Off the Mark by Mark Parisi for March 02, 2013

Is he supposed to be playing a clarinet or an oboe? It looks like a small plunger.

His day job is as a plumber’s helper.

I think it used to be a clarinet that was “blown away” by the tuba playing.

Maybe it was actually a French Horn.

I think it’s a clarinet, but the black of its ebony exactly matches his pants.I’m told that the instrument that most heavily affects an adjacent musician is a contrabassoon.

i could get you trombone proximity. how attached are you to the back of your head? and there’s always the violin section but you might end up with a bowed toupee.

pouncingtiger: The plunger is rarely used in a symphony orchestra, and has no handle. It is a type of mute for trumpets and trombones. The adult sound in Peanut anime is a trombone with a plunger mute.

Obiviously he wants to move because the tuba blew his hair all messed up.

CoBass: What do you think a plunger mute is? I got mine at the dollar store! A colleague on trumpet managed to find a smaller version the same way.

When I’ve gone to the symphony I notice some of the musicians wear earplugs. There are plexi-glass sound shields in front of the brass and percussion sections.

That conductor looks deranged