Non-FlagView

Last weekend was the annual NAMM Show in Anaheim California. NAMM is one of the largest trade shows in the world, and is exclusive to all people involved in the music products industry. This was the sixth year in a row that I've attended and, quite frankly, it's getting a bit old. This year I decided to make a vacation out of it. I haven't had a true, relaxing vacation in over 5 years... so I thought it was over due. I only attended the show on Thursday and Friday, the pic from the beach should be all you need to figure out why I didn't go to the trade show on Saturday or Sunday. Here are some shots from the show... and the beach. Don't hate me.

Hey Baby Jude

I just had to share this with y'all.

Spastic Cartoon

The band playing here is called Spastic Ink. Apparently a lot of their music is composed around animated video, Disney or otherwise.

Listen to how the music follows the video... even down to the rhythms and pitches of the dialogue.

Humidity Discussion

What happens to a guitar when it's dried out?

Here's one example.

The critical geometry is completely affected. Setting up the guitar is difficult. In addition to this, the entire structure of the instrument is under abnormal tension. There are many different pieces of wood glued together inside a guitar, different types of wood, with grain lines pointing in all different directions; when these various components of the instrument dry out, they contract in different directions and to varying degrees of subtlety. This creates undo tension throughout the structure of the instrument and it therefore doesn't play the same, and it doesn't sound the same either.

It's true that not all guitars or like instruments need the be humidified to prevent cracks or "visible" damage. However, when someone brings me a guitar that is dried out, even if they are happy enough with it's playability, the damage is visible to me.

I've also seen many older instrument that have been dry for a long time. Some say the guitar has been "acclimated." Rarely is a guitar properly "acclimated," and some guitars refuse to "acclimate." Some of the older instruments don't show much extreme trauma, but none are in pristine condition. Most have had crack repairs and other work done to remedy the effects of being turned into guitar-jerky.

Keep in mind, a guitar with the correct geometry, kept at the right humidity, plays and sounds the best. Too much humidity makes the guitar play and sound horrible as well. However, too little humidity is generally more detrimental to the structural integrity of the instrument. And besides, you will never have a problem with excessive humidity if you live in northern Arizona. So get a humidifier already!

My next post will discuss how to properly humidify your instrument.

Humidity Warning

I've removed the blog-hydrometer for now because the humidity in your home is nowhere near the humidity outside. Your indoor humidity is much, much lower than outside. Any and all heaters (some more than others) dry out the air in your house. At the store we've had to get out extra humidifiers to keep the humidity in the acoustic room at a high enough level.

So, check those humidifiers. Think about supplementing your case humidifier with a room humidifier. Remember, we live in one of the most arid climates in the US. The effects of this environment on wooden instruments should not be underestimated.

Next week I'll write more about the specifics of what happens to instruments and the adverse effects of extremely low humidity levels like we have here in norther Arizona. If you need more info about keeping your instrument properly humidified, contact me at the store or by email.