Hi,
just wondered if an humidifier is quite an important thing for all violin owners or is just for those living in certain climates/temperatures?
It is quite a cheap thing to buy so I gladly will if it's something that my violin needs.
Thank you for your patience as always.
Jo

i use half a potato for my fiddle and my wooden clarinet - its even cheaper!

Half a potato? HAHAHA thanks Malone, I would have never thought of that!

Actually, it hasn't occured to me that I may need to 'humidify' the surroundings I keep my clarinet in...

I live in a big strange house that has an extremely variable temperature range - we just wear lots of jumpers! But I don't want to risk my clarinet cracking or drying out, then cracking!

Phew! I'm a bit new to the whole wooden clarinet thing - I've only had it a few months!

Never used one and violin is still ok- not that I'm that a good player!

If you live in the UK it's unlikely you'll need a humidifier. As an island surrounded by water and with the amount of rain we usually get, the atmosphere is damp enough already.

Generally speaking, smaller instruments fair better than large ones. This is simply due to the amount of surface area. Therefore a violin is fair more likely to survive without problems in a spell of dry weather, than maybe a cello or double bass.

Last winter, when we had weeks (months) of cold dry weather I did put Dampit humidifiers into my instrument cases, just to be on the safe side. I normally wouldn't use such things, other than if I was going abroad to very dry climates - hot or cold.

If you have central heating (and I don't) then this is also a very real threat, especially if instruments are inadvertently stood near radiators. Humidifying the room/air is more practical and more effective than trying to humidify each instrument in its case. The use of a potato sounds like a cheap one, but possibly a bit smelly....

Digital hygrometers are a cheap and easy way of keeping an eye on how humid the air is in any particular room.

Remember that too much humidity can also play havoc with musical instruments.

*Remembers* My clarinet once got drenched in a rainstorm (What a way to discover your case isn't waterproof!), I stupidly left it near the radiator overnight, and wondered why it simply refused to play the wierdest combination of notes (Just one, over the entire range, just one note. It would be the one I need to play most as well.)

My fiddle case came with a built in clock type thing which measures the humidity, potato isn't too smelly, its wrapped in clingfilm with small holes in, and said potato does get replaced regularly!

What about Australia? I study there at the moment (but am back home now for my summer holidays) and I was really worried in winter that it would do damage to my violin. I wasn't too bothered then cuz the violin was a cheap one and I WAS going to get another when I got home (as a birthday gift). The new one I got is 10 times the price of that cheap one and I really don't want to spoil it lol. I stay in Western Australia.

Last winter was very dry. We bought a cello last april and the Luthier set it up. When some rain arrived in June it developed a massive wolf note as the humidity went up. The luthier shifted the sound post around and really reduced the wolf note. So no lasting damage but some adjustment was needed between damp and dry weather. You wouldn't get anything like that with a violin in the UK though I shouldn't think.

yep, I do live in UK, south London area so perhaps I should not worry too much. I do have central heating though so maybe just one of those things to tell me the humidity in my house might be good, in case central heating affects it...
thanks for all replies
Jo

Just wondering, what can we do then if it gets to humid? Are there such things as dehumidifiers for instruments?

There are such things as dehumidifiers that can be stood in a room and they extract the excess moisture from the air. Use with care though, as some of them are very efficient and it's possible to go to the other extreme.

Putting little bags of silica gel into a case will absorb excess moisture. Possibly useful if you live in Hong Kong, since they tend to have high humidity problems.

The UK is a temperate climate, so extremes of either problem are not really an issue.

High humidity causes problems to instruments? Lol, I thought it was the dry/wet climates (in temperate countries) that would cause havoc to the instruments (like pegs etc). Looks like I'll need to get a humidifier for myself. Singapore 'enjoys' humidity percentages in the 90s%. Hahaa...