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All innocent - I was just wondering about chin-rest friction - should I shave to increase the friction? Should I line my chinrest with chamois? I'm not aware of any bearded violinists. Bearded fiddlers who never leave 1st position are probably not the same thing!
(if you want to respond to this train wreck, respond to peter's copy of the poll!)
Andrew
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Gordon Shumway said
All innocent - I was just wondering about chin-rest friction - should I shave to increase the friction? Should I line my chinrest with chamois? I'm not aware of any bearded violinists. Bearded fiddlers who never leave 1st position are probably not the same thing!describe yourself
- Stubbly/bearded violinist (whatever gender)
- Smooth-faced fiddler (whatever gender)
- Smooth-faced violinist (whatever gender)
- Stubbly/bearded fiddler (whatever gender)
Total Voters: 7
I wear my beard as nature intended, and I share your low-friction issues, Andrew. I have made headway by using a home-made fabric-covered shoulder rest for use with my old German violin, and my home-brew solid electric fiddle has a towelling cover over the chin / shoulder area.
Shaving isn't an option; the mem'sahib has told me I can shave, or stay married.
Peter
"It is vain to do with more that which can be done with less" - William of Ockham
"A crown is merely a hat that lets the rain in" - Frederick the Great
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I'm glad to see you are still around, Peter.
You felt that responding to the poll might incriminate you?
Andrew
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Gordon Shumway said
I'm glad to see you are still around, Peter.You felt that responding to the poll might incriminate you?
I wondered if the slippery chin was causing my bad left hand habits. I tend to cuddle the neck, and I still haven't successfully vibrated with a sufficiently small period yet. I can however shift all over the neck without throwing either violin at the far wall; there's quite a deep cup on the German's chin-rest and the electric has a neat wall around the lower bout (or what passes for it) around 5/16" tall, nicely rounded.
What does make me feel a little unsettled is that I remain the only respondent.
Peter
"It is vain to do with more that which can be done with less" - William of Ockham
"A crown is merely a hat that lets the rain in" - Frederick the Great
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Ah, you responded in your copy of my poll!
Err, that should really count as a forum bug, I think!
I've deleted my copy now.
But I can't really respond to your copy, as I don't need to know about myself, lol!
Andrew
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Gordon Shumway said
Ah, you responded in your copy of my poll!Err, that should really count as a forum bug, I think!
A bug? It's an excellent example of a recursive algorithm and should be retained as a feature rather than a fault; we just need to know how to manage and exploit it.
As an aside, I think a small piece of chamois with a drawstring fixing would make a splendid chin-rest adjunct for the mandibulary hirsute among us. It would need to be removable for washing (like my towelling lower bout cosy).
Peter
"It is vain to do with more that which can be done with less" - William of Ockham
"A crown is merely a hat that lets the rain in" - Frederick the Great
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Those self-adhesive micropore gel pads might work. Mine are too thin to use as shoulder rests, so maybe I'll cut one to fit my chinrest instead.
Andrew
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Peter said
Shaving isn't an option; the mem'sahib has told me I can shave, or stay married.
Mine basically said the same thing. Approximately forty-five years of having a beard has decided my fate! lol
I have tried clipping it a little shorter under the chin and that helps, but looking at gel pad or chamois. My newer chin rest has helped, but not enough, it seems.
The old curmudgeon!
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I keep my beard short to keep a little cooler. I have however spent the pandemic months growing my head hair; I finally accepted that I'm no longer subject to navy dress regulations, and I no longer dismay at the pile of rich brown hair lopped off every month. I now wear it in a 5" ponytail for tidiness (I flatly refuse to put it into a 'man-bun', except perhaps for Remembrance parade).
None of the foregoing has any impact on my violin (or bass) playing, but satisfies Andrew's post title; self-description.
Peter
"It is vain to do with more that which can be done with less" - William of Ockham
"A crown is merely a hat that lets the rain in" - Frederick the Great
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I have to tell you, I tried adding a piece of chamois that was intended for car polishing/cleaning, and it is extremely helpful. Much easier to keep my viola from sliding away from me! Not very neat right now, and held on with a rubber band, but it does a great job.
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@JohnG If it works, no problem.
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Looks like it might move about a bit. I was thinking of cutting a little patch and glueing it to the rest with something like cow gum.
Andrew
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Gordon Shumway said
Looks like it might move about a bit. I was thinking of cutting a little patch and glueing it to the rest with something like cow gum.
I have tried moving it, but with the grip of the chamois on this size and shaped chin rest, was unable to move it. It may shift over the long term, but not like the slip and slide of a hairy chin! lol
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@JohnG looks like what you're using would work well.
I bought this “Violin Shammy” on Etsy. The part that goes over chinrest is a sleeve. There is an elastic piece that attaches to the end pin, and another that attaches to back edge of the lower bout. I’ve used it when playing outside in warmer weather—stays in place very well.
Characterize people by their actions and you will never be fooled by their words.
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@SharonC - Looks good, does it slide around at all?
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Gordon Shumway said
Looks like it might move about a bit. I was thinking of cutting a little patch and glueing it to the rest with something like cow gum.
It's been almost a month now, and I can NOT see any shift at all to the chamois. Still in the same place it was when I put it on.
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I've had half a gel pad on my chinrest for a month now. Not sure how it's working out, though, as I've, a) shaved, and b) pulled a load of muscles in my left fore- and upper arm trying to raise a sash window that I'd forgotten I had locked!
Andrew
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@Gordon Shumway -
Sounds very painful - hope you feel better, soon!
Can you temporarily adapt to another way of using your left arm, so you can still practice while you heal?
...not a good way to wriggle out of joining our Fiddle Parties. 🤨
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It's a twofold problem - holding the violin gradually gets more painful, and movement of elbow etc is more limited, so there's not a lot of point in playing - especially not if bad posture is required. Then the greatest pain comes when you release and put the violin down, and there's a risk of dropping it.
As to recordings, ha, yes, a month or two ago I recorded myself on some small diaphragm condenser mics and was horrified at how little bass response they had (ukes sound great on them), so I found a large diaphragm on special offer (Shure SM27) and bought that, so I've got no justification for it unless I upload some stuff. But I have no plans to buy a camera.
Andrew
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I put some mat non-slip underlay under my shoulder rest, but I find there's still less friction than with a Bon Musica, so I'll try chamois instead soon.
Andrew
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