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Was reading Saturday evening and researching the proper % of humidity for violins after finding that my first instrument seems to have a crack forming that has the finish separating,to be honest about it this looks more like kiln check than a crack as there are three side by side near where the neck sets into the body of the instrument.
Though I'm not at all happy with this instrument I don't intend to let it go into total disrepair as I'm waiting right now for the two dampit's I ordered I jury rigged a humidifier for its case.
Knowing that when I ordered this violin in December of 2012 it was pretty cold here at the point that this instrument was shipped it doesn't surprise me that this has happened.
I was blown away with the opinions on on storage and humidity and what is the proper % to have from my understanding it should be 40% to 60% seeing I've replaced my starter with something a bit better purchased a case with a hygrometer in it which is readibg out at 50% I think I'm safe at this point though this past winter here was rather dry I know this is true as my nose was constantly bleeding this winter due to it being so dry in my house.
With all that said I noticed that the information on this seemed to be about as opinionated as the answers you might get on what makes a violin sound good or bad,or what strings to use I'd think there would be something a little more definitive seeing this is important stuff I don't know of anyone who wants there instrument to start falling apart the one I've got that is showing signs of cracks already is less than 4 months old.
This starts to make me questions if I'm doing something wrong here as far as taking care of my violins and if I can do something to avoid having this happen to my other one?
At any rate all I've got is 40% to 60% humidity supposedly is a safe range two articles I read claimed its not a good idea to leave your violin out of its case when your not playing,which is something I don't do as I figured all I need is to turn around step on my instrument or have it drop off the chair or what ever,though I've been practicing quite a bit more since I purchased my second violin and I've not been able to keep my hands off of it which I guess is good
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Anyway I figure there's someone here that knows more than I do on this subject that's why I brought it up thanks for reading and replying.
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When I asked the place I bought my violin from, they said 40-60% is good. In the store, they try to keep the violins at as close to 50% humidity as possible.
There's a diversity of opinions on the subject, though, as you;'ve already noticed.
"This young wine may have a lot of tannins now, but in 5 or 10 years it is going to be spectacular, despite the fact that right now it tastes like crude oil. You know this is how it is supposed to taste at this stage of development." ~ Itzhak Perlman
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I'm not a luthier but I tell you what he said to me: too much moisture does not really hurt the instrument, it helps the seasoning. Of course, for "not too wet" means that there are no water droplets in the air ..
The sun unstick the instrument.
In short, the real danger are the sudden changes in weather conditions. Probably where live 's humidity changes rapidly and passes from dry to wet in a very short period of time that the igometro fails to report because in case ..
For what is my experience, the only advice I can give to you is to try to loosen the strings when not using the instrument. This procedure is the standard that is recommended when the orchestra made the transfer in plane.
As for the broken instrument, the online translator has done a poor job and I did not understand: it is unstick wood or has cracked the wood?
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Non sono un liutaio ma ti dico quello che disse a me: troppa umidità non fa realmente male allo strumento, aiuta la stagionatura. Ovviamente per "non troppo umido" si intende che non ci siano le gocce d'acqua nell'aria..
Il sole scolla lo strumento.
Per farla breve il vero pericolo sono i cambi repentini delle condizioni atmosferiche. Probabilmente dove vivi l' umidità cambia rapidamente e passa da secco a umido in un lasso di tempo molto breve che l'igometro non riesce a segnalare perchè in custodia..
Per quella che è la mia esperienza, l'unico consiglio che posso darti è di provare ad allentare le corde quando non usi lo strumento. Questa procedura è quella standard che viene raccomandata all'orchestra quando vengono fatti dei trasferimenti in aereo.
Per quanto riguarda la rottura dello strumento il traduttore on line ha fatto un pessimo lavoro e non ho capito: si è scollato il legno o si è crepato il legno?
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I live in Sunny La Florida and we got some humidity down here for sure. My thermostat is set at 40% humidity for the house but I live with the windows open until its just not fun anymore. The violin sits by my computer in a basket so I can pick it up and play at a whim. I feel like it stares at me sometimes. I still have the moisture absorbing crystals (dessicant) in my case but it only goes in there to get somewhere, church or lessons. I dont worry bout the humidity affecting it its been two years living like this and so far so good. I hope Im not screwing it up either. I was warned one time about the possibility of mold growing inside it? That would suck!
"Please play some wrong notes, so that we know that you are human" - said to Jascha Heifetz.
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