I’ve known for quite some time that drinking beer has a bad effect on my flute playing. The reason is that I have a lot of trouble keeping the flute in the optimum place on my lip - the beer acts as a lubricant and the flute keeps sliding around. While this can be minimized by rotating the head inwards and RH section outwards by the optimum amounts it’s remained a problem. At the session the other night I was having my usual issues and it was hot so I needed another drink. Having already had enough alcohol I got a ginger beer instead. And my flute playing problems disappeared! Instead of the drink acting as a lubricant it acted more like glue being sweet and sticky. The flute was stuck in place and my playing improved heaps.
This is SO rife for comments - I just can’t get myself to jump in before the sarcasm begins! I will say that beer seems be a lubricant for me as well, but in a good way and from the inside.
I could rattle on endlessly about that sacred triumverate, but I’ll restrain myself.
Regarding the “lip-slip” phenomenon, I recently ran into that issue after buying Greenspiderweb’s Seery delrin. (Fanatastic flute, by the way. I was too green to know what I had when I owned my first one four years ago). My only complaint about the Seery was that it was hard to keep my lower lip in the right place to consistently find the “sweet spot”, due to the slipperyness of the delrin. I cut a small piece of electrical tape and put it on the flute-beard side of the embouchure hole, as a sort of “lip grip”. It’s nearly invisible, and works like a charm. Now I find I’m able to drink beer until I’m no longer welcome.
When you get to be my age you’ll be thankful if dribbling is the worst problem you have to deal with. At least I can tell when I’m sitting straight in my chair because then I dribble out both sides of my mouth.
If I recall my readings correctly (becuase I am a teetotaller I dont know this from experience) beer stimulates the saliva. Is this right?
I know from my experience in herbalism that sage reduces it but I warn readers that my post here does not carry the authority of MEDICAL ADVICE (in a bid not to have my post deleted) …
Yes, the beer drinking at sessions gives me the lip slips and the dribble drabs, too. But the other night at a session, after the first beer, I then decided to try the holiday drink special of the night, Egg-Nog Latte! Well the results of drinking this foamy delight, then playing the flute, are just a little too “frothy” to repeat here…
A small patch of double sided tape should address all of your concerns. Please remember to leave a slight opening to the side of your embouchure for the addition of a straw, as you will no doubt be needing this for the additional consumption of your beverage.
Arbo
Not so’s I’d notice. For me the dealbreaker is vinegary stuff, like buffalo wings when they’re the basic kind made with Tabasco sauce. My mouth is watering just thinking about it, and, as a fluteplayer, not in a good way.
I guess this would be under the heading of Beer Acoustics. The other week at a session just as I took a big swig of Guinness everyone launched into one of my favorites. Not to be left out I joined right in and partway through the tune I felt the CO2 pressure rising. Without stopping my playing I allowed nature to take its course and let her rip right into the flute. Immediately the tone got very flat (unlike the beer) until the Guinness fumes dissipated and all was right in the acoustical world again. I wonder if light beer would burp sharp?
Hysterical! It’s kinda funny that I looked around the room during our last session (Monday) and said I was the only one in the room that couldn’t burp while playing (the others were on fiddle, box, guitar, and bodhran).
Have yis ever noticed that the successful release of a beer belch whilst playing flute or whistle results in a noticeable drop in pitch for a couple of seconds, independent of any esophageal drone notes? I reckon it’s the soundwaves traveling more slowly through CO2 than through ordinary air.
Yessir. I noted this phenomenon here on the Chiffboards years back but don’t recall what sort of response I got. Lately though the effect isn’t as noticeable - I’m guessing it’s because I’ve learned to tune on the fly without really thinking about it. Or, I’m deafer.
