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Your violin, carefully made with special woods and tools by a skilled
craftsman, needs special care to keep it in good playing condition. Given
proper treatment, violin family instruments should outlive their
owners. Indeed, instruments from the
17th and 18th Centuries are still played on a regular basis. However, owners must exercise careful
treatment and guard against hazards.
Always remember than others need to use these instruments after we
are gone.
Handle with Care!
·
Violins are
delicate and must not be dropped, lifted improperly, or treated
irresponsibly.
·
Never place
an instrument on a chair or lean it against something.
·
When
handling, hold the instrument by the neck and chinrest areas rather than by
the fragile scroll, and avoid touching varnished surfaces with fingers.
This will help to prevent fingerprints on the varnish, as well as cracks
caused by too much finger pressure, especially near the fragile ff-hole
wings.
·
Do not let
non-musicians or unsupervised children play your violin. Untrained hands might easily drop the
violin or the tightened bow, and major damage could occur.
Everyday Use
·
Where
possible, keep instruments in the open. Hang them on the wall, or place
them on an instrument stand, table, or piano, or keep in an open case. Make
them easily available for playing! However, keep them away from
direct sunlight, air vents, and heat ducts.
·
Remember
that cases are mainly for transporting instruments, rather than for
long-term storage. Instruments left in cases for long periods are subjected
to mold growth and other problems related to high humidity and lack of air
circulation.
Transportation and Storage Hints
·
Invest in a
good, well-padded case that fits your instrument properly.
·
Use a violin
blanket in the case to protect the top of the instrument from sharp metal edges
on the bow's frog, and never store
a shoulder rest, spare strings, or other items loose in the same
compartment as the instrument, as this may cause damage.
·
Be careful about leaving instruments in cars, because the temperature
can easily get too cold or too hot.
·
Store
violins in living quarters, not in the attic, basement, or garage.
·
Keep away
from cold outside walls and up off the drafty floor.
·
Loosen
fingerpegs slightly (1/2 to one turn), retaining enough force to hold the
bridge and soundpost firmly in place.
·
It is best
to store bows hanging in the open air, because carpet beetles may feed on
bow hair stored in closed cases.
Another option is to put mothballs in the case, in a perforated
35-mm film canister in the accessory pocket.
String Things
·
Strings should be changed every six months for daily players, or
yearly for occasional players.
·
Change strings one at a time, to avoid upsetting the adjustment of
the bridge and soundpost.
·
New strings may need an hour or two of "playing-in" time
before they will hold their tune.
·
If your strings break repeatedly, it means that there is a sharp spot
that needs to be corrected somewhere on the nut, bridge, tailpiece, or fine
tuner.
·
The type of
strings used on your instrument may affect the instrument's health as well
as its tone. Inexpensive steel
strings exert more pounds of pressure on a violin, whereas perlon strings
are low tension. I think steel
strings are a main cause for warped and broken bridges, open seams, cracks,
and sunken necks, all of which are chronic problems on student instruments
set up with steel strings. Better
quality older instruments, especially, were designed for lower-tension gut
strings and are often damaged by the use of high-tension steel strings.
Besides causing less damage, most people think perlon strings have a warmer
and deeper sound than steel strings.
Cleaning and Polish
·
A good rule
is to "clean often, polish little,” and leave difficult cleaning jobs
and polishing to the violin shop.
·
Rosin is
your fiddle's enemy because it sticks to the strings, fingerboard, and
varnish, where it deadens tone and eventually turns gummy and black. Keep a soft cotton flannel cloth in the
case for gently cleaning all traces of rosin from the violin and bow stick
after playing. If you need to remove
rosin or dirt build-up, use only water on a soft cloth.
·
Avoid
oil-based polishes that enter cracks, open seams, and make future repairs
difficult. Wax-type polishes are preferred, although even these build into
a gummy coating that is opaque and difficult to remove.
Temperature and Humidity Troubles
·
Most cracks
and open seams are caused by low humidity or large changes in
temperature.
·
Ideally,
instruments should be kept at room temperature at 55% humidity.
·
If room humidity
falls below 35% (the greatest danger is in winter), take steps to introduce
moisture to the instrument using a dampit, case humidifier, or room
humidifier. An emergency humidifier can be made by placing wet cotton in a
perforated 35-mm film canister. This can be placed into the case's
accessory compartment, where it will give off moisture to keep the air in
the case from getting too dry.
·
Invest in a
good digital humidity gauge (hygrometer) so you know when a humidity
problem is likely to exist.
Bow Tips
·
You
don’t have to rosin every time you play. Excess rosin simply falls off onto
the top of the violin.
If you are seeing this happen, try rosining less often.
·
Avoid
touching the bow hair, because skin oils will prevent rosin from adhering
to the hair and this will cause a “slick spot.”
·
Always
loosen the bow hair when finished playing, or the hair might warp or break
the stick, especially if a drop in humidity occurs.
·
If the stick
is warped, have it straightened at a violin shop before it is too far
gone.
·
Cut off
broken hairs with a blade rather than yanking hairs out of the bow with
your hand. Yanked strands may
eventually cause the knot to loosen, releasing all the hair.
·
Have the
bone tip replaced if cracked or broken because it provides protection for
the fragile bowhead.
·
Avoid
dropping the bow when it is tightened, or the tip and(or) head may break
off! Where possible, play on
carpeted floors rather than on hard surfaces.
·
The hair needs to be replaced if it
becomes dirty or worn, does not hold rosin well, does not produce a strong
tone easily (even if it appears clean), or no longer fills the full width
at the silver part of the frog.
·
Bows used every day should be rehaired every six months; bows used
less often can be rehaired yearly.
Bridge Matters
·
Align the
feet of the bridge with the inner notches cut in the ff-holes.
·
Your bridge
should tilt slightly towards the tailpiece.
However, as strings are tightened during tuning, the bridge is
pulled slightly forward to a position where it may warp or fall. After
tuning, and especially after changing strings, check the bridge position to
maintain a slight backwards tilt. The
bridge must constantly be pulled back to the proper position. Do
not pull it back too far, or it may warp or fall in the other direction. If
in doubt, ask your teacher or your service person for help.
·
Lubricating
the string notches with pencil graphite helps the strings to slide over the
wood, reducing problems with bridge position.
Repairs
- If the soundpost is down, the
fingerboard has come loose, or a crack or open seam is found, always
loosen the strings immediately, and insert pads or towels to make sure
that the tailpiece does not scratch the top.
- Cracks and other damage are much easier to repair
if they are caught early, and if all pieces are preserved.
- If a violin or bow breaks, do not allow anyone to
apply household adhesives to cracks (it is unlikely to help, and it
makes the problem more difficult and costly to repair properly).
- Allow only trained, seasoned, skilled repair
people to handle your instrument's needs. It is a good idea to show your
instrument and bow to a repair person every
six months or so.
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