Violin Forum/Message Board

[TCviolinist323]

I'm looking for some quick tips on how much rosin to put on my bow/when to apply. How much is to much and how do I tell? I use Hill Dark Rosin. Thanks!
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You know you're a true Wisconsinite when your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars lined up behind a tractor.

[Nate Robinson]

When you first get a rehair you have to use a ton of rosin. I usually rosin for about 3-5 minutes minimum after a rehair on new hair.

Normally though a few swipes will do (10-20 seconds).

I highly recommend Baker's Violin Rosin. They use the authentic Cremonese recipe dating back to Paganini's time. The major rosins of the last 20-30 years are really composite rosins - they put chemicals and preservatives mixed with the actual rosin. One interesting thing about Baker's is that even after 4-5 hours of practice, I hardly have to wipe off any rosin dust on my violin.

[TCviolinist323]

Thanks for the advice! I've noticed with my Hill Dark that even after only playing for 15-20 minutes a fair amount of rosin has collected on the instrument/strings.

I live in Wisconsin where it gets very humid in the summer and dry in the winter, so I've been trying to experiment with different types of rosin, though I've never used Baker's.

[Nate Robinson]

[Canuck]

I used to use a LOT of rosin to try to overcome the squeaks and inferior tone of my playing. My violin always had a thick coating of rosin dust as a result. Until I noticed that, because of the amount of rosin I was using, my strings also had a thick coating or rosin! I discovered that if I used a dry tissue, or a nice clean cork (with no oily residue), to keep the strings CLEAN, I found an immediate improvement in the tone and reduction of squeaks. In fact, the squeaks are GONE! As a result, about the only time I use rosin is when, with my strings freshly cleaned, if these issues of tone re-appear, I rosin the bow very lightly. Lots of rosin is not a cure for problems of tone caused by other issues. At least, that's how I see it.