My reed just informed me that summer is over in New York. Much has been written on humidifiers for the dry climates but I’d like to know if the pipes have to be exposed to the humidifier or could/can/should they be left in the case in the room where the humidifier is located. Case open/closed. Is the humidifier going all the time? 
Regards to all.
Get your boxing gloves on…
Everyone has a different method that works for them.
Never tried a humidifier. I’m afraid that the extra humidity would cause more harm than good, in that any changes would then be that much more extreme. I leave my case partly open, but keep my chanter wrapped in a chamois so that no change hits the reed too hard.
djm
djm, do you monitor humidity levels?
It’s been raining on and off for a few days here and I had the a/c running on high all day. Tonight I touched something metal and threw a spark… didn’t realize the humidity dropped below 60% at 75 degrees F.
Down to 60% rh? That was today’s high here. We started the morning at 2 C and approx 30% rh, went to a high of 12 C and 60% rh, and now the mercury is dropping like a stone, but the rh is still up at 60%. We are having an abnormally cold week, with temp half what it normally is. But wait till it really gets cold this winter, and rh is 15-20%. That’s when going from a humidified house out to the car, then off to where ever, etc. would worry me regarding sudden shocks to the reed. That’s why I would avoid humidifying the house.
djm
My reeds have also recently notified me that summer’s over. Contrary to popular belief, seasons in Japan change with about as much subtlety as a sledgehammer. Up until about the middle of September, it was about 32-35 degrees C. outside and the air was humid enough to swim through. Then a typhoon ripped through here, brought in a cold front, and <wham!> it’s suddenly cold, windy, and dry. Well, actually, today it’s kinda warm out, but I digress…
Anyway, with this sudden change, the bottom hand on my chanter went WAAAAY sharp (or maybe just moderately sharp and the top hand also went flat…I didn’t check it with a digital tuner). That’s what led me to post that thing about rushes. I’m not terribly fond of using them, and rarely have had to in the past, but I’m not too knowledgeable about making minute changes to reeds and didn’t want to wind up ruining the thing in ten seconds flat. So I resorted to sticking a rush up the bore and everything’s working fine again (touch wood). Do any of you experienced pipe technicians out there have any alternatives you would recommend? I’ve never needed to use a humidifier before, but perhaps investing in one wouldn’t be such a bad idea…
Many pipers keep a quiver of reeds, one for dry, one for humid (at least). It saves you needing to change the air. 
Yes, reeds can be made to work fine in relative dry climates, perhaps not as great as humid conditions, but good.
I have a desktop temperature/humidity meter I picked up somewhere.
I use one of those cheap steam humidifiers and keep it running when humidity drops below about 35-40% or when I notice autocrann starting.
Jim,
Suffer the same depressing affliction as well. I keep a couple of made-for-cello gadgets (like the funky hose with the sponge in it) in my case through the dry months. However, once the playing starts in a dry room, the benifi is lost (though the humid case reduces the shrinkage of the wood and the need for extreme rehemp jobs. You should talk to Seth (I have) about humidity readings/levels which are optimal. I spoke with him last winter about this and he gave me some optimal figures which have now escaped me. He also thought that using a humidifier in the room where and while you play (as long as you clean it here and there so the bacteria doesn’t get you) would be helpful, but that you should monitor it to get the desire reading. I also had several talks with Ivan Goff about this last winter as he kept a damp cloth by his bellow air intake. This we agreed was helpful but crude. And you don’t want to much moisture in the bloody thing either! It would be a great invention to create an air intake valve piece which held in the “O” shape perimeter, a water absorbing replaceable sponge (like the one for the violins) and holes to allow the air flow to take in a subtle amout of humidity. I don’t think that this is perfect, but if you are traveling about, you would require a big case to take your plug-in humidifier with you as an alternative!
Good luck during these dark dismal dry months.
Neil
The “McWick” UP Demand-Driven Humidifier
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~emacpher/pipes/humid/humid.html
ANIMA you are a genius! Similar idea put into motion! Luv it!
Give up that obstetrics nonsense and patent and produce this thing! There are at least a few hundred of us that will buy one> Then again, you better not take those rubber gloves off just yet.
I’d worry more about my pipes splitting wide open. The mainstock in particular is expensive to replace.
Any time your normal humidity, whatever that is, drops for more than a few days, a week maybe, you’re at risk.
By the same token, you don’t want to hose down your pipes either or make them overly damp, especially if they’ve been dry for a while. This too results in cracking.
Reeds are cheap by comparison.
Royce