More humidity = louder?

mikelz777

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With all the holiday hustle I haven't picked up a uke for at least 2 weeks so I haven't been monitoring their humidity levels. Last night I picked up my Ohana (solid sinker wood/rosewood) and noticed that the humidity level inside the uke body was around 65%. (I use an Oasis humidifier in the sound hole and place a hygrometer in the body of the uke. Its hard case seals pretty tight, almost like Tupperware.) The humidity level is usually somewhere in the 40s. When I started playing it, it was noticeably louder than it usually is!

Is 65% humidity at the top level of humidification or is it too much humidity? Can more humidity equal more volume?
 
I have read discussions about various humidity levels in the wood effecting sound, but can't say my own ears have experienced it.
That said, you noted that you hadn't picked up a uke for at least two weeks....Maybe that part had even more to do with it. You're hearing a bit differently. Now that I have experienced.
 
I have read discussions about various humidity levels in the wood effecting sound, but can't say my own ears have experienced it.
That said, you noted that you hadn't picked up a uke for at least two weeks....Maybe that part had even more to do with it. You're hearing a bit differently. Now that I have experienced.

I don't think I was hearing it differently, it did sound louder. I could notice the difference in comparison to my singing. It's kind of hard to describe. In addition to it being louder, it sounded more treble-y and the sound was kind of "loose" and less controlled. I played it again tonight after leaving the case open for a while yesterday. The humidity reading dropped to 54% which would be an 11 point drop for roughly 24 hours. It sounded different than it did last night. It wasn't as loud and the sound was "tighter" and not treble-y like it was last night. The sound was more controlled. It's weird. I remember noticing this once before when the humidity crept up fairly high. Maybe since sinker redwood was a waterlogged wood at one time it likes it when it is a little more humid and loosens up or something.
 
I don't think I was hearing it differently, it did sound louder. I could notice the difference in comparison to my singing. It's kind of hard to describe. In addition to it being louder, it sounded more treble-y and the sound was kind of "loose" and less controlled. I played it again tonight after leaving the case open for a while yesterday. The humidity reading dropped to 54% which would be an 11 point drop for roughly 24 hours. It sounded different than it did last night. It wasn't as loud and the sound was "tighter" and not treble-y like it was last night. The sound was more controlled. It's weird. I remember noticing this once before when the humidity crept up fairly high. Maybe since sinker redwood was a waterlogged wood at one time it likes it when it is a little more humid and loosens up or something.

I wonder if there was any wine or whiskey involved just prior to these sessions whereby the sound was different from memory....

It would be easier to blame it on the booze - LOL - than to try and find a scientific reason. :)
 
I find it plausible that climate changes in relative humidity, but also in temperature and barometric pressure have an impact on sound, affecting both the wood as well as the transmission of sound waves. Not sure if high humidity will affect the sound positively, though. Most guitar players seem to think the opposite.
 
I have always perceived mine to be the opposite. To me it sounds noticeably quieter and duller the higher the humidity.
 
I wonder if there was any wine or whiskey involved just prior to these sessions whereby the sound was different from memory....

It would be easier to blame it on the booze - LOL - than to try and find a scientific reason. :)

Well I did get two bottles of bourbon for Christmas........ but I haven't opened either yet. :D
 
With all the holiday hustle I haven't picked up a uke for at least 2 weeks so I haven't been monitoring their humidity levels. Last night I picked up my Ohana (solid sinker wood/rosewood) and noticed that the humidity level inside the uke body was around 65%. (I use an Oasis humidifier in the sound hole and place a hygrometer in the body of the uke. Its hard case seals pretty tight, almost like Tupperware.) The humidity level is usually somewhere in the 40s. When I started playing it, it was noticeably louder than it usually is!

Is 65% humidity at the top level of humidification or is it too much humidity? Can more humidity equal more volume?
A month ago I threw a couple of Oasis humidifiers in a plastic airtight box that I keep my ukulele odds and end in. There were a couple of packages of strings, some cable adaptors, a multi tool, a slide, things like that. I just wasn't thinking. I opened it the other day, and everything in there was soaked and rusty. There was water standing in the bottom of the box. A cleaning cloth in there was so wet that I could wring the water out of it. I'm not sure that trapping the humidity in the case where it can condense into water and pool somewhere in there is a good practice.

In response to your question, I don't know. But I do know that some days my ukulele is louder than others, but I don't know why. But I do know that different surroundings affect the sound, and playing out on the porch I can hardly hear myself play. In the basement the same uke will sound louder. When I put rugs on the floor in the basement, my uke got a little more mellow sounding.
 
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I wonder if there was any wine or whiskey involved just prior to these sessions whereby the sound was different from memory....

It would be easier to blame it on the booze - LOL - than to try and find a scientific reason. :)

I agree, Booli, after a few good Irish Whiskies, my ukes sound different and make a lot of mistakes. :eek:ld:
 
I think my instruments used to be much more inconsistent and finicky when I lived in dry and/or mixed climates. Here it's always very humid, even uncomfortably so at times, and the AC is set pretty high and doesn't affect it much. But I can't complain one bit about how my instruments ever sound - this scenario seems to favor them. I even notice when I've purchased one from a drier area that in a week or two as it gets used to Florida, it sounds better to my ears. I can't speak to "loudness" per se, as I'm always more interested in quality of sound over quantity.

bratsche
 
Logically, drier would have more "room" to vibrate and should be louder. Imagine a skin drum head and how it sounds when hit, then imagine saturating the head with water, it would be dull and thuddy. Probably too much physics an my background...:shaka:
 
Well I did get two bottles of bourbon for Christmas........ but I haven't opened either yet. :D

Uh, why not? I think you should crack one open, drink some, play some, drink some, etc etc etc.
I personally hate whisky, but I always sing and play better after a couple of glasses of wine....at least that's what I tell myself.
Your original question (what was it anyway?)
Oh yeah, ask the luthiers....
 
Air humidity is well known to affect sound. The Green Woodpecker is commonly called the rain bird in parts of the UK because the higher humidity before rain causes it's call to carry further and sound louder. So, if you hear the rain bird's call, rain is on its way!
 
I've noticed that higher humidity tends to open up a few of my instruments, especially the ones made in Hawaii, where humidity is quite a bit higher than my area. I think it's more about higher humidity bringing the instrument back closer to the conditions it was designed under, so it resonates as built.
 
I wonder if there was any wine or whiskey involved just prior to these sessions whereby the sound was different from memory....

It would be easier to blame it on the booze - LOL - than to try and find a scientific reason. :)

Well now just because you're always drinking and uking... LOL :)



Logically, drier would have more "room" to vibrate and should be louder. Imagine a skin drum head and how it sounds when hit, then imagine saturating the head with water, it would be dull and thuddy. Probably too much physics an my background...:shaka:

Good point, seems pretty logical, dry has more crackle and wet equals mushy...
 
The most likely explanation is that the body has changed shape.

As humidity increases, wood expands across the grain. So the top and back get a little wider. Top and back are usually domed a little to allow this movement somewhere to go.

So the top becomes more domed and rises up slightly. The action also rises slightly.

All this will change the sound - by how much, and whether for good or bad, depends on the instrument and your own definitions of good and bad.
 
.....As humidity increases, wood expands across the grain. So the top and back get a little wider. Top and back are usually domed a little to allow this movement somewhere to go.....

Interesting, I always wondered what was the purpose of a domed back on those old Martins.
 
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