Question:
If an orchestra doesn’t warm up before a performance, the strings go flat and the wind instruments go sharp during the performance. Why?
Answer:
Without warming up, all the instruments will be at room temperature at the beginning of the concert. As the wind instruments are played, they fill with warm air from the player’s exhalation. The increase in temperature of the air in the instrument causes an increase in the speed of sound, which raises the fundamental frequencies of the air columns. As a result, the wind instruments go sharp. The strings on the stringed instruments also increase in temperature due to the friction of rubbing with the bow. This increase in temperature results in thermal expansion which causes a decrease in the tension in the strings. With a decrease in tension, the wave speed on the strings drops and the fundamental frequencies decrease. Therefore, the stringed instruments go flat.
The facts bbnn are right I once had a piano and during warm days the tone was somewhat lower than normal meaning the strings slacken due to the warm air
Having perfect pitch in the 1970s pipe organs at normal pitch during the winter went down over a quarter of a tone sounding very flat and dull and high pitched organs go down to around concert pitch during the cold