I was performing as the principal bassoonist in a symphonic band concert. We played a piece or two, the audience clapped, and when I sat down, I looked down and one of the pads had fallen off one of the highest keys. The pad is what seals the hole allowing the instrument to play different notes. Since I effectively had a leak at the very top of my instrument, I literally was incapable of playing anything at all. The bassoon turned into a squeaky toy.

Anyways, as we began the 3rd piece, I looked at the 2nd bassoonist and told her she would have to play all the solos (which she hadn’t prepared for).

At intermission, I had a crazy idea, so I found my sister in the audience and asked her if she had a stick of gum. To my delight she did, so I chewed it up, stuck it to the back of the pad, and put the pad back on the instrument. To my surprise the hack worked, and I was able to complete the rest of the concert.

tl;dr: My snot nosed 20 year old self violated a school-owned $20,000 instrument with 10 cents worth of chewing gum at intermission, but managed to play all my solos, and then afterwards learned how to properly reseat pads with a lighter.