Humidity - a general question...

[karmathanever]

Hey all

Was rehearsing last night in a fairly humid studio (gotta love Australia!!!).
Whilst the humidity was not a threat to the gear, it did affect my hands (sort of sweaty fingers) - horrible feel on keys.

This is probably the most stupid question I have asked here but do any of you experience this and, if so, do you do anything about it?
e.g. something you keep with you that is effective in "drying" the fingers appropriate for playing.

Cheers

"Sweaty" Pete

[DESERT GUY]

Hi Pete,

I don't have a problem with humidity here in Arizona, but did have a problem one time when my fingers got so sticky after using an alcohol based hand sanitizer. After the incident I wiped down the keys with a soft clean cotton cloth, then put a couple of drops of furniture polish on another cloth and wiped down all the keys again. This made them quite slick.
Needless to say I've not used the hand cleaner again before playing the keyboard. I've used this procedure on a number of keyboards in the past to keep them clean and have never seen any evidence of damage to the surface of the keys. As far as dealing with humidity it may work for you to use a dry cloth to absorb the moisture and with the furniture polish routine it may resolve your problem if you're experiencing the problem of your fingers becoming sticky.

[Thoraldus]

If your keyboard is at or below the dew point when you take it out of a case or gig bag, you can get moisture on the keys. Allow it to come up to the ambient temp then wipe keys with dry cloth. Wash your hands with a detergent (not soap) and dry thoroughly then use just a wee bit of talc on the fingertips. When I lived in Connecticut by the ocean I had to use this approach in the summer before playing my friend's Bosendorfer.

I've heard that some pianists use a light application of antiperspirant on their fingertips. Weird, but might work.

I now live at 6000' in the mountains. Like Arizona, VERY dry so I no longer have sticky keyboard issues, just arthritis screwing with my chops.

[karmathanever]

Thanks guys

My post here was slightly embarrassing but this issue really caused me a problem a couple of nights ago whilst playing and I was curious to know if/how anyone else copes with it.

Talc did cross my mind. The keyboard keys themselves were fine - it was purely my hands and fingers that were clammy.

I'll get an Avon order in for some talc

Thanks for all your comments and suggestions.

Pete

[AntonySharmman]

Pete
Your finger skin pores are not ventilated because of a fat coating that has been externally created and you get the feel of "sweaty fingers".
Washing your hands with a strong detergent or a real soap based on soda will eliminate that issue immediately.