katakofka
Oud Junkie
Posts: 811
Registered: 1-24-2008
Location: Cleveland
Member Is Offline
Mood: Gypsy
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Humidity factor
Hi All
Since the humidity has dropped in our Area I decided to get a good humidifier (AIR-O-Swiss). The overall humidity is 33% in our area. When the
humidity reaches 50% due to the humidifier the oud got heavier and the sound is really improving, much more resonance and volume. Importantly, the
strings get smother with less tension making the oud much fun to play.
I always had in mind that the best humidity for acoustic instrument is 50%. I just realized to what extend this is important not for the Oud
maintenance only but for the sound generated too.
I also heard that when the humidity is high (more that 70%) this would have a negative effect on the oud. Does anyone have an explanation?
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suz_i_dil
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1064
Registered: 1-10-2008
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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No explanation, but I had confirmation by the fact for high level of humidity. The soundboard of my oud broke, after taking it from a very humid area
to a very dry one.
The only change factor was the humidity, and the luthier told me it was coming from that. But I had different opinion about.
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corridoio
Oud Junkie
Posts: 184
Registered: 3-11-2007
Location: Italy
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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for what I saw, with high levels of humidity (moisture) my ouds seems more dampened in sound, also the unvarnished face of the oud probably soffer
more of these changes
just some info after a fast search on the web from different sources and different instruments but the problem is the same: wood, glue joint and
humidity/temperature levels
http://www.hubharp.com/technical_articles2/soundboard_humidity.htm
http://www.martinguitar.com/guitars/technical/humidity.html
http://www.taylorguitars.com/guitars/reference/techsheets.html (different pages)
ale.
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