moisture on my keys

[fziegler]

I'm the keyboardist of a big band. And it happened a few times to me when we were playing outdoors:

 

The day got hot, a little rain brought refreshment and high humidity; or in the evening, when it gets colder and you start to play into the night - some moisture gets on my keys. At home or at rehearsals, I'm used to play with dry hands on dry keys so the fingers will easily move around; but this is not the case when moisture gets into play. The keys don't exactly become sticky, but they do become dull and difficult to play. According to my experience.

 

I got told that some piano players even like that feeling; I really don't. And I'm quite convinced that my playing then sounds bumpy and inorganic. No more groove at all.

 

I'm not intending to install a fan every time for just in case it may happen again. But have any of you experienced this, don't like it as much as I do and found some practical remedy?

[ElmerJFudd]

Outdoor summer gigs can go all variety of ways.   Hot as hell - direct sun is a problem for us and electronics so you may need an umbrella, fan, sun block, etc. Rain and humidity - umbrella, towels and a fan.  Or it could be just the nicest evening 80F and a nice breeze and all is right with the world.   That’s just how it goes.  Plan for it.  

[Baldwin Funster]

Ove tried a few things to remedy sweaty keys syndrome.  So far the only thing that worked was to talc up my hands every couple of songs. 

But some powder found its way into the key bed and killed a couple of keys on my cheap midi controller.  So that's out.

[JamPro]

For every outdoor gig, I pack some talcum powder, which I apply to my hands to cope with the sticky plastic keys on a humid summer day.  Too much talcum powder makes my fingers slide across the keys uncomfortably, so a balance is needed between too sticky and too slippery.  And yes, you don't want to spill the talcum powder into your keyboard.

 

FWIW, I also pack sun block and bug spray for every outdoor gig.

[Stokely]

A Lasko drying fan--and make sure to get one that tilts!---is as much as part of my rig as my keyboards.   I need it for most indoor gigs too, I sweat easily.

Not sure how much it helps the keyboards, being outdoors as they are in the humidity, but it definitely helps me.

I've had the rain come down directly on my rig when we did a night time gig "under the stars" like fools--to be fair, the place usually had a roof but they were replacing it.  Forecast was 0% rain, and there were no clouds in sight in the late afternoon.  It started pouring with no warning (no building wind, no ozone smell, no light rain first) at 11pm.   That's humidity!

[Baldwin Funster]

Yes a high powered fan has saved me at many indoor and outdoor summer gigs. It didn't really slick up my keys but at least I didn't die.

Problem can be that if you sing you got to point the air stream so it doesn't blow wind noise into the mic. 

[CEB]

This is a player’s life.  Many ways to cope with it.  Most important thing is experience. Just keep persevering until it becomes routine.   Play the piano until the piano plays you.  
 

I use talc powder for guitar/other stringed instrument gigs.    At gigs I alway have towels and I usually have three shirts on hand.  One for the show and a dry one for after.  Our production usually provide fans ,the ones that are very directional and and spin like a sideways can on the floor and point up.  Water soda and beer is provided.   I pass on the alcohol in the summer.  I suck enough.  

[stillearning]

I liberally apply talcum powder to a dry terry washcloth on both sides, aggressively rub it into the rag, then lay the rag at my feet. Whenever my hands feel like they’re starting to ‘tack up’, I grab the rag for a quick drying. If it’s a particularly humid and sticky night, I’ll give the keyboards a quick, light wipe from time to time. Just a little, it’s mostly for my hands.

 

I’d rather have too much talc on my hands than not enough. Can’t stand that sticky keys feel. I also wipe the keys down with a damp cloth, then fully dry them before I leave home too, so they’re extra clean.

[cphollis]

I play outdoors in FL.  When humidity starts condensing on my keys, I get into a rhythm between tunes: mute keyboards, wipe down keybeds with towel, unmute keyboards.

 

That mute/unmute bit is important ...

[RABid]

If the keys are sweating I would be worried about the electronics doing the same thing. 

[cphollis]

34 minutes ago, RABid said:

If the keys are sweating I would be worried about the electronics doing the same thing. 

Not as big an issue, as the condensation is caused by temperature differential.  The electronics are generally warm, so condensation doesn't form.  

 

Letting your keyboards acclimate to outdoor temps in their cases also helps, but isn't always possible.

[CEB]

My boards would get soaked when the dew point was bad especially at load out. Knock on wood, to my knowledge I have had no gear failures due to this. Everything get wiped down before cased.   I quit worrying about it long time ago because if I wanted to work there wasn’t much I could do about it.  

[fziegler]

2 hours ago, RABid said:

If the keys are sweating I would be worried about the electronics doing the same thing. 

 

As long as it's only a little moisture adding during playing, I'm as confident as cphollis is that the warmth of electronics will be enough to prevent from moisture inside.

 

2 hours ago, cphollis said:

I play outdoors in FL.  When humidity starts condensing on my keys, I get into a rhythm between tunes: mute keyboards, wipe down keybeds with towel, unmute keyboards.

 

That mute/unmute bit is important ...

I hoped you would jump in as I already imagined what Florida would be like mainly in summer. So you haven't tried with talcum powder yet on fingers playing those precious Nords?