[ninenot]

Not necessarily. Remember that tuning a piped instrument is a matter of relativity. You tune A=440 at 80 degreesF and it is always so. It's temperature variation that kills tune.

I would also imagine that one would A/C the place to a fare-thee-well, at least mostly eliminating the warp from humidity.

On the point: last night's Handel show went well until the organ developed a cipher about 5 minutes before intermission.

The cipher was a result of the organ being exposed to the unusually humid air in Milwaukee the last few days. It's not quite hot enough to run the A/C, thus cooling is accomplished by "makeup air," which is brought from outside the building direct, with no de-humidification.

The organist gamely went on, simply dumping the Positiv manual work and using the Great--a VERY big difference in tonality/registration, and volume control.

[AnAmericanMother]

Uhuh. You just have to run the A/C when you have an organ in the building.

For heaven's sake, I had a humidifier installed for the winter and I have A/C for the summer so my harpsichord stays in tune. Keep it between 40 and 55 percent humidity always. And it's nothing like a million-dollar instrument (just a little Flemish single manual).

[Desdemona]

The cipher was a result of the organ being exposed to the unusually humid air in Milwaukee the last few days. It's not quite hot enough to run the A/C, thus cooling is accomplished by "makeup air," which is brought from outside the building direct, with no de-humidification.

I guess I'm spoiled. We have a separate AC system for the stage alone and when the orchestra is with us, a central humidification system. Otherwise, the temperature on the stage has been measured at 97 degrees with full orchestra and chorus and the organ console stands right next to the sopranos. That thing throws off some heat.

While AC can handle the majority of it, with all that glass, it's not going to do it all. I don't know what happens in Milwaulkee with temperature fluctuations, but here it's a struggle to keep the organs in tune.