Attention Manzmann and all (plastic bag hands)

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Conrad

Posts: 533
Joined: Jul. 16 2003
From: Toronto, ON, Canada

Attention Manzmann and all (plastic ...

Hi, I was away for several months when your London concert experience happened so I was catching up on posts, and I didn't have a chance to ask... I'm curious about PdL's request for the plastic bag at the soundcheck...

I guess it would almost warm your hands if there's nothing else around, but I suspect his request had more seriously to do with moisture... In my ongoing struggle to optimize hands and nails, I've read lots of things. I've read once... I think it was Sabicas that did not like to touch water long before playing, but I've heard elsewhere that soft fingertips can improve tone and playability.

Meanwhile, I recently had the idea that I was neglecting one aspect of nail and fingertip care, cleanliness. I think it might be advantageous to have the fingertips and/or nails clean before playing (I'm talking squeaky clean here, not as if I'm a mechanic and very regularly dirty), OR is it actually the act of cleaning and therefore exposing to moisture which makes the fingertips suppler and more able to glide off the strings for less effort in playing!!?? And maybe if not washed thoroughly even microscopic bits of dirt in crevices in nails can affect their playing, and negate any filing/buffing one might have done or will do. I think these fine details can really affect the ability to play. But I'm still confused...

So... doesn't anyone else find Paco's request begging curiosity? If anyone knows anything, I hope they can help.

cheers

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Mar. 15 2008 22:19:56

Conrad

Posts: 533
Joined: Jul. 16 2003
From: Toronto, ON, Canada

RE: Attention Manzmann and all (plas... (in reply to Conrad)

Okay, thinking more about it, Sabicas and Paco, in these anecdotes could be trying to achieve the same thing... Water, with soap or even by itself, washes away the skins natural oils. And some indoor/outdoor environments evaporate natural skin oils just the same, thereby lowering the skins temperature and/or hardening its surface. Perhaps they are both trying to preserve the natural oils at their fingertips and keep them supple. Is my reasoning sound?? I'm neither physicist nor chemist. Help me out!

Of course, we know of Paco's and other flamenco guitarist's occasional penchant for vaseline on their fingertips, but that seems a crude, unnatural and inferior remedy.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Mar. 16 2008 7:11:51

guitarbuddha

Posts: 2970
Joined: Jan. 4 2007

RE: Attention Manzmann and all (plas... (in reply to Conrad)

Maybe he just felt the urge to sniff some glue ?

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Mar. 16 2008 8:18:23

Pimientito

Posts: 2481
Joined: Jul. 30 2007
From: Marbella

RE: Attention Manzmann and all (plas... (in reply to guitarbuddha)

....or keep his sandwich fresh for after the show!

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Mar. 16 2008 8:56:05

duende

Posts: 3053
Joined: Dec. 15 2003
From: Sweden

RE: Attention Manzmann and all (plas... (in reply to Conrad)

maybe he´d like to hyperventilate into the bag cause he´s nervous.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Mar. 16 2008 10:06:33

Stu

Posts: 2544
Joined: Jan. 30 2007
From: London (the South of it), England

RE: Attention Manzmann and all (plas... (in reply to duende)

Hey Conrad,

When he asked for the plastic bag my colleague seemed puzzled and said something to me like "A plastic bag for his hand? does that make sense to you?"
and I said yes it did. While I didn't and don't really know the exact reason for Paco wanting a bag for his hand. I guessed it would be something to do with heat/moisture.

If I have play with cold dry hands it just does not work as well. The tips of my fingers need to be warm and slightly moist or perhaps its greasy/oily (I'm not actually sure), but I need to be able to really feel the strings on the tips of my fingers. So when he made the request it kind of made sense.

quote:

maybe he´d like to hyperventilate into the bag cause he´s nervous.

Funny you should say that, whilst Paco was waiting in the wings, firing of some mean practice picado runs, just before his entrance, his manager did say that "he is very nervous tonight" So perhaps he did wanna hyperventilate.

Also Conrad, I'm no expert but I'd say definitely clean nails are the way to go, everything you've said about dirt, bacteria, cracks etc is right the cleaner the better.
As for the actual process of cleaning making the fingers moist etc, I've no idea.

Stu

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Mar. 16 2008 12:17:32

Rain

Posts: 475
Joined: Jul. 7 2005

RE: Attention Manzmann and all (plas... (in reply to Stu)

I Have no clue to why Paco requested a plastic bag. However I don't buy into any of the why's given thus far.
I can tell you this he does use some kind of oil on his fingertips that he puts on during his performance, that product whatever it is actually on his guitar where the neck meets the body. He also uses the natural oil found on the nose and forehead. This is not a new trick, you will see many classical guitarist do this.

Try his look at your nails they should look dry, play a fast passage or an expressive single note, now rub your dry nails on your nose or forehead (i prefer nose for its oilier) now look at your nails see how they shine- see the oil, OK now play a fast scale or a pretty note--- Notice any difference?

Next time you see a classical guitar performance notice how many times they touch their forehead with their right hand.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Mar. 16 2008 13:22:13

rombsix

Posts: 7816
Joined: Jan. 11 2006
From: Beirut, Lebanon

RE: Attention Manzmann and all (plas... (in reply to Rain)

Rain, if I were to do all that touching of my face with my nails (NO MATTER HOW CLEAN THEY WERE), it'd end up looking like a pin-cushion in no time (my face is very easily irritated, and if my nails contact it that frequently, and all the bacteria from them gets deposited even if my nails were "100%" clean, the result would be some unpleasant comedones: blackheads and whiteheads). And that would be quite unsightly. So I'd rather stick to dry fingertips / nails!

HEHEHEHEHE.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Mar. 16 2008 13:57:28

Rain

Posts: 475
Joined: Jul. 7 2005

RE: Attention Manzmann and all (plas... (in reply to rombsix)

O.K. rombix, but we were not speaking of your sensitive skin but the tricks of many Flamenco and Classical guitar players.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Mar. 16 2008 14:04:45

Conrad

Posts: 533
Joined: Jul. 16 2003
From: Toronto, ON, Canada

RE: Attention Manzmann and all (plas... (in reply to Stu)

Sweetness... thanks so much Stuart et al. for listening and responding. It's sometimes comforting to know that all our experiences are not so dissimilar. Sometimes I could swear my nails are clean except that they just have a few natural discolorations or darkish tint, but at other times throughout the years I've noticed them to be uniformly white and bright. So those times might have coincided with periods of more vigilant hygiene!

These issues are somethings to which I will pay closer attention from now on.

p.s. Totally envious of your job that night. I have met Paco but it was rushed as one would expect. I would love to hear his guitar in the same small room, unamplified or recorded...

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Mar. 17 2008 0:36:16