Welcome to our forum. A Message To Our New and Prospective Members . Check out our Forum Rules. Lets keep this forum an enjoyable place to visit.
Log In
Register
Home
Topic RSS
(0 votes) 
Member
Offline
What would happen to a violin bow, if you did not rosin it?
Jaden
Regular advisor
Regulars
Offline
There will be no friction, no friction = no sound
Pro advisor
Regulars
Offline
Good answers! LOL
Member
Offline
My violin always gets squeeky if I do not rosin it after a few days. It sounds nice and loud after I do.
Offline
Rosin will give your bow the grip it needs to get the string vibrating adequately for a good sound. You can usually tell if a bow needs rosin though. If it doesn't really grip the string as usual you need more.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
I never have to rosin the two bows that came with my CVN 500. The one with less hair probably 10 ~ 15 times and I only rosin it once more last night since July 30. The other one I only rosin it once as well, but I only used it several times on the first day. they still make sound, though.
Offline
I guess you got the secret magic bows. 
Do you produce a good strong sound? Do the strings vibrate easily?
How many hours have you played? One should be able to play a few hours without re-rosining the bow as long as you are not playing hard, fast with lot's of pressure.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
Member
Offline
I usually rosin my violin every week because my violin teacher tells me not to rosin my bow too often. She says it is not good for the bow. I like my bow rosined because it has a nice, smooth sound that I really enjoy. It just sounds better.
Offline
I never tried to rosin my violin. 
Seriously though. Once a week is too little unless you are playing extremely little everyday. Just apply rosin to your bow every few hours or when it needs it for lack of a good grip. You'll know when there is too little rosin. Also, don't apply too much rosin when you do.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
Regular advisor
Regulars
Offline
How do you know if you apply too much rosin?
Honorary advisor
Regulars
Offline
You start sneezing and powder covers your violin excessively. It's a learn-as-you-go process
Offline
Daniel is right. Also it is better to use less and more often then to cake it on and not use any for a few days.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
Fiddlerman, I rosin my bows for 10-15 times when I first got them and probably played about 4 - 5 hours till I rosin it again last night.
I rosin it again tonight, but it sounded horrible, like someone had been screaming so much that his/her voice got hoarse.
I guessed the theory applies to rosin as well: too much of anything is not good.
Offline
It shouldn't sound horrible with too much rosin. It's just messy and wasteful. Don't get used to playing with too little rosin because you will have trouble with a lot of different techniques. The hair is supposed to get the strings vibrating well and maybe the normal sound of a violin under your ears is what's bothering you.
I rosined the bows that came with these violins for at least 5 minutes hard the first time I got them. Afterwards you need to apply rosin every hour or two in moderation when you play normally.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
Regular advisor
Regulars
Offline
Thanks guys I thought I was just allergic to my fiddle.
Just.....kidding, I'm not having the problem of too much, if anything not enough it's very humid here and I play outside most of the time. It is good to know what happens when you have too much. Now I know what to watch out for.
Thanks! I will start to rosin my bow more frequently from now on.
Since I only rosin my new bows 10, 15 times and the fiddlerman said he rosin his a good 5 minutes, so I yesterday morning I did one of them two minutes -- it sounded great. Later at night, I rosin it two more minutes, then it is powdery, still after I practiced for 1.5 hours. I guessed i either have magic bow or magic rosin LOL. so, i decided to rosin the other for two minutes.
Offline
I really want to be clear on this matter. The very first time a bow gets rosined it should be rosined for a good 5 to 10 minutes but after that you only need to keep it sticky. You will notice if you have too much rosin because the violin will become extremely messy. A little messy is normal but if powder is flying off when you play then you are just wasting. However, your instrument will not sound bad because of too much rosin.
I'm glad it sounded great after you applied the necessary rosin on your bow.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
Honorary advisor
Regulars
Offline
Ok, I will add to the confusion. I rosin my bow about 10 to 12 strokes every hour or so. I played on and off yesterday about 4 or 5 hours. A fair amount of dust under the bridge and just a little on the bottom of the fingerboard. There does seem to be a layer on the strings. I am tempted to scrape it off but I resist and use a towel to wipe it off. I start very softly and gradually increase the pressure. The strings start to squeal, sounds awful! Is there a better way to remove this rosin? I never get it all off, the strings near the bridge are white with rosin deposits.
Dave
Offline
This is too much rosin. When I said that you can't get a bad sound by using too much rosin I meant as long as you can keep the strings clean. The layer of rosin that you don't get off can affect the sound.
Use rubbing alcohol on a cotton cloth and wipe gently. It will come off but avoid touching the varnish on the violin. I don't however feel like 10 strokes is too much every hour. Good job playing +4 hours. 
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
1 Guest(s)
Mouse
ELCBK
Fiddlerman