Between Antwerp and Zurich - next week, we'll be on tour! With his instrument, double bassist Igor Prokopets has already been through all sorts of things on the road. We caught him packing up backstage in the Great Hall, because of course his double bass doesn't just travel with us by train or bus.

The supposedly witty advice to learn to play the piccolo in the next life is something that double bass players should not take too seriously. A legitimate question, however, is how to safely transport the almost 2-meter-high string instrument on tour.

Backstage in the Great Hall, we have an appointment with Igor Prokopets. A few days before the start of the tour, big cases are already waiting there in which the wardrobe and instruments are stowed after the last rehearsal before departure - numbered consecutively and labeled with names, because from the outside they look pretty much the same. Igor's double bass lives in No. 8.

He has been through some things the road with it and its predecessor, says the musician: “At the beginning of my studies, I didn't yet have my private double bass in Berlin. Six months later, my parents came to visit me from Israel for the first time and wanted to bring it with them. They wrapped it in comforters and checked it in with the rest of their luggage. When they got off the plane at Tegel, the instrument wasn't there. It had gone missing like a small suitcase.” But everything turned out well: “It was delivered straight to my home the next day. I was enormously relieved that nothing had happened to it. However, I had asked my father, who is not a musician, to turn the strings down a bit before the journey because of the tension - he did that very thoroughly [laughs]. That's why the soundpost had fallen over inside. But that was easy to fix.”

The double bass travels very safely in the Konzerthausorchester travel trunk: The inner case is made of aluminum and has fairly thick padding. Straps prevent it from rocking when the case is rolled into the instrument transporter or an airplane hold. “But now there are also ultra-light and sturdy rolling cases made of carbon that weigh no more than 7 kilos. I know someone who builds them from an even lighter composite material that was developed in Russia for space travel,” enthuses Igor. Then nothing can really happen, can it? “Occasionally there is still an emergency, like when we were in Japan with the Konzerthaus Chamber Orchestra,” he recalls. “My carbon case wasn't damaged, but the back cover of the instrument inside had opened completely at the seam - for whatever reason. Fortunately, there was enough time before the first concert. A local instrument maker then repaired it very well with hot glue - it still holds to this day.” Rental instruments are not an alternative for him when traveling - Igor swears by his “very old Italian double bass”.

But back to the big double bass case: Isn't it also very practical for holding travel souvenirs from other orchestra members and an extra salami for the snack? “Absolutely not,” replies Dirk Beyer, who is just turning the corner from his office and gets a stern look at the very thought of it. That could cause a lot of trouble, especially if we play in Switzerland. Our coordinating stage hand has spent weeks meticulously compiling the customs information for our southern neighbor: “They've just been tightened up there again. Basically, exactly what enters the country in the instrument transport must also leave in it again. And literally to the exact gram.”

This applies to cases, double basses and bows, which have to be weighed separately and together. Souvenirs have no place at all in between. In addition, the value and the respective origin must be stated. The age is also very important: protected woods, ivory or mother-of-pearl were normal components of string and woodwind instruments in earlier eras, but today the import and export of these raw materials is strictly prohibited. Dirk enters all of this on forms. The complete “carnet”, as it is officially called in Switzerland, is the basis for smooth procedures at the border and yet is just one of the many details that our stage hands team is responsible for on a tour.