How can weather impact instruments and their sound at the Elkhart Jazz Festival?

ELKHART, Ind. -- This event might ring a bell - the Elkhart Jazz Festival starts tomorrow!

The first 2 days of the festival will be a bit cooler with temperatures in the lower 80’s through the end of the week, but we jump back into the upper 80’s for the weekend. Festival attendees and musicians alike will feel the impact of the heat and building rain chances, but how can the weather affect the instruments?

Although the average listener won’t be able to tell much of a difference in the sound, the musicians will have to continually tune their instruments to keep them in key. You may even notice some musicians at the festival fiddling with their instruments to keep them in tune during outdoor performances.

In general, cold weather can cause an instrument to contract, and heat can cause an instrument to expand. Many musicians say that they notice their sound becoming “sluggish” when it is hot.

Additionally, leaving instruments in hot cars can cause them to warp or take on other forms of damage.

Different kinds of instruments are impacted in different way by temperatures changes.

When it comes to wooden instruments, the wood can swell in hot temperatures, making notes sound flat. Wind instruments, on the other hand, sound sharp in cold temperatures.

With things heating up this weekend, musicians will likely have to keep a close ear to their instruments to keep up with the temperature changes from indoor to outdoors and during different times in the day.

Learn more information about the Elkhart Jazz Festival here.