PETZ KOLOPHONIUM
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Everything
you ever wanted to know about colophony (violin rosin) a)
Raw material
- raw
colophony is mainly extracted from resin from one of the 110 different species
of pine tree. In particular the common, or forest pine is regarded as being a
productive source of resin. Trees can be found in Europe, Asia (Taiga), as well
as in forested areas of North America and New Zealand. Fir, spruce and larch
produce considerably less resin. Because of this, resin products extracted from
these sources are, for the most part, used as an additional component in the
creation of violin rosin.
The
name colophony comes from the old Libyan town of Colophony, where particularly
good quality colophony was produced. Back then it was still used for the
creation of smoke for medical and magical purposes. b)
Production of raw colophony
–
the first step begins with the removal of the rough
bark. This takes place
with the return of warmer weather at a height of 50 cm on trees designated The next stage is distillation:
Using steam distillation the resin is separated into two component parts: steam
distillable oil of turpentine and the non-distillable colophony residue.
Colophony comes to market in lump, clot or powdered form. c) Additives for violin rosin
–
differing ingredients can be admixed to the purest possible raw material.
Ingredients added depends mainly on the violin rosin producer, the recipe and
the field of application (violin, cello, double bass): Scraped resin
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comes from spruce or pine trees. Scraped resin consists
of resin remains that have to be thoroughly cleaned before further processing Larch turpentine oil – produced by distillation of larch turpentine Venetian turpentine
–
extracted by drilling the heartwood of the
European larch Larch balsam
–
valuable and syrupy resin from trees at least 25 years
old Carnauba wax
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comes from a type of Brazilian palm tree.
Leaves are cut off and boiled out. This process produces a liquid wax
that can be skimmed off. Beeswax Balsam turpentine oil
–
produced by distillation and filtration of
Portuguese pine balsam Mastic
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Resin from a type of Greek cultivated pistachio The list provided may be
incomplete, but it does provided an insight into the materials that can be added
to raw colophony in the production of violin rosin. d) Application
–
the musician’s aim is to achieve optimal application
of violin rosin – a round or square shaped dark coloured lump. e) The effect of violin
rosin
–
colophony serves in increasing the adhesive friction
necessary. It
sticks to the rough surface of the bow hairs. Without colophony the bow hair’s
so-called barb would not be capable of grasping the strings. This can be proved
easily using a non-colophony coated bow. Because of the increased adhesive
friction, the bow (or rather its hairs)
is able to bring the strings out of their resting position. The strings also move with bow’s bowing
direction. If the tension of
the strings is greater than that of the adhesive friction they spring back.
The great speeds achieved during this
phase creates heat, which liquefies the colophony in to a sliding film onto
which the string springs back during the sliding phase. Where the energy is used
and the heat development caused by the sliding movements is at an end, the
hardening colophony causes the sealing of the string with the hair and the
process can start over again. While this is going on,
alternation between adhesive and sliding friction causes short, so-called
adhesive stroke impulses. This induces the entire body of the violin to vibrate
and creates a detectable smell. The described movement of the strings are not identical with those of the
bow. Countless numbers of vibrational phases as described are created during one
single movement of the bow. f) Choosing the right colophony: Colophony is available in differing qualities for violin, cello and
double bass. Although some musicians do use colophony intended for a particular
string instrument on an alternative stringed instrument, it is generally better
to follow the application recommendations from the manufacturer. After all,
producers spend several years testing and tinkering with their products before
releasing them onto the market. Individual product quality is also split into differing degrees of
hardness ranging from light-coloured to dark-coloured products. Dark-coloured
colophony is usually a little harder than light-coloured colophony and is
preferred for use in warmer rooms. Naturally, each producer
regards his or her product as being the best. The opinion of individual
musicians is often split. The best results are achieved
at ideal room temperatures and in circumstances where the available colophony
harmonizes with the bow hairs and the strings. This interplay between colophony,
bow hairs, stings and room temperature should also approach the musician’s
envisaged ideal sound. A change to any of these factors can lead to dissatisfaction. At the end of the day, the best advice is
trial and error One last
tip: Don’t leave
colophony remainders on the instrument. Remove the colophony dust using a cloth
and mild cleaning agent following each use of the instrument. |
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for
resin removal. The second step involves the planing of approx. 1 cm wide
V-shaped layers into the thin layer of bark prepared during the first step.
Following this, pitch begins to flow through the wound in the tree into the
container positioned below it. Wounding of the tree must be repeated every 4 –
5 days.