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When I first bought a cake of rosin I was told they are all the same. Of course the store only had the one. There are so many rosins out there are there any basic guidelines for them or does it really make a difference. posssibly on a very dry day or a very humid day, do you use a different rosin. Do you use different rosins for different effects or types of bowing?
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Opinions and great links on this thread...
Mary in Springfield, Oregon http://www.thefiddleandbanjopr.....dpress.com
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I've always preferred the darker, stickier rosins over the lighter ones. Some people claim that they are too rough sounding.
I use Andrea Solo Viola rosin.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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Articles I found online are all over the place with rosin.
A discussion on the violinist.com forum boils down to personal preference.
It looks like it depends on your playing style and the feel You like best. What one person likes, another doesn't seem to find satisfying.
My opinion: Buy one that was recommended here and see if it suits you, if it doesn't, keep buying new ones (if you can afford it) until you find a formula that you like best, that works for you in your area.
I guess that's the only way I can answer using a different rosin for different types of bowing. It sounds like people seem to find one they like and stick with it. 
Evaluate your play style and why your current rosin isn't satisfying you maybe? Do you need more grab? Is all the dust ticking you off? Apparently rosin can get old too and some people replace it like a new set of strings. etc etc.
-Light rosin is soposed to let your bow glide better and make a ton of dust?
-Dark rosin is a lot stickier to grab the strings more and make less to no dust?
-There are some medium grades out there which claim different degrees of grab and dust.
If I am wrong about this please correct me. I am ONLY going off stuff I remembered reading with my own opinion thrown in. Take this post as you will. I don't know anything about rosin firsthand. (except mine is very very dusty and tastes really bad.)
On "Cheap eBay violins" … Just tell people they are like a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. With a little love, and some practice, they too can be made beautiful.
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RP, Ditto!
Shalom Shalom 
@RP
V.com and others often overlook a very simple but important feature of dark rosin. The feature is that dark rosin is more sticky but it just doesn't stick to the bow. It also sticks to the strings and makes a bad mess (easily visible at 10X) which then tends to make the strings "growl" and is NOT the stuff that comes off with micro-fiber cloth.
I suspect that a pro can handle a wider range of rosin characteristics but rosin behavior is much more variable at the student level where the "best rosin" is highly subjective.
I recently added two kinds of sticky rosin to my collection of 6 or 7 but I stopped using them because of the "ratty" string problem. I'm now using Hill Light or, sometimes, Student Block (the light stuff in the wood channel).
Incidentally, if you didn't come on this, I read that some dark rosin is dark because of the addition of tar to the rosin mix.
Right now I am using the light stuff that comes in a wooden block like Oliver described. I am not really having a problem with it but was just interested in knowing about different rosins. I think I'll just experiment as I can afford different rosins. I think it's easier to build a violin than it is to play it.
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I just got a dark rosin and it plays very well, I guess if it cakes up in the strings, I will have to get another one. Oy. Decisions Decisions!
LOL
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Thanks Oliver!
No I wasn't aware of the tar. I would think this could possibly be different in a case-by-case basis depending on the company formula though right? 
It sounds like you have broken down some of the rosin you have gotten and analyzed its chemical make up yourself. 
(or found studies that have.)
Oliver yes, most of the stuff I read suggested that student level violinists showed the most differences in sound using the different rosins. (Also why I was interested since I am definitely student level!)
Everything suggested (or flat out said) that it was just the season the tree was harvested for rosin. I didn't know the darker rosin would make a sticky mess on your strings that would be even more difficult to clean off. It makes sense though, seeing as they advertise less to no dust. It's got to go somewhere after all.
I will keep all this in mind when I go to buy more. They should have a expertly trained rosin sommelier. (Think that's what they are called anyway. The people expert in wine. )
I used your scrape method to clean off my strings btw. I wiped everything down until it appeared I had everything clean then took an old credit card and found so much build up that wiping missed. (I didn't use my fingernail because they are too short.) Thank you. Not sure I would want to take a credit card to really expensive strings though.
Lol Kevin at "I think it's easier to build a violin then play it." 
BCShalom - I wouldn't get a new rosin because of cakey strings! If you like your rosin use it! It's really a personal choice, and strings can be cleaned off. Keeping your strings clean just extends their life a little and affects the sound. If they get grimy they can be cleaned. 
(If i'm not mistaken... I could be wrong about that too though!) But still use your rosin if you like it. It's very much personal choice.
On "Cheap eBay violins" … Just tell people they are like a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. With a little love, and some practice, they too can be made beautiful.
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Yes, strings can be cleaned with indentured Alcohol? I got a copy of Violins for dummies, so I am picking out all kinds of little factoids. I wish I had studied as a child. I just love it. Why didn't I work on this 50 years ago??? What a dummy. Well I got three different rosins coming, so I guess I will soon know which is the best, from my collection anyway! I might try to find a cake of FM's Viola Rosin, while I'm at it.
I just love this, and I played my first song today three weeks after receiving my fiddle? It is a simple song, but I played it, by gum. 
Shalom Shalom
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BCShalom -I didn't know they had a Violin for Dummies book 
Congratulations on playing your first song! 
On "Cheap eBay violins" … Just tell people they are like a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. With a little love, and some practice, they too can be made beautiful.
I did not notice anyone comment that alcohol readily dissolves violin varnish so it is important to be careful. (One of my early violins had freckles).
RP I would assume your research revealed that blind tests could not differentiate rosin brand (?)
Also, scraping of strings with a soft item like plastic won't hurt but metal would damage any windings. My favorite scraper is a wooden popsicle stick with a little notch and I've used the same one for years with no damage. If I want the strings bare then I do us alcohol.
Clean strings (surfaces) do influence the sound (quality). (We need an expert witness. Any pros on this forum?)
Be very careful with Alcohol on any violin. Most new inexpensive violins use a polyurethane type of finish sprayed on them. More expensive violins will either use spirit or oil based varnish. Spirit varnish is alcohol based and wil disolve with alcohol on it. It doesn't take long, only a few seconds and the finish is effected by it. If you ever do get a drop of alcohol on a violin, DO NOT wipe it off. Just let it dry and polish it after it dries. I use Spirit varnish on all the violins I work on.
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Yeah, You really have to be careful, there is a picture of the cleaning process, PLASTIC under the fingerboard, and instructions not to get any alcohol on the surface of the violin.
I do like the idea of the pop sickle stick.
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Good to know about the alcohol Kevin and BCShalom. I have a feeling the finish on my violin is probably polyurethane seeing as it was so inexpensive. I don't really know how to tell for sure though. If I choose to mess with the alcohol in the future I will make sure I put a raincoat on it.
Is the indentured alcohol safe for all string types though? Just so it wouldn't melt a cores particular synthetic.
I didn't see any blind test results. I wonder if one brand was picked more then others despite not being able to pick out a specific brand? (Your comment makes me laugh even more at some of the stuff out there. :D)
I did most of my rosin research when I was waiting for my violin to be delivered. So I knew if I should immediately throw out the rosin that came with it like many reviews said lol. I couldn't believe it could be that bad.
Good to know too that a credit card won't hurt the windings. I will experiment with a popcicle stick if one turns up. 
Oliver, FM is a pro!
On "Cheap eBay violins" … Just tell people they are like a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. With a little love, and some practice, they too can be made beautiful.
What is it that is so horrible about Chinese rosin? Is their tree sap inferior? Is their rosin toxic? Does their rosin cause poor intonation? Might it cause a rash? I have at least 3 cakes of Chinese rosin and I sometimes use them. Is this interfering with my musical career? This could explain a lot of my bad playing habits.
Oliver When you use the Chinese rosin do you get a desire to play the Chinese national anthom?
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I see that FM uses "Viola" rosin.
How does the rosin even know the difference? 
At $32 though, I think I'll continue to try out less expensive options. Heck, our local music shop (Williamson Music in Plano) has rosin with gold flakes in it for Heaven's sake. It's less than $20, if I recall correctly. One of the employees there highly recommended it. He said it was "very grabby" and therefore better suited to viola or larger instruments. I dunno...gold flakes? Really?
At another store (Music and Arts in Addison), the employee recommended Hidersine, from England. I'm no expert, but I can tell that I get better results with it than with the stuff that came with my Cecilio Viola.
I have the gold flake rosin from cheaper days. It's nice. Definitely not worth the money compared to others.
Rosin "knows" by the additives which I mentioned as "tar" according to some reports. Darker rosin tends to be in the stickier class. Dark vs. light seems to be very much a matter of playing style. I think that dark can actually foul the strings with excess residue. (sounds like "gritty").
There is a cheap rosin now on the market called Magic Rosin which is getting a lot of attention and I like it but it is a bit sticky for my taste. (Very sticky in viola grade.)(more than "gold")
The fact is that I have not found a much better rosin than my original "student block" which I still use.
Also use Hill Light which I think is similar to HIdersine.
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