Re: playing outdoors

In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Pauline Lerner
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes
>The issue of temperature changes indoors and outdoors depends a lot on
>geography.  My grandmother lived in NYC and I lived first in Baltimore and
>then in the Washington DC metro area.  Sudden and large changes in
>temperature and humidity are very common here.  (They make it so hard to
>keep your violin in tune!)  In contrast, most people keep the indoor
>temperature of their home relatively constant.  In this area, I think long
>term storage of a stringed instrument would be safer indoors than outdoors.

On balance, I agree.  However, one should bear in mind that humidity
also affects wood, and the relative humidity of a warm house in a cold
winter can be very low (because the air starts off cold, and therefore
containing very little moisture, outside).  I know that one can get
humidifiers in the form of a sort of felt sheet wick, hung in a narrow
plastic basket over a radiator.  All the ones I have seen in the UK
require topping up with water by hand.  Are there automatic humidity
controllers, suitable for domestic use, available at a reasonable price
anywhere?

-- 
Ken Moore
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
pg composition student, University of Reading