well enough to be discharged he looked like a survivor of Auschwitz. The link to the story is:
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/coronavirus/san-francisco-nurse-details-6-week-battle-with-covid-19-has-dire-warning/2294978/

In addition two days ago the New York Times reported the first double lung transplant on a otherwise healthy women in her 20’s whose lungs were destroyed by COVID-19.
Here is the link:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/11/health/coronavirus-lung-transplant.html

Kehaulani

I have a retirement income that won't change and my son's job gives him a steady income, but I can't imagine what it would be for a service worker, free-lance musician etc. who's income is suddenly cut off. Man, I feel for those people.

I have two cousins who are free-lance musicians and they are really hurting. Let's keep these kinds of people in mind and maybe restructure some things when this virus has passed that gives them a little more stability if it, or something like it, happens again..

flugelgirl

I lost about $1400 in May alone due to cancelled gigs. I feel VERY fortunate that I don’t need my gig and repair income to pay my bills, and have even been able to take advantage of the deals right now and get myself a new car. When I was in college before I joined the Navy, missing one day of work meant I might not eat that week, so I really understand what a lot of people are going through right now. We definitely need better programs/ different solutions to be able to deal with crisis like these.

administrator

As I'm a programmer and don't gig, I wasn't affected very heavily.

My thoughts and prayers go out to those who are, however. I have a grandfather in his 90s and I hope he is staying safe.

Dr GO

Here is a safety comparison of particles produced by different instruments. Trumpets do pretty well.. but what the heck, a Tuba is the same as "background' noise. In real life, Tuba and Background noise is an oxymoron.

SSmith1226

@Dr-GO

To carry this a step further, but by no means the final say, a preliminary study came to my email box today of a similar nature with the investigators coming from the University of Colorado and the University of Maryland. The specific information I received can be found at:

https://www.nfhs.org/media/4029952/preliminary-testing-report-7-13-20.pdf

The trumpet aerosol dispersion data was was measured at the bell with no cover over the bell and no mask, playing with a cover over the bell, playing with a slitted mask and cover over the bell. Also measurements were taken 1 meter from the bell.

![E590030F-B29F-4456-87FA-7A2EFD99F83F.jpeg]

Other wind instruments as well as vocal performances were evaluated as well. Outdoor performance as well as indoor performance venues were also evaluated.

Recommendations are not surprising.

Newell Post

I have written a couple of things and have given a few talks about the Spanish flu of 1918+. COVID-19 is not influenza and I'm not a doctor. But there are some interesting historical lessons learned, since COVID-19 and influenza are both RNA viruses.

One of the mysteries of the Spanish flu is that it just sort of went away in August of 1918. In the UK it almost completely disappeared. In the US it didn't disappear, but it did die down. But both in Europe and US, it came back in a much more lethal form in September/October of 1918. Then, it died down a second time in December, before resurging in January, 1919. (The exact dates vary a little bit depending on location.) No real cause for these two "die outs" has ever been identified, but I have a theory. (And whatever you think of Trump, I think this is the basis for his statements that COVID-19 "will just go away." He gets that notion from the Spanish flu. It did eventually mutate and "go away" after infecting about half of the world's population and killing about 5% of them. Nobody really knows how many people died in many parts of the globe.)

My theory is....... air conditioning. In 1918 air conditioning existed, but almost no buildings had it. The first buildings to get air conditioning were printing plants and a few theaters. So, people didn't have a lot of large gatherings in the Summer. It was too hot indoors. If they did have Summer gatherings, those events were mostly outdoors. Also, many windows were left open all day long in many buildings to get fresh air. But after Summer ended, they went back indoors for school, church, plays, and musical performances, etc, hence the explosion of cases in September/October. The December die-down might relate to schools being in recess and other seasonal changes of that nature.

HOWEVER, today air-conditioning is nearly universal, at least in most parts of the US. In the Summer, work and events are mostly indoors in re-circulated air conditioned air, hence the current flare up in COVID-19 cases. Instead of a Summer die-down, we may see a die-down of COVID-19 in the Fall, when more things happen outdoors and more windows are open.

That's my theory and I'm sticking to it.

Dr GO

@Newell-Post said in Covid-19 Closing Down Music Venues:

I have written a couple of things and have given a few talks about the Spanish flu of 1918+. COVID-19 is not influenza and I'm not a doctor. But there are some interesting historical lessons learned, since COVID-19 and influenza are both RNA viruses.

One of the mysteries of the Spanish flu... it died down a second time in December, before resurging in January, 1919. ... My theory is....... air conditioning... today air-conditioning is nearly universal, at least in most parts of the US. In the Summer, work and events are mostly indoors in re-circulated air conditioned air, hence the current flare up in COVID-19 cases. Instead of a Summer die-down, we may see a die-down of the COVID-19 in the Fall, when more things happen outdoors and more windows are open.

That's my theory and I'm sticking to it.

Very cool with this theory. Your contribution to vent in this discussion is well appreciated.

Dr GO

Perhaps Miles Davis was on to something:

Not known to be a high note player, and used a Harmon mute a lot of the time. Perhaps we can all learn from Miles, yes?

Dr GO

Perhaps also a daily washing with Bleach, Yes?

flugelgirl

Never clean silver with bleach - it will eat the plating! Saw another tech’s photo of a bucket of brass mouthpieces that a school band director thought they would clean with bleach - they ended up looking like they’d spent years at the bottom of the ocean....it was bad. No way to fix that aside from replating - cheaper just to replace.

Kehaulani

flugelgirl - I think this was an obtuse reference to Trump.

Dr GO

@Kehaulani said in Covid-19 Closing Down Music Venues:

flugelgirl - I think this was an obtuse reference to Trump.

Kehaulani is wise beyond his years. Actually, to get rid of hard to treat biologic 91% isopropyl is effective and safe.

ROWUK

Regardless how hard the times are, when it is over, people will look and see who "made the best" out of it and who just bitched. I can't speak for anyone else, but throughout the hard times in my life, staying in motion kept my sense of self worth and gave me skills to take advantage of the few opportunities left. Even during these tough times, I have a gig every weekend at old peoples homes. I have been playing since Easter. They are waiting for me - every Sunday. 4 locations, Sunday mornings. It is AWESOME!

Kehaulani

@ROWUK said in Covid-19 Closing Down Music Venues:
Even during these tough times, I have a gig every weekend at old peoples homes. I have been playing since Easter. They are waiting for me - every Sunday. 4 locations, Sunday mornings. It is AWESOME!

That's very cool, Rowuk. Thanks for doing that. I'm sure they much appreciate it.

When I was in Germany, I used to play regularly, with back-up tracks, at a regional home for the severely handicapped. Some were so bad they were just laid together by staff next to each other like firewood. Others were in better, but still, serious, condition.

I never left that I wasn't nauseated. Sometimes I just sat in the car for a while before driving off. But I know how much the people appreciated a breath of fresh air. It's a beautiful thing that you are doing.

fels

Some professionals in our Symphony offered a program of tutored chamber music groups - I am playing in one (trumpet) - instrumentation is:
Trumpet
French Horn
Cello
Vibes
Bassoon -- (Principal from the local symphony)

The bassoonist is writing arrangements and offering instruction on note shapes etc. Very cool.

stumac

We had 3 weeks when Big Band commenced practice with limited numbers (6) on a roster system then we went back into lockdown with no sign of .when we may resume. Orchestra is not likely to resume this year.

GeorgeB

All our band is doing right now is practicing once a week ( in an outdoor park setting ) when the weather allows. Only 17 of our 30 plus members are participating at the moment. Our usual summer tour of playing at nursing homes doesn't look like it will happen, even though most of them were outdoor venues. I really miss playing for an audience.