Hypoxia

The dramatic improvement in my performance ease at concert no. 10 would have come even sooner if not for a countervailing factor: the reduction in airflow occasioned by high-filtration face masks.

I already have to work on breathing when concentrating or nervous. It’s not just a physical tension response. When negative thoughts creep in—doubts about memory or technical control—I tend to hold my breath because, apparently, I think that if I breathe right then I might lose focus. (Obviously, the opposite is more likely.) 

Meanwhile, I keep masking more than the social norm, because I think Covid is still pandemic and still potentially seriously bad. And KN95 masks reduce air intake. Even when I’m conscious of breathing with appropriate depth and frequency, I often find myself having a hard time staying focused about 50 minutes into a concert. (Most of the concerts on this tour have been without intermission, 70-80 minutes of uninterrupted playing and talking.) When I practice, I can go two or three times as long without that feeling. I think the main difference is not that I’m performing, but that I’m masked.

At concert no. 8, in Strafford, I felt well prepared and at ease going in, but got tired early on. (It was still fine, but the noticeable step change in my comfort level came a couple of concerts later.) It was a particularly warm and humid evening. My dancer daughter tells me humidity is a big factor, that dancers change their masks several times in the course of a performance because air passes through a dry mask more easily. Gotta try this next time.