Hello,

last year my daughters orchestra went on tour in Spain. Most of the strings players took these dampers
to try and protect their instruments from drying out too much. However the problem was that her violin
heated up in the case and where the back was resting on the velvet of the case the varich softened
enough to pull off a lot of the pile and leave a beard on the violin back. This was easlity solved on the
return to the UK by a violin repairer who cleaned the back off for us. Though he did polish it up as well
which my daughter was not happy about as it was just getting that nice distressed look about it. Anyway
is there anyway to protect violins from this sort of problem They cannot have all the instruments on
the coach so they have to go in the luggage compartment which is where the damage is done. I have been
looking at other cases which clamp the neck of the violin so very little touches the inside of the case, but
I was wondering if anyone had any other suggestions.....

I keep mine in a silk bag inside the case - many violin cases come with some kind of lint-free bag in which to put the violin before putting it in the case - alternatively, I have a friend who just wraps her fiddle in a large piece of lint-free cloth before putting it in the case.

The cases with neck clamps won't help because the fiddle will still touch the rest of the case (such cases are called total suspension cases because the fiddle is in contact with the case on all sides and therefore remains stationary in the middle, so this wouldn't solve the problem)

The best solution is to try to avoid leaving the fiddle anywhere too warm (car boots, direct sunlight etc) - always try to find shade for it and wrap it in something before putting it in the case.

Hope this helps!

Allan

You DO need a damper, that is there to keep the humidity level up though, not to keep the violin cool.

Your daughter should keep her violin with her, eg on the coach with air con and not get it put in storage same with hotel room. generally, don't leave it anywhere hot - protecting it from sticking is very well, but there's other damage being done when it's getting hot which is much worse.

Extremes of temperature - very hot or very cold - are in fact not a huge problem, the biggest worry is dry air (lack of humidity). Even if the air is cold, it can still be dry and a wood bodied instrument can crack - ask any string or woodwind player who's been to Iceland. It might be cold with lots of snow on the ground, but the humidity is very, very low. Winter 2006 in the UK was very similar - no rain, but very cold and very dry.

In short, if the humidity is low, put a Dampit inside the violin when the instrument is in the case - but do check it regularly, don't let it dry out completely. If in doubt, buy a portable hygrometer that you can pop inside the case or leave standing in a room. Generally speaking, anything below 40% humidity is classified as dry air.

Silk bags are a good idea to protect the violin from general abrasion, but beware of dubious quality silk (nylon satin?) bags - depending on their origin. Better to purchase a large heavyweight real silk scarf, the type that would come from Italy, as opposed to more eastern climes. I found a couple of good second hand ones on ebay and paid only £2.50 each for them, plus 50p p&p.

However, I do know of some violin cases that have such poor quality interiors (country/regions of origin not mentioned, but use your imagination), that it is in fact the glue holding the nylon velvet lining to the case that has melted in the hot weather and caused the interior to weld itself to the violin body........ You have been warned!

Cases welding to instruments.... Well, I must say I'm glad I read this board now!! *Will be paranoid about leaving clarinet anywhere*

/invading string forum

YES, genuinely! The dodgy glue softens, soaks through the fluffy lining and sticks that fluffy lining to the instrument. I think this is more likely what happened to the student who took her violin to Spain.

Don't worry too much about your clarinet, the body isn't varnished and with the body being cylindrical, there's a lot less of the instrument touching the case too. The nice varnish of the violin made an ideal (and fairly large flat surface) area for the lining to stick too.

I'll also hasten to add that the luggage compartment of the coach in Spain probably exceeded 100 degrees C. However, leaving a violin in the boot of a car in the UK, even if the case wasn't in direct sunlight, could result in similar temperatures in the summer months. Buy a much better quality case, one that's genuinely made in a European country with good quality materials, or, think carefully about where your instrument case gets left.

Discussion of high-tech cases which insulate well. Apart from wrapping the entire case in the kind of insulating blanket handed out in civil disasters, a new case would be my recommendation.

Alternatively, a long talk to the teacher about high temperatures and violins, with a plea to be allowed to take it inside the bus!

Thanks everyone for the replies, I guess a new good quality case is the first order of the day. Unfortunatly instruments are NOT allowed in the coach so we will have to protect it the best we can, so as I say a better case and violin bag will help. It does seem a strange way to carry on as there are some very valuable instruments being transported and several of them suffered various degrees of damage in the heat. There was one story of 3 people trying to get a trumpet out of its case without damaging it, and another where some keys had popped off a basson due to expansion............ I wonder what they do in professional orchestra's, probably have an air conditioned trailer or second coach just for the instruments....