For those in an orchestra or a band, how long can you perform before breaking down from fatigue and exhaustion? The reason I'm asking this is because I'm arranging a medley that could be 20 min long. At most would be 30 min, no more. In case you're wondering it's the legend of zelda medley. It's going to be brutal for the brass section, hope you won't run out of breath...

And another thing for the brass players. What's the highest note an average brass player can play (tuba, trumpet, trombone, horn)?

hmmm how long can i perform before getting exhausted. all night long baby!!! giggity giggity

sorry dude had to do it

Every term i do two six hour days at band, one after the other.

It kills me =]

You must have great stamina then for you to be able to play your instrument for that long.
What's your instrument's pitch range? Can it go far up the scale? As far as the trumpet or the flute?

Anyways :heh: this medley probably will take a year to complete, but it'll be worth it.

oh, i play the oboe in band. Symphonic band, not brass band.

Ohh, hmm... I could go for maybe half an hour to an hour of rigorous playing (trumpet) before becoming pretty tired. And then go for maybe another half an hour before no longer being able to hit the higher notes at all without breaks in between. It all depends on what the music is though.

As for highest note an average trumpet player can play... I'd say it depends on how tired someone is and what kind of band you're writing the music for. For average high school bands, you usually don't see notes past an A (Gb major) above the staff for trumpets. You can probably go higher to a C (Bb major) above the staff for more experienced players, but past that, hitting the note becomes less and less reliable.
Sibelius considers concert B and anything higher to be above the comfortable playing range.

As somewhat of a pianist, I can perform for about 45 minutes without a break.
Sometimes, it's less. It all depends on the type of piece I'm playing and my mental stability.

Luckily mine does not require a good pair of lungs.
I'd probably faint if I had to play 30 minutes with a woodwind or brass.
I could barely play my cousin's clarinet for about 3 minutes.
XD

ok this is good to know. I can proceed then. How many are interested in a Legend of Zelda Medley?

Right now it's marching season, and about thirty minutes into practice you just die. And we're out there for atleast an hour and a half.

And playing Piccolo makes it no easier when your band director and drum majors screech at you to 'PUT MORE AIR THROUGH IT'.

It's not a sit down band, but hey, we move and play. Lol.

I can play my Oboe for about an hour and half straight before I just die. Bassoon wise only like a half hour.

I also play the Alto sax in marching....I can only do that for an hour since we have to do some pretty brutal positions...its like jogging but worse

@nevermindviii;

I know what you mean! Omg. I play the piccolo for marching and to be heard i have to out play the whole freakin band. xD So, I die after an hour or so of this. But I've built it up to where I'm capable of doing such rigerous marching. I should post a video of the band after we get back from competition this weekend. We're gonna do so good! I can't wait!

Well good luck with the Alto Sax. Our sax line is HUGE, compared to last year.

I am a pianist, but I also play the Trombone in Varsity. I used to not be able to make through the 70 min. periods, but now with relaxation exercises and all that I can play through 70 mins. as if it were my first 10 mins just after warming up. You may want to ask the band director to teach them how to relax-- you should be able to play for however long you want without it affecting your volume or range by maybe 5%.

seeing this thread i was soooooooo tempted to say
"all night long baby, all night long" but...i will refrain and actually be serious
longest i've performed musically was prolly...2 hours, i just dealt with it xD

About an hour and a half with my mouthpiece that takes more support to use(I play saxophone), but about 3 hours with the other mouthpiece(that most people use). Playing with a band is different though cus you ain't playin the whole time with rests and stuff. I've only gotten tired once or twice during a concert and that's cus I was practicin like 3 days out and 2 days out hardcore (strong procrastinating :sweat: ).

I've noticed though that if it's like an intermediate level band then 20-30 minutes is right around that level where they can still hold together. And by intermediate, I mean an ok highschool band. Brass tends to tire out more quickly than woodwinds.

I manage to last for around about a 4 hour rehersal if I'm on clarinet/sax.
But I've been known to play much longer on piano, guitar, pretty much anything that doesn't involve my mouth muscles XD

Of course, none of it is particularity intensive, and I tend to get bored after about an hour :3

I could play for eight hours straight before feeling the effects of exhaustion.

basically until I start bleeding from the mouth since I have braces + I play the flute which requires pushing your mouth against the plate :X

So far its only happened once when I stayed up practicing scales and everything else you should be panicking for when your exam is on the next day hahaha....

Violin, hours.
Piano, years!

I know this may be old, and sorry if you already have finished this but, I play tuba ( Obviously. ), and my highest note is Bb ( I'll have to illustrate this with words. ) the Bb right under the middle C for the bass clef, and my lowest is D on the 5th ledger line going below the staff. But to get to Bb, I need a bit of a head start.:heh:

Without a head start, I can play the first F underneath Bb.

I can play for 40 minutes straight, but I'm the smallest tuba in my section, so that might not be a good example.


Originally posted by brncao
How many are interested in a Legend of Zelda Medley?

I am!

BTW, a year's gone (woah necro'd thread), where be teh medley? :P

What the heck!!??11!? Necro!<_<

I haven't abandoned it...yet. I haven't completed the medley because school is keeping me busy.

Back on topic. Around 6-15 min should do it. 20-30+ min is ridiculously long, and I'll start running out of songs to use. I don't even know why I even suggested that in my first post =_=

Eh, some medleys can stretch to that time. It's long, but if it's good, nobody will complain :D

I played Bass Clarinet and I could get pretty high up there, but it's no Brass instrument that's for sure. I'm sure the length isn't going to be a problem, many people who are in high school are in Symphonic, or Marching Band and Practice in the morning can range anywhere from 45min-3/4hours so I'd say let loose on it and don't worry about the length. :3 Just make sure there's places where breathes can be took so they don't pass out from holding a note for too long.

Hm... In Concert Band, I play the flute, so I don't tire out that easily unless I play for almost 5-6 hours. In the Jazz Band, I play the Tenor Saxophone, so just in one hour, my whole body can't take the torture anymore. @_@

basically until I start bleeding from the mouth since I have braces + I play the flute which requires pushing your mouth against the plate :X

So far its only happened once when I stayed up practicing scales and everything else you should be panicking for when your exam is on the next day hahaha....
Awesome! You play the flute too! :3 It must be difficult to play the flute with braces the first few days. I mean, I have braces too (Just got them 4 weeks ago. I hate it), but I don't have so much trouble with it after a couple of practices. (The first couple of days after I got braces, everytime I tried to play my flute, I just... I can't make a sound! TT;;;)

hi welcome try to stay on topic next time and have a nice day o/

4 hours

My best instrument is Marimba ^^ I can't really say I break down, seeing as I've survived through Band Camp XD

The longest I played guitar was for a two hour stint on the beach. I took my amp, a bunch of batteries, and a straw hat! We had a break for five min every twenty min or so. It was so much fun but very painfull in the evening. I couldn't hold a cup with my left hand for a bit.

Lessons learned:
NEVER agree to play that long with 12 gauge strings.
Alternate the playlist between the fast rythms and slower rythms
Ibuprofen rub on the wrist of the fretting hand works wonders to releive cramps
SUNSCREEN
Lots of water
Ignore double note bends...

For a clarinet, during marching band, 30 minutes=exhausted. Just with normal playing I could probably go for 2-3 hours.

In case you are wondering about note range, the lowest note is an E below the staff and anything above the second F above the staff is pretty rough.

Well, since I'm a freshman right now and my playing has improved during band camp, I can play my flute for a good deal of 1 hour during marching and 2 - 2 1/2 hours if normal.

Performing? Most I've done is about 2-3 hours straight for "Pep Band."

I think 3~4 hours for violin, depends on whether the song is fast or slow really...

"Pep Band"? That reminds me of something...:unsure: