Playing the saxophone practice in English summer

[teoman]

Hi Cafe,
As we are expecting hotter days again, how do you deal with high temperature? Especially while playing saxophone. Currently living in a student accommodation in midlands with limited window opening and no fan/ac, so need some advice on surviving while practicing.

Cheers,
Teoman

 

[dreadnet]

Try practice outside in the mornings or evenings. That's what I have done during UK heatwaves.

 

[turf3]

Hi Cafe,
As we are expecting hotter days again, how do you deal with high temperature? Especially while playing saxophone. Currently living in a student accommodation in midlands with limited window opening and no fan/ac, so need some advice on surviving while practicing.

Cheers,
Teoman

Well, at a minimum for crying out loud go to the hardware store and buy a fan!

 

[atwl77]

Get a fan, or rather, air circulator. It will serve you daily, even when not practicing - heat wave is no joke.

 

[Jimmymack]

Fans are of limited use in this heat as they soon end up circulating warm air but they are better than nothing so that should be ypur first step. Play in short bursts then take a break and repeat for as long as you can stand it. Drink plenty or water. For the last few days I’ve given up on the sax and switched to piano, with the fan pointing at me. It’s still difficult but at least it’s something like music and I have a lot of work to do. Don’t open the window if it’s hotter outside than in. Apparently putting a tray of ice in front of the fan helps but I can’t really find a way to try it.

Every day I plan to get the horn out and have a go but so far I haven’t managed it. Maybe today.

 

[turf3]

Fans are of limited use in this heat as they soon end up circulating warm air but they are better than nothing so that should be ypur first step. Play in short bursts then take a break and repeat for as long as you can stand it. Drink plenty or water. For the last few days I’ve given up on the sax and switched to piano, with the fan pointing at me. It’s still difficult but at least it’s something like music and I have a lot of work to do. Don’t open the window if it’s hotter outside than in. Apparently putting a tray of ice in front of the fan helps but I can’t really find a way to try it.

Every day I plan to get the horn out and have a go but so far I haven’t managed it. Maybe today.

Fans cool people, not rooms. A fan works by increasing the heat transfer at the surface of your body through evaporative cooling (sweat).

The idea of "don't open the window and let the heat in" is usually incorrect. The personal cooling you get by allowing cross ventilation from outdoors is more valuable than supposedly "keeping the cool air in". Look at people who live in hot climates. Do they remain indoors in sealed houses, or do they have great big open windows and ceiling fans and screen porches? (Sure, if it's 60 F inside and 95F outside, wait before you open the windows, but in the absence of AC, it's not going to stay 60F inside very long...)

I get a kick out of Brits and Yankees telling Southerners, Southeast Asians, Indians, etc., how to cope with heat.

 

[Targa]

Don’t know why you lot are complaining, this fur coat hasn’t got a zip.

 

[PiccoloPirate]

We keep our South Florida home, with the AC set for 78 degrees.
When friends from up North come down, they ask to drop it to 68.
My reply, besides no, why do you keep your AC at 68, and when its cold outside, and the inside temp is 68, you turn your heater on. 😵‍💫
As a Pirate, I wet some paper towels, put them on my head, and sit in front of a fan.
There be a Bounty on my head. 😜

The name of our kid's speeding skating team, on their suits, 25 years ago, the HEAT.
Some kids were Olympians, and some medaled.

 

[turf3]

We keep our South Florida home, with the AC set for 78 degrees.
When friends from up North come down, they ask to drop it to 68.
My reply, besides no, why do you keep your AC at 68, and when its cold outside, and the inside temp is 68, you turn your heater on. 😵‍💫
As a Pirate, I wet some paper towels, put them on my head, and sit in front of a fan.
There be a Bounty on my head. 😜

The name of our kid's speeding skating team, on their suits, 25 years ago, the HEAT.
Some kids were Olympians, and some medaled.

Oh yeah, the Yankees and their overheated houses. I thought when I moved to New England, I'd better lay in a supply of cardigan sweaters, the office and all the public buildings and everyone's house is going to be cold in winter. Ha ha ha ha ha! Man, as soon as there's even the faintest chill in the air they're cranking the heat up to 80. Come in from -4F and you have to strip down to your skivvies or you'll be covered in sweat.

My wife was riding somewhere with three other women in winter and the car was SO HOT. So she says "gee, it's really hot in here, can you turn the heat down?"
"What, you're cold, you want me to turn the heat up?"
"NO!"

 

[MikeMorrell]

For me, @dreadnet's suggestion is the best so far.

Three things that help me cool me down^* are:
- regular çool showers
- wearing a 'damp' T-shirt (initially wet with most of the water wrung out); repeat
- wearing (literally) only the 'bare minimum' of clothes (a pair of shorts or just underpants)

^* I live in a small 1-person apartment that gets direct sunlight almost the whole day. My drawn (internal) blinds don't help much. During 'heatwaves' my kitchen/living room temperature can get up as high as 32 degrees C. So 'cooling down' every so often is essential.

 

[turf3]

For me, @dreadnet's suggestion is the best so far.

Three things that help me cool me down^* are:
- regular çool showers
- wearing a 'damp' T-shirt (initially wet with most of the water wrung out); repeat
- wearing (literally) only the 'bare minimum' of clothes (a pair of shorts or just underpants)

^* I live in a small 1-person apartment that gets direct sunlight almost the whole day. My drawn (internal) blinds don't help much. During 'heatwaves' my kitchen/living room temperature can get up as high as 32 degrees C. So 'cooling down' every so often is essential.

I'm always surprised by how many buildings in their design take zero account of real world climate factors - solar load, snow mass, ice dams from snow melting and refreezing, drainage and flooding.

What you need is awnings. Barring that, blackout shades can help a lot on those south or west facing windows. If finances are short, or you're prohibited from installing different window shades, there are temporary shades, made of heavy pleated paper and attached with an adhesive strip. These do a surprisingly good job of blocking solar heat.

I've looked it up, it just doesn't get that cold in the Netherlands that you'd need the solar heating in the winter. It is unconscionable that the building designer failed to make provision for the summer sun.

 

[JayeNM]

Hi Cafe,
As we are expecting hotter days again, how do you deal with high temperature? Especially while playing saxophone. Currently living in a student accommodation in midlands with limited window opening and no fan/ac, so need some advice on surviving while practicing.

Cheers,
Teoman

If the space has an electrical outlet...bring a cooling device.

Nothing gained by trying to practice in extreme conditions.

There are more options available today then just the trusty old-school electric fan....