THE HARMATTAN PITCH

RHYTHMIC THERAPY
29-12-2016

*THE HARMATTAN PITCH*

The Harmattan is a dry and dusty northeasterly trade wind which blows from the Sahara Desert over the West African subcontinent into the Gulf of Guinea between the end of November and the middle of March. It is cold in most places, but can be hot in some places, according to the circumstances.
Temperatures can easily be as low as 9 °C (48 °F) all day, but sometimes in the afternoon the temperature can also soar to as high as 30 °C (86 °F), while the relative humidity drops under 10%.

For many musicians, an instrument is one of the most important things they own. A musician’s instrument is the vessel that communicates their soul to the world, as well as the tool of their trade.

In other words, a musician’s instrument is the physical manifestation of their talent, their skill, and their passion. Though every musician is told that taking care of their instrument is incredibly important, many don’t realize the extent to which things like temperature or humidity can affect their instruments. Temperature can affect the sound of an instrument in many different ways, and the effects vary from instrument to instrument. It also influences the abilities of a player.

Tuning is a little problematic for musicians who play wind instruments when the air temperature is well above or below normal room temperature, as may occur during outdoor performances. Instruments from both the brass and woodwind families tend to play sharp when the air is hot and flat when the air is cold. Because cold air is denser than warm air, the air molecules provide greater resistance to  the sound vibrations and thus lower the pitch.

It is likely that cold weather will have little effect on higher quality drums. If you are worried about keeping your drums warm while storing them in below zero weather, you can always wrap them blankets. The key is to make sure you allow your drums time to warm up before playing.

Temperature can also make instruments with moving parts like pianos respond differently and seem “sluggish.” Pianos are also subject to the negative effects of temperature. Increases in temperature and humidity can cause the bushings of a piano to swell, which affects the amount of time between the player hitting a key and the hammer hitting the string, a phenomenon known as “sluggishness.” Over time, the wooden exterior of some pianos can also become damaged by temperature.

In the case of string instruments, extreme heat or cold can cause the strings and wood to warp, and degrades the glue that binds the instrument together, all of which drastically affects the quality of the sound the  instrument produces.
For the violin, for example, warmer weather changes the amount of friction between the bow and the strings, changing the way the bow pulls on each string. When the temperature is cold, a violinist may have to press the strings hard to get a sharpened pitch; while a little tension will be needed for flattened pitches.

The speed of sound in air depends upon the temperature. The warmer the temperature, the faster the sound moves.
Warm weather also tends to expand instruments and thus alter their ability to withstand tension, which again changes their interaction with a musician. A cold instrument will tend to play flat, while one exposed to relatively high temperatures will tend to play sharp. As you play on an instrument that is easily affected by temperature, listening and adjusting are always necessary.

Ref:
Bruce Gale (2010)
Music & Arts (2016)
Randy Worland (2011)
Scientific American (2016)

Kingsley J.E.K Acheampong
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