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A while back a friend of mine who plays flute in an orchestra was telling me that there is a particular piece of music he's heard that has a part where the violin section actually plays the strings using the wood of the bow rather than the hairs. I guess what this would entail is literally turning the bow upside down and stroking with the wood. he said the idea was to produce a sort of light airy ethereal sound.
Anyway I tried playing like that and I can understand what he meant. I can see where an entire violin section playing that way would create a rather strange and almost mysterious sound.
Now comes the hard part. Has anyone ever heard this piece or can anyone name it. So far I am drawing a total blank.
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May be you are referring to col legno.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Col_legno
If music be the food of love, play on;
Give me excess of it ..(William Shakespeare in Twelfth Night)
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Now I'm not sure where to put my rosin? 
When you come to a fork in the road, take it.
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Oliver said
Now I'm not sure where to put my rosin?
WaaaaaaHaaa-Haaaaaaaaaa!!!! 
I'd leave it on the strings.... in case of emergency....
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Yes this is right, we use col legno every once in a while when the parts call for it. However, we don't turn the bow upside down. Just turn it so much that it is laying mostly on the stick and a little on the hair. Also, it is used more often for hitting the notes than playing long notes.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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May be you are referring to col legno.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Col_legno
This is exactly what I was thinking of. Very interesting. And I'm pretty sure that one of the pieces mentioned in the article is what my friend was thinking of
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Fiddlerman said
Yes this is right, we use col legno every once in a while when the parts call for it. However, we don't turn the bow upside down. Just turn it so much that it is laying mostly on the stick and a little on the hair. Also, it is used more often for hitting the notes than playing long notes.
Bump. I was wondering how people with good bows dealt with col legno, so I Googled it. It seems some use a cheap wooden bow, some use a CF bow, some use a pencil, some do half hair and half wood, and one uses a chopstick! Some deny that col legno does the wood any harm and it's a myth that it does. I think I'd want to take a cheap wooden bow just in case, unless you think it really is harmless.
Andrew
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I love seeing these old threads resurrected ! Thank you ! 
I seriously recommend not copying my mistakes. D'oh - 
Please make your own, different mistakes, and help us all learn :-)
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Andrew Fryer said
Fiddlerman said
Yes this is right, we use col legno every once in a while when the parts call for it. However, we don't turn the bow upside down. Just turn it so much that it is laying mostly on the stick and a little on the hair. Also, it is used more often for hitting the notes than playing long notes.Bump. I was wondering how people with good bows dealt with col legno, so I Googled it. It seems some use a cheap wooden bow, some use a CF bow, some use a pencil, some do half hair and half wood, and one uses a chopstick! Some deny that col legno does the wood any harm and it's a myth that it does. I think I'd want to take a cheap wooden bow just in case, unless you think it really is harmless.
I use my primary bow for col legno, but make sure to wipe it as soon as possible afterward. I don't think the strings are hard enough to damage the varnish on the bow; the important thing is to avoid leaving rosin on the stick.
Then again, my bow is a mid-level hybrid bow, not an expensive wood bow.
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BillyG said
I love seeing these old threads resurrected ! Thank you !
On a different forum I got a reprimand for reopening a two-week-old old thread instead of starting a new one on exactly the same subject! 
Andrew
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I don't know about this, but i feel this is one of the amazing way to producing string sounds.
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AndrewH said
I use my primary bow for col legno, but make sure to wipe it as soon as possible afterward. I don't think the strings are hard enough to damage the varnish on the bow; the important thing is to avoid leaving rosin on the stick.
Then again, my bow is a mid-level hybrid bow, not an expensive wood bow.
So do I. It would be too much of a drag to bring a second bow for something like this. Also, I don't pound the strings, rather tap softly with the side of the stick. Unfortunately, my bows are expensive, but I never noticed any damage from playing col legno.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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