Hill Rosin 1470, Light, for Violin, HL-1470

Technical data

Features

• Light rosin for violin

In practice

• Light rosins are harder, dark ones softer and grippier. The common rule of thumb is light in warm humid conditions, dark in dry heated rooms.
• Apply sparingly. Players who re-rosin every session almost always use too much; for most, a few strokes every four to five playing hours is enough.
• Too much rosin shows as a white deposit on the top and strings and as a tone that is scratchy and dull at the same time.

Sound and physics

Rosin (the residue left when turpentine is distilled from conifer resin) raises the static friction (the friction between two surfaces that are not yet sliding against each other) on the bow hair. The bow therefore carries the string along until the string's restoring force prevails; the string then slides back and grips once more.

The difference between static and sliding friction, to which rosin contributes, helps set the minimum and maximum bow force (the pressure of the bow on the string) between which a steady note forms. Within this range the string breaks away exactly once per vibration (Helmholtz motion), and the tone contains the complete series of harmonics (the whole-number multiples of the fundamental).

Frequently asked questions

Why does a bow need rosin?

Rosin raises the static friction between bow hair and string. The bow only carries the string for as long as that friction exceeds the string's restoring force, and the bowed tone grows from this alternation of gripping and sliding.

Where does the name colophony come from?

From the city of Colophon in Asia Minor. Colophony, or rosin, is the residue from distilling turpentine out of conifer resin.