damascene_oud
Oud Junkie
Posts: 143
Registered: 4-28-2007
Location: Damascus
Member Is Offline
Mood: Obssessed by oud
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Advice needed
Guys i need your advice.
I'm about to make a journey to an area where humidity is so high, and of course i want to take my favorite companion with me; my oud. But to be honest
i'm concerned about what could happen to it because of humidity.
Any advice on what precautions i should do to preserve my oud from being damaged?
Thanks
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jdowning
Oud Junkie
Posts: 3485
Registered: 8-2-2006
Location: Ontario, Canada
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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Try searching 'humidity' on the forum!
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DaveH
Oud Junkie
Posts: 526
Registered: 12-23-2005
Location: Birmingham, UK
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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Hi damascene
On the plus side, according to my understanding, it's not as bad as taking it to a really dry area. The main danger with straight humidity is that it
can soften hide glue. In the extreme case this might mean your oud ribs peel like a banana. Or your bridge pings off. But if you're just going for a
short time I don't think the risk is huge. If you have a choice of ouds, take the sturdiest built you've got (and perhaps the cheapest too, just in
case!). For example, my Nazih Ghadban (though not cheap) I reckon is pretty much indestructible. Other than big structural issues, you might have
more minor problems like tuning and you're almost certain to notice the sound becomes more dead.
What I would do would be to get a humidity gauge (cheap garden ones are probably accurate enough if you're only interested in ranges over 50%), keep
the oud in a hard case and keep the humidity in the case around 60% by using a bag of silica gel (you should be able to get this in a pharmacy but
camera shops often supply it). You'd have to "recharge" the silica gel (I'd say about once a week in the kind of climate you describe) by heating the
silica in a dry frying pan. But watch out the case doesn't become too dry!
The thing to really watch out for in humid climates is when it dries up. Most humid climates also have a dry season. I used to live in Bangladesh
which is very high humidity in the summer but very dry in the winter when the prevailing winds come from central asia. I had a lute and a brace became
detached with the result I had to send it back home and make do with a guitar.
But again, if it's just a short trip, I would say the major cause of fluctuations is going to be air conditioning, which is something you really need
to watch out for. Depending on the type of AC it can help you keep the oud at a reasonable humidity level or it can be really drying and dangerous.
Avoid going in and out of AC environments all the time and keep an eye on that humidity gauge.
The last thing I'd say is don't worry too much - ouds are made to be played in a pretty wide range of climates and they're meant to be played, not
cosseted. Any damage due to de-gluing is generally easier to fix than the cracks etc you'd get from an over dry environment. So enjoy your journey and
the privilege of being able to keep playing!
Have a good trip.
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