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hedonist3
Registered User
Posts: 2
(7/19/01 7:11:51 pm)
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Humidifiers
My Gliga cello simply adores warm, humid weather. The tone becomes
much richer and it's even easier to bow smoothly. In low humidity it
gets really scratchy and harsh sounding.
Unfortunately where
I live is generally low humidity. In winter I have to keep it in a
heated room because of fluctutations in temperature. In summer the
room gets really hot. I hang a wrung out towel in the room to try to
keep the humidity up, but it's not very satisfactory.
I have
read about a product called a "dampit" that you soak in water and
put inside the f hole.
Does anyone out there use something
like this, have any comments about the advisability of using such a
product or got any better ideas to keep the humidity up???
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Andrew
Victor
Registered
User
Posts: 359
(7/20/01 8:41:25
am)
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Re:
Humidifiers
Often the effect of humidity on sound can be external - that is -
due to interaction of the rosin on the bow with that on the string
at a certain air-moisture content. An internal Dampit will not fix
that, nor will case humidication.
It would be helpful to know
what part of the country you live in, before recommending a method
of humidity control.
It actually is not healthy for
instruments or humans (as far as I'm concerned) to heat a room to
more than the upper 60s. Under those conditions, only on the coldest
winter days would a low-humidity problem be expected.
In
summer, the air moisture content is usually pretty high in most
parts of the world (unless of course you live in a desert [which I
did for 33 years]).
If you actually do live in an extremely
dry climate, it is worthwhile to consider controlling the entire
internal humidity, not just that of the instrument. Even then, if
you play in air-conditioned halls, your instrument will be exposed
to extreme dryness at those times - but even then I did not use a
Dampit but once - but it did nothing to control the biggest
annoyances - thightening bow hair and tightening (at that time, gut)
strings.
Using a Dampit is kind of like having a mammalian
pet. You have to tend it every day it is int the instrument, and
even then it is likely to "piddle" on the inside of your instrument
from time to time. The excess moisture in there can't be good, and
eventually mold is likely to grow on in the dampit and in your
instrument - and it can become a haven for bow-hair mites. However,
Dampits and case humidifying systems (like the Stretto that Shar
sells) may be good for humidifying an instrument to get it over
certain very dry shock situations, like a summer week in the
California mountains - Sierra Nevada - or the Rockies. or during an
airplane journey. Of course if the case is humidified, the
instrument will start to dry out every time you remove it from the
case. Even with a Dampit, which will also humidify the inside of the
case when the instrument is within, will not maintian the humidity
of the strings while playing.
Unless there was a serious risk
of my instrument being damaged by humidity changes, I would minimize
my use of instrument-centered humidification and focus on modifying
the environment in which it is kept and used.
Andy
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hedonist3
Registered User
Posts: 3
(7/27/01 1:20:35 am)
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Re:
Humidifiers
Sorry I took so long getting back, had a bad cold.
Thanks
for your thoughts Andy. My husband today told me that we actually
live in an area of high humidity. (We're on the coast of Tasmania,
Australia) Even so, it's those unusually warm and wet summer days
that bring out the absolute best from this cello.
The problem
is the room in which I have to keep the cello out of the way of my
4y.o. It gets really hot on summer days, without any sort of
heating/cooling. In winter it's really cold and pegs slip unless I
keep the room heated. Fish tanks or water features are out of the
question because of my daughter.
I rarely actually play in
the room, it's way too small, but the effect of keeping it there is
really obvious.
I am trying to track down a supplier of
Liebenzeller Gold rosin, but haven't yet found a supplier here in
Australia. From what I've read so far, decent rosin could solve a
lot of my problems.
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