humidity and sound
I'm curious about the different effects low and high humidity have on the SOUND of the violin, not only on its structural aspects. I gather the same violin would sound different when it had been in a humid location for a few days, compared to what it sounded like at a lower level of humidity. How would you describe those sound qualities? And what effect do different levels of humidity have on the sounds generated by the bow, as opposed to the violin itself? Thanks/
Replies (8)
Smiley gave good advice. Violins have various "sweet spots" , involving climactic conditions and a host of other factors. There is no one humidity level at which every violin will sound its best.
The wood in a bow stick is less reactive to moisture changes, but I'm not a bow specialist, so I'll welcome other opinions on how that plays out.
My very small experience follows what Smiley has described. In fact, a week of rain in our usually semi-arid climate seems to have softened the sound of both my instruments (not necessarily to my liking). I was wondering in particular how different humidities might effect the hair on the bow, as well as the wood.
Excessive humidity seems to me as well to dampen (sorry) the brighter qualities of an instrument, and produce a thicker, less responsive sound and feel.
Coming from the same geo area as Smiley, and having lived with the heat and humidity, I'd like to mention that ceiling fans, much in use in these nastier climes, have a terrible effect on the sound of any instrument played in the same room in which they are running. I was quite surprised to note that the swirling column of air they produce would degrade what i was hearing.
Of course, it's entirely possible that the decreased oxygen from the whirling dust bunnies I was inhaling might have led to hypoxia, and skewed my perceptions.
It is well known that wood reaches an equilibrium moisture content depending on the air around it... more humidity, and the wood absorbs more. More moisture means more weight and higher damping, which might suit an overly bright, responsive instrument. Lower humidity might be better for an instrument that's more on the mellow side, to brighten it up.
We have dry houses in winter, and last winter my violin sounded harsh because of that, and I took it to my luthier. He explained about the same things Don explained, made a tiny adjustment to the soundpost, and the violin sounded much better.
I've not yet needed to have the soundpost changed back again.
I think every instrument is an individual case. I live in the DC area, where we have dramatic humidity changes. I have a nice 1805 violin which loves humidity. The more tropical it gets outside, the better it sounds. In the winter it gets kind of shrill. My good modern instrument (2008) seems much less affected.
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May 29, 2011 at 01:01 AM ·
I would guess that different violins react differently. My fiddle seems to like it between 50-55%. When the humidity is too low, it tends to sound brighter with a bit more edge, even harsh. When the humidity is too high, it has a nice warm sound but the response tends to get sluggish and some notes are a bit wolfy. Of course it is entirely possible that all of it is in my head, just the result of my brain getting water logged :-)