Food/entres to avoid during a flute session?

MTGuru · Post by **MTGuru** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 4:38 pm

Terry McGee wrote:the composer pays a small street urchin to stand right in front of the flute player and noisily suck on a lemon.

Apparently not a problem for pipers, though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iv6GhRDERsk

Il Friscaletto · Post by **Il Friscaletto** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 2:14 pm

I avoid eating anything of significance less than two hours prior to playing in a session. At the most, I might have a banana within an hour. It has mostly to do with not wanting that bloated feeling. It makes working the diaphragm fairly unpleasant.

I never eat while playing. It's just impossible to get food in with a focused embouchure and all that air coming out.

lesl · Post by **lesl** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 11:53 pm

Food/entres to avoid during a flute session:

Blue cheese. Even if you're just going to grab your whistle.

Carey · Post by **Carey** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 8:26 am

The cook at our pub, who sometimes sits in with us, brought a bowl of jalapenos to the pub as his plants were producing way more than he needed. So I ate one to see how they were. Nice and hot with good flavor but I could only play a measure or two between swallows for 40 minutes. Doh!

Other than that, I can eat some fries or such as long as I wash it down with Guiness or something before I try to play. I have a harder time playimg whistle after eating. More direct contact I guess.

Similar to the comment above regarding carbonated beverages, a highland piper once mentioned that belching into the bag is a big no-no as you will play flat for some time afterwards.

G1 · Post by G1 » Fri Aug 15, 2008 9:25 am

During my years of earning my keep with live performances, I never ate anything for at least 3 hours prior to showtime - drinking only water before and during.

However when I go fluting for pleasure on the mountainsides these days, I love to nibble on some nice jerked & dried ammoniated cat; which I share with the mouse in me pocket. Eek-eek!

Yuuumm! Now that's good eatin'.

sbfluter · Post by **sbfluter** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 12:23 pm

Garlic is bad. 'Nuf said.

Chiffed · Post by **Chiffed** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 3:20 pm

sbfluter wrote:Garlic is bad. 'Nuf said.

NOOOOOOOO! My Spanish Roja is drying nicely, and some Lao Giants are almost ready for planting. Garlic and beer breath seals the bore, calms the nerves, calls the muse, and antioxidizes something or other.

Back to the topic:
-Sugars and starches do end up in the instrument, much to the suffering of leather pads.

-Milk products cause phlegm. If you're a glottal-stop player (coughing intead of tonguing), this might be an issue. Regardless, one can sound like Bo Diddly introducing tunes. Speaking Dutch wouldn't be a problem.