Humidity in Violin Case

May 10, 2009 at 07:59 PM ·

Generally, humidity should be between 40 and 60%.  You should talk with your luthier about what to do, or maybe one of the luthiers on the site will give you some ideas.

May 10, 2009 at 11:05 PM ·

I dont believe those gauges are very accurate.  Actually, my luthier told me they are basically useless.  So unless you live in a rain forest, it is probably not really 70%.

May 11, 2009 at 02:07 AM ·

I agree, Smiley.  The humidity in the case is going to equalize to the external ambient humidity.  For this reason I run my humidifier in my apartment during the winter months.  Wood is sufficiently stable that it will not acclimate and dry out completely for the time that I go out to rehearse/perform. 

Seeing players with Dampits hanging out of their instruments even while they're playing especially puzzles me.  That moisture is simply evaporating into thin air; there's no reason to think that it's specifically able to keep the air volume inside the instrument moist, and sufficiently moist at that.  

I think of it as setting a shot glass of water inside a cold oven.  Will its evaporation really do that much to humidify the air inside the oven, and significantly and sufficiently at that? 

I must confess: I do keep the little evaporate bottle in my case full during the cold months.  But I think it's more for subtle psychological reassurance....

Eric

May 11, 2009 at 06:20 AM ·

Greetings,

I admire humility in a violin case.

Cheers,

Buri

May 12, 2009 at 01:48 AM ·

I agree with Tom that a good range is between 40 and 60%.

I agree also with Smiley that humidity gauges aren't very accurate. The digital ones tend to be within 10 percent though in my testing. That's a greater variance than I'll tolerate in my shop, but it's better than nothing.

Also agree with Eric, in that a "Dampit" won't do squat when playing, except maybe hurt the sound production.

May 12, 2009 at 09:36 AM ·

...and I agree with Mr. Burgess.

Case hygrometers are inherently inaccurate. My dial-type hygrometers are specially made without the numbered scale, and just have zones that say dry-safe-humid, which is what you want to know anyway.

I've also compared digital ones side-by-side, one would assume they are accurate with all that technology, but, while better than the dial type, indeed they aren't particularly accurate either. Differences of more than 10% between one and another are the norm. 

One thing that should be said is that if there is a hygrometer in the case there should be adequate airflow around it, so it can read what's going on. I've seen too many cases where the hygrometer is flush-mounted, which looks quite nice but is completely useless because air can't get to the measuring part.

Cheers!

May 13, 2009 at 03:25 AM ·

I visited a local luthier / violin dealer recently who worked out of his basement.  He had violins hanging all over the place.  Out of curiousity, I asked if his basement was humidified and to my surprise, it was NOT.  He said if a fiddle can't survive our winters in the Washington DC area, it would never survive in a desert climate such as Arizona.

I have always thought that humidity was key to the health of stringed instruments.  I keep a humidifier in my violin case at all times during the dry winter months.  Is this a waste of time, or is it really necessary?

May 13, 2009 at 10:53 AM ·

"Survival" of the instrument is a curious standard for a luthier to use. We can survive on $1 McDonalds cheeseburgers and Coca-Cola, but it's not the road to optimum health. ;-)

Damage from improper moisture levels in violins isn't always dramatic and immediately apparent. It can also show up as gradual deterioration over time, just like heart disease and obesity.

Here is one of the most accurate ways to check the accuracy of your hygrometer:

Take about HALF A CUP OF TABLE SALT, and a QUARTER CUP OF WATER, and mix them together in a coffee cup by stirring for about a minute.

Place the coffee cup containing this mixture into an AIR TIGHT CONTAINER such as a large Ziploc bag or a sealed pressure cooker, along with the hygrometer(s) you want to test. You must have an air-tight seal, and make sure the hygrometer doesn't come in direct contact with the salt solution.

Put all this in a room temperature location where the temperature will remain fairly constant for about 24 HOURS (away from drafts, direct sunlight, hot air vents).

After about 24 hours, check the reading on your hygrometer through the clear plastic bag, or immediately upon opening your air-tight container. It should read very close to 75%.

Remember, this only tells you if your hygrometer is accurate at 75%. It could still be way off at other readings.