Help. Repurposing my SRs...
Congrats to all for disposing of the 'Perlman SR-less topic'. Which means, of course, that we have to start a new SR war! However, unlike previous topics on this subject you are invited to be rude, condescending, superior, opinionated and reactionary here. I mean isn't that the real purpose of SRs? That and dislocating your shoulder that is.
I quit the addiction over 2 months ago and have no desire to go back. However, SRs did not quit me. I now have a draw full of just about every incarnation - Wolf, Bon Musica, Mach 1, Everest etc. - and Kuhns. Lots of Kuhns, Kuhns for 1/2, 3/4 and full size violins; Kuhns with plastic legs; Kuhns with metal ones; Kuhns with legs that fold underneath to become surf-boards, a pile of Kuhn parts - legs with wide and narrow clips, long and short ones - and then a pile of rubber noodles grips. I was a Kuhnaholic (mostly because I couldn't get any of them to work).
The question for me is what can I now use them for? I tried throwing them away - but that didn't work so well be cause their bent shape make them near perfect boomerangs.
Replies (34)
Why not give them away on the forum to people who need them?
These would be a wonderful mobile in the Hall of Mechanical History
A.O. - nice idea, sick them on someone else and watch as they contort and rack their bodies into unhuman violin-molded shapes. Muhahahahahah....
Interestingly, many people seemed to have started without an SR and then were given on as it was assumed to be essential. That's what happened to me - I can't remember ever asking for one but do remember the detested teacher who convinced my parents that I must have one.
I don't like Kuns. Do you have an extra Wolf Forte Primo?
I suggest that you do not dispose of your SRs. It is entirely possible that some decades in the future you will find your muscles and/or joints will have changed enough that you will find one or some of them useful again. (Experience speaking!)
In the meantime perhaps you can find a way to interconnect them in a reversible way to make a base of a table lamp or some such thing.
Andy
Elise,
Here is what to do:
Donate them all to Il Sistema http://sistema-toronto.ca/
Cheers!
Rocky
Rocky: what a GREAT idea!!
Maybe we could make it a violinist.com thing - clean out the studio and make the difference for a kid in music...
hugs!
If your son needs to cry on your shoulder, he might need a shoulder rest with which to do it.
You know, all these threads about shoulder rests from those who have discarded them sound SO much like the exultant ranting of any other kind of convert.
And, like so many other kinds of converts' ranting, it's BORING. Ya wanna not-eat pork, don'; ya wanna not-use a shoulder rest, don't.
Do have cats? Crazy glue the SRs to your wall & make a climbing wall for the kitties.
Way to go Marjory, don't hold back! Glad to see you are getting into the SR-wars spirit!
BTW there is absolutely nothing superior to not using an SR. Its just that for me I can not get comfortable with one. I can't really get comfortable without either, its just less a bit better... What it does do, however, is it forces you to think very hard about how you hold your violin and how all the different factors - violin angles, arm length, finger-hand size ratios, left-vs-right hand freedom, even stance etc. - factor into how you are playing. And think of all the time you save not having to put the SR on and off when practising!
Christina - I think that's the best idea yet - though your landlord might not be too happy about the walk 'retextured' with SRs and cats....
I thought of one more: smartphone desk stands. Just the right hight to lean on...
Use one or two to tilt your laptop. Or use a couple on your dining table for supporting hot pans.
soylent grey
Evan - are you saying I should smush them up and make cloned SRS out of them? I don't get the link...
Elise, have you got a corresponding collection of ChinRests to chuck out?
All my CRs & SRs have been sawn carved and twisted, to fit my appaling anatomy!
hehe... well, the CR is a totally different kettle of fish and really needs a fresh topic. But the short answer is 'no, never'. I just spent 30 minutes sawing through an ebony CR (started as a Berber) - and now its the best ever!
Unlike my SR graveyard, the CRs are in the violin-accoutrements Ritz - and you could not pry them from me...
loan them to your teacher. He/She may have students that need one and need to try several to see if they work/don't work.
Nice idea Mendy - but my teacher only had advanced students (other than me of course!!). I think he keeps me around because I amuse him... :D
But I do know some people - and Rocky made a great suggestion above.
I could use an augastin diamond if you happen to have one.
Kypros - I am embarrassed to say that I don't. Oh dear, I now feel that 'buy the SR' compulsion coming on.
Must...go...to...therapy... arghhh...
I just looked it up - did you try the Everrest? From what I compared that was the only one close to working - but I had a 3/4 so that it would stay close to my chin...
Got my first shoulder rest a month ago or so- and LOVE it. Really helps me do some crude beginners vibrato without so much worry and energy going into holding up the violin. I ca n actually now do that with no hands.
Have very bony shoulders and was taking the chin rests off of everything because it was all so uncomforatble- but the shoulder rest helps me here. Gotta get one for the violas.
Sounds great Nancy - my own little journey just suggests to keep testing lots of ideas because something that's really good at one stage my be inhibiting at another. Thus, you are always battling whether something is essential or a crux.
Who knows, I might go back to an SR again if one appears that makes it better to play than without. I use 'better' rather than 'easier' because sometimes the harder route gives you more playing options.
Each time an anti-rester makes an anti-rest posting, they should be forced to eat one of their unused SR's. That way, the useless SR's can be put to good use. To make up for past sins, I'm going to grind up my Bon Musica and have it for lunch. Bon appetit.
Wait, wait: you can use your Full-Sized Kuhn as a bench seat and your Wolf, with its genuine wood table as, well a Table.
Can I join you? I can brew some devilish Neverest-again coffee...
I always thought the Bon Musica could double as a spinal-traction unit....
The Bon Musica - certainly not the most attractive visually, but it can be argued that it is well up among the most ergonomic and efficient, possibly because it can so easily be adapted to fit almost any anatomy.
Yes, I do use it, but only in concerts where quick page turn-overs are needed.
trevor - is there an argument that it might even be too good? I mean it does hold the violin very well but I felt as if it was in a straight-jacket and that while my left hand motion was eased, my essential back and body motions (to coordinate the arms mostly) were eliminated completely.
But maybe that's why its a great Orchestra-aide: there is less (no?) need for expression or interpretation and much more for stamina and precision. It certainly is more work to play without an SR - but (for me) more satisfying - and I feel as I'm just scratching the surface.
What I am learning is that while an SR, and a bon-musica in particular, provide you with a comfortable way to effectively play the violin, when you are SRless you have to learn many ways to play it. The simplest of these perhaps is playing on the E vs G string. On the E the fingers are lower relative to the neck the violin less tilted. On the G I find that by turning my head a bit I can tilt the violin more and get easier access, the violin has now rotated along its long axis and also on the horizontal one, lining up more towards my shoulder.
Its an amazing journey exploring all the nuances - and finding that other SR-less players have come to similar solutions. Is this better? I don't have a clue; the only real test is whether people prefer hearing one or the other. Or maybe even its just what feels better for me.
Elise
Maybe you should worry less about such trivia and learn to play the fiddle a bit better, just like I'm trying to do.
Peter: undoubtedly, its in part the trivia - yourself included - that keep me interested...
I just give whatever disused or unused accessory to my teacher, who can always find a child who can use it.
By the way, Elise 1, Peter 0.
"Peter: undoubtedly, its in part the trivia - yourself included - that keep me interested... "
I never thought of Peter as a piece of trivia, but I'm willing to go with it :-)
I trust Peter is as amused with my bon motsicas - which prop up my writing - as I am in making them...
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July 12, 2014 at 02:46 PM · Elise,
You could always use them as boomerangs. I predict that Mach 1 will fly fast, and Everest -- need I say it? -- will go high.
Have fun,
Bart