The common cold and singers performing LIVE in SL

Fyrm Fouroux · The common cold and singers performing LIVE in SL

At present there is a very unpleasant variant of the head cold going around my corner of the real world, which mainly presents as sore throat, some nasal blockage, but little in the way of full-on streaming (no, not that sort of streaming). The sting in the tail is that it apparently clears up and goes away, only to come back again a few days or a week later. Both myself and one of my rl music mates have been plagued with this for a while now. I know I was full of it when I did my Harold Hake: the Neurotic Psychologist performance at Rastafairy forrest stage back on June 1st. Then it went away. Now it is back. I don't want to cancel my gig at Sailors Cove today, though.

This is an example of something that sits within the interstices of the two worlds (RL and the metaverse). Although, potentially, it could affect any avatar that endulges in voice chat, the ones that are going to be most affected by this are the singers playing live music gigs.

My thoughts on the use of backing tracks are shot through with ambivalence. However, I do wonder whether the common cold might amount to mitigating circumstances. When faced with the choice of cancelling the gig or reducing the strain of singing on the voice by slipping in a few pre-recorded .wavs or .mp3s, I am inclined to favour the latter. I'm not suggesting that the whole show should end up being filled with pre-recorded stuff but that occasionally the singer is given space to sit back and sip on the hot toddy or whatever.

Another way to go would be to use a head-cold animation. I recently checked out some cool animation stores but did not see anything for the head-cold. One can then imagine the development of empathetic coughs and nose-blowing gestures for the audience. Brightly coloured tissues could replace the t-shirt as handouts for the gig. There are many possibilities. I am thinking of the blue box that appears on the screen. Instead of Do you want to allow your avatar to be animated by this dance? It might be Do you want to allow your avatar to catch this head cold? I gues there could be radio button choices as to what would amount to an acceptable level of incapacity (just the cough, just the watery eyes, or the whole damned gammut of miserable symptoms?) Sad

Doubledown Tandino

Any kind of musician's headcold or throat thing only makes a performance sound sexy super sexy.. like Barry White sexy...

... and then the performer sneezes and coughs and hawks and go's
"oh, scuse me, i feel terrible today"

see now, at that point, that's where the performer loses me.

So my suggestion is, if you're gonna perform and you're sick...
1) don't hawk snot loogies over the mic
2) don't tell anyone you're sick

The show, to the audience is awesome if the performer doesn't ever let us know how disgusting they feel.

ticious

It's very bad for a singer's voice (which is an instrument that needs taking care of) to try to sing around a sore throat (not to mention that it hurts like hell). And even if you're not that sick, I for one, can't always predict when I'm going to sneeze violently or go into a major coughing spasm. No one wants to hear that.

My vote would be that, if you're sick, cancel the gig, drink that hot toddy, take a nap and get well. Forget Second Life for a couple days and get your rest. I say this as someone who's just gotten over their first nasty head cold in years. I hated just looking at the damn screen (it made my eyes hurt and water). And those unpredictable sneezes did nasty things to my monitor. Fortunately, my wonderful venue staff and biz partners covered for me so I was able to take my own advice whilst the show went on without me.

I've had musicians cancel on me as a result of being sick. They have my sympathy and complete understanding (and gratitude as they are usually able to give me several hours notice). Honestly, I'd just as soon not have them on the stage whilst they're sick and would prefer to reschedule them.

Jasmine Usher

First and foremost take care of you..

SL will be there when you recover from your cold

*Passes you a bowl of virtual chicken soup*

Silas Scarborough

Fyrm, there are no rules. My shoulder is very damaged and sometimes it tolerates gigs better than others. If I need to take the weight of the guitar off my shoulder, I'll throw in a canned tune and I'll tell people I'm doing it. If this means I fail SL Live Jams 101, hey, I'll take the "F" - lol

Good luck and I hope you feel better soon.

Kiaranne

I've only been singing live for just over two months now and have not been sick with anything that effects my voice. (Knocks on wood.) If I were to get sick with a cold I am pretty sure my vocals would totally suck no matter how many good drugs I took, Confused

, so performing would suck and the show would suck.... yup... I'd be canceling shows till I was all better.

ticious

Doubledown Tandino

Hey, if I still gotta perform when I'm about to have a mental breakdown... you all can perform when you're sick!!!!
Hey... even my one sick hamster still uses the running wheel.... given, it's to sleep in, but still

Silas Scarborough

Tish, I was just jumping in because Fyrm is a bit mixed on back tracks. The only time I really don't like using back tracks is if one of them is someone singing. I love what Kim did with "House of the Rising Sun" but no matter what I do the singing isn't live so the song isn't and I just roll that one out when I want to give people a taste of what she can do. It does work when Kim does it as she sings it live and so what if the guitar is recorded.

But, as to taking care of yourself, if singing is going to make your situation worse, seems to me there's no option but to cancel the gig. What I'm doing won't make my shoulder worse as it's already borked so the best thing I can do is just shut up and play.

Zak Claxton

Like the idiot I am, I sang through pneumonia throughout last December, until I finally got too sick to stand up for an hour in front of the mic.

In retrospect, it was a less than good idea.

ticious

Silas Scarborough

Not a big deal, here. It's just my feeling on it and one thing I know for sure about SL is that no-one knows for sure what 'live' really means - lol

Fyrm Fouroux

This is kind of interesting. We've more or less got a gender split, with the girls being sensible and nurturant (some might almost say a tad maternal).

The lads, on the other hand, seem much more foolhardily up for it. Under the circumstances, I've decided not to take up Jo's kind offer to cancel the show and, like Silas, DD and Zak, I shall sing on regardless. But I might take Silas's advice and slip in the occasional canned number if I need to go refill the hot toddy. Wink

Indeed, I have just assembled my toddy ingredients downstairs in the kitchen, ready for the show: whisky, lemons, honey, whisky, whisky, whisky.... Should just about do it, I think.

Zak Claxton

If it matters at all, in retrospect, I was stupid for soldiering on with pneumonia. I wouldn't do it again.

ticious

/me nods, yes, Zak. That matters. It's very much to the point that I was getting at that you're better off to stop performing and get the rest you need. It's better for your voice and it's better for YOU. You ended up cancelling, what? Two weeks, a month, worth of shows?

Now, Fyrm IS talking about a head cold, not pnuemonia, but hey, lots of cases of pnuemonia start out as stubborn head colds such as the one you're describing, Fyrm.

ticious

BTW, I think this post is misclassified. Instead of being inlcuded in the topic "Performing LIVE in SL", shouldn't it be "Performing HALF DEAD in SL"?

Silas Scarborough

Fyrm, I'm guessing you're prob'ly half in the bag by now but I was misunderstood I bit. I just keep on because it won't make my problem any worse; the bones are already busted. In your situation, you may very well make it worse. I've successfully parlayed a cold into six weeks or so of bronchitis of such radical coughing that the only way they could break the cycle was with truckloads of steroids. Being an ironman hardly ever impresses the chicks and it prob'ly won't do you any good either. You've got the first part together with the whiskey but the second part is pulling a comforter over you and checking out for about twelve hours. If the world still sucks when you wake up, repeat! lol

Zak Claxton

ticious

Zak Claxton

You know, that's part of the problem: I really didn't sound that bad. I record every show, as do several of us, and when I listen to those mid-December shows, other than sounding a little less perky than I usually do, my voice was okay. Not perfect, mind you, but okay. Maybe a few extra coughs between songs, but that's all. Therefore, I was still able to bring a good show to the people.

So that's part of how I deluded myself into believing it was cool to perform.

Your second point (people really do die from things like pneumonia if they don't get rest and relaxation) is right on the money, though. And that's why I won't be being Mister Superman anymore if something like that pops up again.

Winston Ackland

it's funny what a cold or any of its ilk can do to one's voice. there are certain colds that do add that barry white thing, and, if you can manage it, you change your performance to suit the voice you have, and it can be a beautiful thing. if it goes further than that, it's time to dig out the old blues numbers, my friend. if it goes further than that, and you are barely able to even speak, it's time to cancel.

anything that is going to threaten your health is a good enough reason to cancel, obviously, but i don't think it's bad to test yourself on some occasions , to see what you can soldier through and what you can't. i mean, look at tiger woods at the US open. (of course, he did cancel the rest of his season, but you get my point.)

giving the venue owner as much notice as possible concerning a cancellation is just common courtesy, but i know that most of them are very understanding if it happens to be last minute for a health reason. they know that we are not machines and are subject to the same human frailties to which everyone is subject.

i totally agree with the idea of keeping the news of your poor health to yourself during the show. the last thing the people want to hear is how bad you feel and what a sacrifice you are making by gracing them with your ill presence. that's just a downer.

Silas Scarborough

There's one teeny-weeny detail that's being left out of this discussion: SL is still just a game. This epiphany came to me as I was shaving this morning and it suddenly dawned on me that I'm not young and beautiful. This was very traumatic to me and I may need to seek professional help. Of course they never tell you what you need to get over the professional help.

Fyrm Fouroux

Winston Ackland

Silas, it is a game, but the performance part of it is still very real, and, though you are not young and beautiful anymore on the outside, you are, eternally, in your heart. And that's the part we get inworld.

Zak Claxton

Doubledown Tandino

SL isn't a game until you're using a joystick

Winston Ackland

Oh, I'm not touching that. Not even with my ten foot pole Shocked

hexx

Winston Ackland

hexx, that's why one needs good management. they control the pour and then type the cancellation notice. Smile

Silas Scarborough

hexx

Winston Ackland

Damn, girl....

hexx

Silas Scarborough

RayW

Man ... Did I come late to this gig or what?!!!!

Hey, Fyrm, I've been sick for ages, too. Thing coming and going. Is it a world-wide plague or does SL living run down your immune system?

HaHa ... Just kidding. With me it's lack of sleep. But, that's not SL's fault, though SL is the culprit.

richdesoto

I'm coming in very late in this conversation (as always)... but here's my story.

Early last year (2007) I was performing shows and I would suddenly be without a voice. Sometimes it hurt, often I had no idea why I couldn't sing.

This wasn't a cold. It was systemic allergies. I discovered at that time that I have allergies to over 170 different environmental items -- and to several foods, including corn, soy, wheat and yeast.

I started to present with very sore throats and a sore right ear about this time. When I would go to the doctor he would say "you're clear, there's no inflammation" and then give me antibiotics.

This was terrible because it affected my album production (which as a result is still not done), my voiceover work, and my full-time career. If I have no voice, I'm sunk.

I eventually went to the ear, nose and throat doc. He started testing and we discovered all these allergies. Unfortunately it put a lot of my shows on hold or I had to cancel shows.

I made the mistake "twice" of playing shows when I knew that I wasn't going to be able to get through the entire hour. I tried not to say anything, but after about the second show of "croaking" out the tunes I apologized to the audience. I learned that it is best to just take the rest, back away and explain to the booking agent the situation. Some understand; some are very rude and express their attitude very vocally.

I hate Hate HATE to cancel shows. It's not my style. But this health stuff has really brought things to the front of my priority list. Fortunately, I have most of the situation under control with diet and shots, but there are "bad days". I hope that they never fall when I've booked gigs in SL or otherwise.

So... this was a long (boring?) story about Rich's health, but my point is... tell your booking person the situation and take care of your health. Its not worth it professionally or personally to play shows when you're sick.

Funkyfreddy

Interesting thread! Caught a flu about a month ago and still have a cough, but resumed playing SL a few weeks ago....

I HATE getting sick, lol!

Bosco Coonstantine

hey and I thought Silas's whole shows were prerecorded - he he

You can loose your voice and even damage your vocals for a very long time singing with a sore vocal chord or 2. Take a few gigs off or change your set list where your not having to hit notes that stress your voice. I finally broke down and went to the doctor and got some antibiotics.

Outside of that - warm liquids and vocal exercises help right before a gig. Stay away from cold liquids.