THE ROSIN

This week I will try to meet Claudio's request, he is a cello teacher who, after having read and enjoyed the posts on this blog, asked me to write one about rosin, a topic that indeed I overlooked. Dear Claudio, I hope to meet you soon and good reading, this article is dedicated to you!

To say it all, we bowmakers do not put much interest on rosin, not because of laziness or superficiality. The point is that the rosin, or more precisely "colophony", is not part of our business in any way, but the musician's .

Let me explain it in a better way . M° Navea Vera and I, take care of how to let bows play and work, trying to choose materials, weights and mountings that we considered as the best ones. For us the bow must have the grip since the very beginning and rosin just represent an aid. If the bow is properly built and owns a good material with a very high sound propagation in the fiber, it will work with any rosin. On the contrary, if it is worn out, you can put on even a bi-components glue, but never it will never stuck.

What we can do as professionals, when we face a customer with a worn out bow is giving him some advises, firstly to change it, and secondly to use a more aggressive rosin , also if this is just a palliative.

Of course I'm not saying that all rosins are the same, but like the strings of the instruments, they are more a choice of the musician, not of the maker , it to depend on sound you wish to hear.

A couple of words about Liebenzeller. This rosin, rightly loved by many musicians for the soft shades it gives to the tone of the instrument, is perhaps the most disagreeable for the bowmakers. The reason is very simple: it is not compatible with any other type of rosin, and if I let try a bow to a customer who uses it, I forget to say it and if he puts it on the hair, we are forced to replace them, because otherwise the other ones do not stick any more ! Apart from this little problem the Liebenzeller is, or better was, as the lady who made it by her hand in a remote German forest is now retired, one of the best on the market.

A good alternative may be Melos. This rosin comes from Greece, it is relatively young but has good hopes. It is 'possible to have it for all stringed instruments and for each season, fatter for the cold and dry one, and less fat for those hot and humid ones. If you wish, you may try it.

Now I reply to another request by Claudio, who exasperated by the shamefully dirty bows of his students, asked me to show him a solution.

The first advice I can give is to find a rosin that does not produce a lot of dust, the above mentioned one is a good example.

The second is a secret jealously hidden by any craftsman which I decided to reveal even if I beg you to treat it as confidential.

CLEAN IT EVERYTIME !

Not once a month, week, or day and not with special oils or solvents. Clean it every time you put the rosin on and every time you finish to play with it . Put a piece of cloth between stick and hair and put it into the case in this way. Whenever you pick up your bow you automatically will use the cloth and this will be enough to keep it in good condition until the cyclic visit to the bowmaker, so if he a professional one he will carry out a thorough cleaning along with the rehairing.

So long

Paolo.