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jeff
Registered User
Posts: 4
(8/30/01 1:23:29 pm)
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Humidity
compensation
I live in a very dry climate (Arizona) at a rather high altitude
(7,000 feet in Flagstaff). I recently went through a shopping
experience and bought a new cello. Once of the cellos I looked at,
but did not buy, was a 19th century English cello that had a nice
sound and so I expressed interest in it. It had had several cracks
repaired over the years. The shop owner/seller said he wouldn't
recommend that I buy an older cello and move it to Arizona, since
his experience was that sometimes cracks open up over years in very
low humidity environments. Well, my thread is not exactly about this
(proper crack repair) but rather about what one should do in a dry
climate.
I've heard two stories:
(1) use "dampits"
or some other form of moisture system to maintain some decent level
of humidity so that the instrument never really dries out.
Alternatively,
(2) things like dampits simply create a
micro-climate inside your cello, but if you don't keep your dampits
moist,then what is happening is that the cello gets moists, then
dry, then moist,then dry, etc ..... Better to simply let it dry out
completely to the ambient humidity once and for all. (The cello I
bought is a new cello with no cracks, so the issue of old cracks is
not what is at stake here.)
So, I try to be religious about
keeping the dampits moist, but sometimes I travel (next week I have
to go on a business trip for a week) and my cello will sit with
drying-out dampits. I know the ideal thing to do would be to
humidify my house, or at least my practice room, but short of that,
what kind of opinions/experiences do folks have in low humidity
environments and what works best?
thanks,
-jeff
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ruthann
Registered
User
Posts: 570
(8/30/01 3:02:08
pm)
Reply
|
Re: Humidity
compensation
Congrats on the new cello!
I have a cello that's over 100
years old, which I bought when I lived in Seattle, then moved it
with me to California. It had no cracks then, it has none now. I did
have a seam let loose about ten years ago but who can say what the
cause of that was?
Here in Ridgecrest we have less rain than
Flagstaff, but your altitude may make you as dry or drier. Summer
averages about 20%, winter 10%. During the hot and windy season we
use swamp coolers which keep the house pretty moist. The cold and
windy season is a real problem. We had a humidifier hooked into the
furnace. It's still there but not operational.
So I broke
down and bought a Stretto humidifier from Shar. I works quite well.
I do like the hydrogimeter - lets me know when things are too dry. I
can easily go a week without adding water if my case is shut. Much
more conveniant than dampits.
cello_suttonr@hotmail.com |
jeff
Registered User
Posts: 5
(8/30/01 5:10:35 pm)
Reply
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humidifiers
Hi Ruthann,
Thanks a lot for your comments. I've seen the
Stretto humidifier and hygro-thermometer in the Shar catalog but was
put off by the price. Sounds like it'd be worth it. I'm glad to have
your opinion.
Some of the folks I know here in Arizona don't
use dampits or Stretto but let their instruments reach ambient, they
seem to believe that is best. But talking to folks who sell cellos
and then deliver them to AZ I hear a different story, they seem to
really believe that keeping them relatively moist is worth the
effort. They hear lots of stories of instruments moved to a dry
climate that develop problems. As with most of these things, there
seems to be no agreement.
There are lots of seams opening up
here, plus occasional cracks, or, more probably re-opened cracks. So
I've decided to go with the keep-it-moist
camp. It worked for my
old cello for 18 years!
-jeff
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Bobbie
Registered User
Posts: 630
(8/30/01 5:28:49 pm)
Reply
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Re:
humidifiers
I used to be of the "let it dry out" camp but my old cello dried
out a little too much and came unglued. So now I'm rethinking my
philosophy of humidification. I am not going to go to a swamp
cooler, though, as I can't stand humidity (30% feels humid to me.)
My old case had a little humidifier but the new cello won't fit in
that case, so I think I may look into something else.
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mvotapek
Registered User
Posts: 7
(9/1/01 7:12:06 pm)
Reply
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Silk
If you are away from the cello and its humidity source (dampits or
humidifiers or whatever), wrap the cello in silk before putting it
in the case. Silk doesn't allow the humidity inside the cello to
escape very fast...a couple of bass dampits in a cello wrapped in
silk will keep a cello humid for days.
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samcn
Registered User
Posts: 22
(9/2/01 9:49:04 pm)
Reply
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Highly recommand
Stretto..
Hi, I live in Boston and have to deal with the dry winter.. I tried
Stretto fron Shar and very happy with it.. It kept the humidity in
50% for 1-2 weeks..
It was made od super absorb material and will
expend thousand times of it's volume.. So literally, when the bag
expends, it is all water..
But few tips for you:
1. Just buy
the refill bag($7 each, and 2 bags for cello): it is not worth it to
buy their small container costs over $40-50.. You can make it with a
tuperware then puch plenty of holes.. Sand it smooth inside so it
will not damage the bag..
2. Use distilled water only so the
Stretto will last much longer since the deposit from the tap water
will weaken the Stretto..
3. Continue use dampits inside the
cello..
Good luck for the coming winter...
Sam
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Bobbie
Registered User
Posts: 636
(9/2/01 10:11:21 pm)
Reply
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Re: Highly
recommand Stretto..
Do you have any idea what the material in the Stretto bags is?
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samcn
Registered User
Posts: 23
(9/3/01 7:34:36 pm)
Reply
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Stretto
No, I have no idea.. It is a small bag, at first sight, I thought "
a little dash of salt??" But witness the expend of the bag, I was
very impressed..
I tried to figure that out -- feel like
baby-diaper additive to absorb the liquid quickly..
Oh, read the
instruction, do not let the bag sit in the water too long -- it will
explode..
Sam
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