Playing Outside - the Downside

My jam group never stopped jamming outdoors, even during the height of covid last year. I took a hiatus last November but came back in March 2021. Keeping at least 6ft apart, and wearing masks, it was hard to hear each other. Fast forward to today, we are now back to standing close to each other and not wearing masks. It's a good feeling getting back to normal.

To prevent the wind from blowing away our paper music, we use plastic (acrylic?) sheets 8 x 11". We can't use iPads because we need to share copies of our music with each other.
 
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We can't use iPads because we need to share our music with each other.

Sharing music with iPads is easy peasy with onsong. We use airdrop all the time. It literally takes 2 seconds, as fast as you can hand somebody a sheet of paper. And the font can be adjusted, we use a large font because we're all old.
 
It is just terminology I have read.
1. When skimming jazz websites to pick up an idea that I can apply to ukulele I see references to "playing outside" where they mean playing notes when soloing that aren't really natural to the chords. That is implemented by chromatic notes, negative harmony, or coltrane changes.
2. When looking at resources for stuff like Carter picking and other folk music, I often see notations like: play outside, inside, outside, pinch.



Gotcha... Ok. You're not talking about playing outdoors. Makes sense now!
 
Another concern with playing outdoors is the uke itself. I brought my Rebel Mango last time, and I was worried about it the whole time. It was windy, and the music stand kept moving, and I had to be careful when changing pages or books. Next time, I'll bring a less delicate uke - probably a Magic Fluke.
 
Playing more than 2 songs outside means the mosquitoes have time to zero in on you as you swelter in the sun. If God had intended us to play outside, we would naturally produce bug repellent.
 
Playing more than 2 songs outside means the mosquitoes have time to zero in on you as you swelter in the sun. If God had intended us to play outside, we would naturally produce bug repellent.

Aside from the fact that mosquitoes are not an issue here, the wind would be too strong for them.
 
My group will be doing our June meeting outdoors. We've played outdoor gigs quite a bit, but always with a sound system. We'll see how it goes. I have music stand clips that help a lot with the paper music versus wind issue. Long, clear plastic clips designed for the purpose.

On another sound issue..... last week I started back as a music volunteer at the children's hospital. The designated music area is a cordoned off space in the first floor lobby. It's tucked in a corner, under the main stairway area. The lobby itself is very large and open, with a good amount of noise. Not optimal for sound. Plus they are only allowing instrumental music, no singing. Luckily I brought my Roland AC-33 amp with me & plugged in. That helped a lot, but I need to work on positioning myself better. I'm back this afternoon, so I'll see what I can do.
 
My group will be doing our June meeting outdoors. We've played outdoor gigs quite a bit, but always with a sound system. We'll see how it goes. I have music stand clips that help a lot with the paper music versus wind issue. Long, clear plastic clips designed for the purpose.

On another sound issue..... last week I started back as a music volunteer at the children's hospital. The designated music area is a cordoned off space in the first floor lobby. It's tucked in a corner, under the main stairway area. The lobby itself is very large and open, with a good amount of noise. Not optimal for sound. Plus they are only allowing instrumental music, no singing. Luckily I brought my Roland AC-33 amp with me & plugged in. That helped a lot, but I need to work on positioning myself better. I'm back this afternoon, so I'll see what I can do.

Good luck!
 
Aside from the fact that mosquitoes are not an issue here, the wind would be too strong for them.

In truth, I do enjoy playing outside at Ukulele World Congress but that is normally a couple of songs and somebody expertly takes care of the sound. We don't have to haul equipment. Practicing outside in the fall in Minnesota is OK when there are 2 or 3 of us. Maybe my wife and I need to visit the Catskills.
 
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