No mandolin content: Nursing musical grudges?

[Gina Willis]

This item appeared in the April 21 Santa Rosa Press Democrat, about Mendocino County’s proposed changes to its coronavirus lockdown order. At that time the county had a total of 5 COVID-19 cases.

"...About 90% of Mendocino County’s parks are closed, but a revision of the stay home order on April 10 allowed communities to open parks on a limited basis for walking, hiking and jogging.
The original order also prohibited singing during livestreamed events, a restriction that may be lifted but would still not allow playing woodwind instruments or harmonicas."

[Pittsburgh Bill]

I'm not sure I understand the original order. No playing of your own woodwind instrument / harmonica? No singing during livestreaming? I guess I'm confused.
I certainly understand closing or limiting use of public places and do not understand people demonstrating against social distancing and/or closures. Reminds me of a recent comic I saw saying that vombie movies got it all wrong. They should show people in the streets begging to be eatten by vombies. I personally am OK with these orders as I do not want to see this move from a pandemic to an apocalypse. This is not to say that perhaps some closures may lack scientific relavance.
Five weeks ago I was on my way home from RVing the winter in Florida when my wife and I decided to socially isolate in a very, very, rural area of the Blueridge Mountains in N E Georgia. Still here and staying put until things calm a bit back in the Burgh. Here I play mandolin daily for several hours allowing me to work on new material and practice playing in keys I previously had no experience with.
Regulations are designed to protect people or something. Our leaders lack experience developing regulations for a pandemic and the need to develop them hastily. Mistakes will be made and fine tuning will come with time and experience. In the mean time let us just keep on PICK'N!

[mandroid]

Being a Lung infecting virus you Must keep your face behind a mask, so breath driven instruments are not allowed?

In your own home and shared electronically it's OK?

[Charlie Bernstein]

The creepy Big Brother part is that they know when you're streaming.

[HonketyHank]

Well, if the woodwind is being played by a wannabee oboe-ist, I agree wholeheartedly.

[Jacob]

Now playing a vintage 1960 Conn slide trombone, hoping the antimicrobial properties of the solid copper bell will provide a small amount of protection.

[David Lewis]

I certianly get (though it's upsetting) banning live singing and even possibly woodwind and brass instruments - the voice projects the virus further when singing technique (pushing air further for projection) is applied. But like the others, in your own home? The virus doesn't spread through wi-fi, as far as I can tell. Strange ban. There was th choir who a large number got sick, despite doing all the right things - that was because the singing projected the virus further than speaking, and an awful, awful tragedy. But, yep, unless they've got it confused with a computer virus, or think it's the same thing, I don't get it.

[allenhopkins]

"Singing during livestreamed events?" Define "event." Does this mean one of the twelve gazillion livestreamed concerts/recitals/"Zoom jams" that are going on every day, and which I get e-mail-notification about over and over?

Now, if local governments really want us to survive the pandemic, perhaps they should ban banjos, bagpipes, accordions and bodhrans from "livestreamed events." Do you have any idea the "spread" of virus from a bagpipe?

As far as banjos, accordions and bodhrans, that's just good taste dictating their exclusion.

[mandroid]

Uilleann pipes may clear the criteria, because the air-pressure comes from a bag under your armpit. not out of your face..

[Bertram Henze]

It is in times like this that people suddenly find themselves in charge to regulate things they never needed to know and have no chance of learning about at such short notice.

I am recognizing this pattern from network security administration - in the beginning, all the protocols and user rights are shut down to zero; then, as users begin to find essential things they can't do and speak up (or rather fill in forms), administrators begin to open up paths one at a time.
The good news is, after a while you can do what you always did, again. The bad news is, the process may stay in place, and for everything new you want to do you have to apply for a grant, and there is a market for products to help you with that (approved rechargeable virus filters for woodwind instruments? who knows).

[Gina Willis]

I posted this news item because it gave me a laugh in a dark time.
It just struck me as funny that they singled out harmonicas for the ban — I could imagine some harmonica-hating government official thinking, “Aha! Now’s the chance to get rid of those wheezy and annoying germ projectors once and for all!”

[John Kelly]

So, our Scottish name for the harmonica, "The Spittle Trap", is maybe what we use now to rename all harmonicas!

[Ted Eschliman]

These conversations ultimately inevitably end up in heated political discussions, well outside the scope of this Forum.
Apologies, but we’re closing this one down before it gets there.