I often wonder why many appearently good fiddlers neglect to keep their violins like new. I always heard that even the wrong choice of varnish to stain a new ( plain ) violin could seriously impare the volume & tone of it. Anyway why add more rosin from the block while the top is deep in it?
Some fiddlers seem to think rosin build up on the body of the fiddles suggests how much well and vigourous they play. Like ooo Look at my rosin build up! I'm such a hot fiddler!
I remember when a freind was at a Renaissance faire had forgotton her rosin. She ended up rubbibg her bow on the top of her fiddle for rosin even though I offered he to borrow mine. She was quiet proud of the fact that she could do it.. Go figure.
I personally wipe my fiddle down after each use. I don't like the build up it dulls the finish and sound. I'd like my fiddle to earn its pantina the honest way. By time and handling.
mine is wiped down and
I use the minimum amount of rosin on the bow (this is a must as my fiddle has the resonance of an amplified cello and can be heard over a loud pub), one thing I do is everynow and then carefully clean the strings with a good artists english turpentine, this gets rid of the scale like buildup and keeps the strings in an almost new condition (let it dry for 24 hours before playing though). My fiddle does have old rosin damage, there is nothing I can do for that, but its loved, worth enough to put a deposit on a house, wonderful to play and I take the time and money to look after it.
there are little tricks I do, such as using an old (horiible to play) fiddle to prestretch strings including spares, the turps trick, running silk down the strings to look for broken bits, not rosining up too much. I think everyone has their own little tricks on maintenance and daily use
It may be a tradition in many areas. It also may be an expression of humility. Meticulous cleaning, disciplined technique, flare, and the like used to be considered hauty unless you were a classical violinist. I suspect even having an expensive instrument was also considered pretentious. I have two fiddles I keep clean, but the rest suffer the neglect of rosin, cold wet weather, high bass tuning, and other unspeakables.
In old-time music and some other traditions, the "tinny" or "reedy" effect of rosin buildup is considered desirable. Most old-time fiddlers, you can see their fiddlers are almost completely white - both from leaving the rosin there and bowing all the hell over the place.
I've often wondered about that too. You never see a classical violinist letting rosin build up, but many fiddlers do it.
I can't stand to leave rosin on the fiddle. I've always been told that it will bond to the varnish if left on long enough and be almost imposible to remove.
Too many of the players I've seen over the years, including classical players, use far too much rosin on their bows. Too much rosin "blinds" the tiny micro-hairs and scales on the horsehair which do the actual job of vibrating the string. I take the view that if you touch a bow to a clean string and see a smear of rosin then there is already at least enough rosin on the bow. If a bow needs rosining then three or four light swipes of the rosin cake are all that are required. I play the fiddle every day and apply rosin about once a week. As far as rosining is concerned - less is more. Rosin that gets bonded to the varnish over a few years can attack the wood due to the acid content of the rosin.
Cleaning strings, fingerboard and bow:
After every playing session I wipe rosin dust off the fiddle, string and bow stick. Embedded rosin will damage a bow stick as easily, if not more so, than it will the body of the fiddle. A build-up of rosin on the strings will affect the tone because it makes a section of the string far heavier than it should be, and there is probably more of a "hiss" effect.
About once a week I clean the strings and fingerboard. For the strings I use a drop of isopropanol on a lint-free cloth. For the ebony fingerboard I put a drop of methylated spirit on a cloth and run it up and down the fingerboard between the wood and the strings. This effectively cleans off the combined sweat, finger grease and rosin that always accumulates. My late cello teacher gave me this tip. A clean fingerboard is more pleasant to use.
Note that the two solvents I use are flammable and evaporate easily. Keep them well away from all varnished surfaces. If the fingerboard is black and isn't ebony then it could be some other hard wood that has been painted. In that case get advice from a luthier before cleaning it.
I wasn't using much rosin for months (partly because so many people here said not to!), but after my teacher told me one too many times that it sounded like I didn't have enough rosin on my bow, I gave in and started using much more. He doesn't complain so much now.
It makes a god-awful mess, though. I wipe down my fiddle and bow several times a week---I would do it every time, but I'm lazy. And I like that trick about cleaning the strings with those medical antiseptic wipes that come in the foil packages---they're pure alcohol, just the right size, and I can keep a few in my fiddle case.
Joe Crane ,a well known player of a fiddle with the worst case of dandruff you ever saw up here in North East England, once caught his daughter putting flour on her fiddle so it looked like her dads.
She would have needed at least 250grammes to look like her dads
I've just never had this problem. I use a dry rosin and apply only a couple of light swipes when needed. I have virtually no rosin buildup on either the fiddle top or the bow stick. The strings eventually get a transparent tacky glaze, which I clean off with alcohol when it bothers me. I realize that a lot of people play quite well with a quarter inch of rosin on the bow, but when I try it, all I can get is a pitiful squawk.
By the way, anybody know where I can get some *extra* dry rosin? I had a chunk for thirty years and recently lost it. None of the "light" rosins I've tried are as dry. Maybe I'm too old to adjust, but I can't seem to get as smooth a stroke with the other rosins.
Rosin build up on violins
Rosin build up on violins
I often wonder why many appearently good fiddlers neglect to keep their violins like new. I always heard that even the wrong choice of varnish to stain a new ( plain ) violin could seriously impare the volume & tone of it. Anyway why add more rosin from the block while the top is deep in it?
# Posted on April 6th 2007 by lenamore Man
Re: Rosin build up on violins
Some fiddlers seem to think rosin build up on the body of the fiddles suggests how much well and vigourous they play. Like ooo Look at my rosin build up! I'm such a hot fiddler!
I remember when a freind was at a Renaissance faire had forgotton her rosin. She ended up rubbibg her bow on the top of her fiddle for rosin even though I offered he to borrow mine. She was quiet proud of the fact that she could do it.. Go figure.
I personally wipe my fiddle down after each use. I don't like the build up it dulls the finish and sound. I'd like my fiddle to earn its pantina the honest way. By time and handling.
# Posted on April 6th 2007 by Pirate-Fiddler
Re: Rosin build up on violins
mine is wiped down and
I use the minimum amount of rosin on the bow (this is a must as my fiddle has the resonance of an amplified cello and can be heard over a loud pub), one thing I do is everynow and then carefully clean the strings with a good artists english turpentine, this gets rid of the scale like buildup and keeps the strings in an almost new condition (let it dry for 24 hours before playing though). My fiddle does have old rosin damage, there is nothing I can do for that, but its loved, worth enough to put a deposit on a house, wonderful to play and I take the time and money to look after it.
there are little tricks I do, such as using an old (horiible to play) fiddle to prestretch strings including spares, the turps trick, running silk down the strings to look for broken bits, not rosining up too much. I think everyone has their own little tricks on maintenance and daily use
# Posted on April 6th 2007 by Joze
Re: Rosin build up on violins
It may be a tradition in many areas. It also may be an expression of humility. Meticulous cleaning, disciplined technique, flare, and the like used to be considered hauty unless you were a classical violinist. I suspect even having an expensive instrument was also considered pretentious. I have two fiddles I keep clean, but the rest suffer the neglect of rosin, cold wet weather, high bass tuning, and other unspeakables.
Jim
# Posted on April 6th 2007 by jhol111964
Re: Rosin build up on violins
In old-time music and some other traditions, the "tinny" or "reedy" effect of rosin buildup is considered desirable. Most old-time fiddlers, you can see their fiddlers are almost completely white - both from leaving the rosin there and bowing all the hell over the place.
--DtM
# Posted on April 6th 2007 by Dan the Man
Re: Rosin build up on violins
My rosin build-up is strictly due to laziness. I would imagine some fiddlers' more colorful reasons for the build-up are really due to apathy as well.
# Posted on April 7th 2007 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Rosin build up on violins
http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display/6830/
'rosin addiction'
# Posted on April 7th 2007 by Henk Bos
Re: Rosin build up on violins
I've often wondered about that too. You never see a classical violinist letting rosin build up, but many fiddlers do it.
I can't stand to leave rosin on the fiddle. I've always been told that it will bond to the varnish if left on long enough and be almost imposible to remove.
# Posted on April 7th 2007 by Marklar
Re: Rosin build up on violins
My personal hints and tips.
Too many of the players I've seen over the years, including classical players, use far too much rosin on their bows. Too much rosin "blinds" the tiny micro-hairs and scales on the horsehair which do the actual job of vibrating the string. I take the view that if you touch a bow to a clean string and see a smear of rosin then there is already at least enough rosin on the bow. If a bow needs rosining then three or four light swipes of the rosin cake are all that are required. I play the fiddle every day and apply rosin about once a week. As far as rosining is concerned - less is more. Rosin that gets bonded to the varnish over a few years can attack the wood due to the acid content of the rosin.
Cleaning strings, fingerboard and bow:
After every playing session I wipe rosin dust off the fiddle, string and bow stick. Embedded rosin will damage a bow stick as easily, if not more so, than it will the body of the fiddle. A build-up of rosin on the strings will affect the tone because it makes a section of the string far heavier than it should be, and there is probably more of a "hiss" effect.
About once a week I clean the strings and fingerboard. For the strings I use a drop of isopropanol on a lint-free cloth. For the ebony fingerboard I put a drop of methylated spirit on a cloth and run it up and down the fingerboard between the wood and the strings. This effectively cleans off the combined sweat, finger grease and rosin that always accumulates. My late cello teacher gave me this tip. A clean fingerboard is more pleasant to use.
Note that the two solvents I use are flammable and evaporate easily. Keep them well away from all varnished surfaces. If the fingerboard is black and isn't ebony then it could be some other hard wood that has been painted. In that case get advice from a luthier before cleaning it.
# Posted on April 7th 2007 by lazyhound
Re: Rosin build up on violins
I wasn't using much rosin for months (partly because so many people here said not to!), but after my teacher told me one too many times that it sounded like I didn't have enough rosin on my bow, I gave in and started using much more. He doesn't complain so much now.
It makes a god-awful mess, though. I wipe down my fiddle and bow several times a week---I would do it every time, but I'm lazy. And I like that trick about cleaning the strings with those medical antiseptic wipes that come in the foil packages---they're pure alcohol, just the right size, and I can keep a few in my fiddle case.
# Posted on April 8th 2007 by kennedy
Re: Rosin build up on violins
Joe Crane ,a well known player of a fiddle with the worst case of dandruff you ever saw up here in North East England, once caught his daughter putting flour on her fiddle so it looked like her dads.
She would have needed at least 250grammes to look like her dads
# Posted on April 12th 2007 by bazouki dave
Re: Rosin build up on violins
I've just never had this problem. I use a dry rosin and apply only a couple of light swipes when needed. I have virtually no rosin buildup on either the fiddle top or the bow stick. The strings eventually get a transparent tacky glaze, which I clean off with alcohol when it bothers me. I realize that a lot of people play quite well with a quarter inch of rosin on the bow, but when I try it, all I can get is a pitiful squawk.
By the way, anybody know where I can get some *extra* dry rosin? I had a chunk for thirty years and recently lost it. None of the "light" rosins I've tried are as dry. Maybe I'm too old to adjust, but I can't seem to get as smooth a stroke with the other rosins.
# Posted on April 12th 2007 by Bob himself