What do you always carry in your violin case?
Hi,
wouldn't it be great to learn about the little odds and ends we all carry in our instrument cases and the reason why we need them?
Here's my list:
- nail clipper - my nails grow amazingly fast when it's hot and/or I play a lot
- picture - for inspiration; right now, it's YM's turn
- pencil and eraser - for obvious reasons
- the stuff you put on pegs - more to be helpful to others, I guess
- mute and heavy practice mute - don't forget to put in on the violin before the orchestra rehersal
- a small metronome - a last resort in chamber music practice
- 440 hz tuning fork
Bye, Juergen
Replies (98)
Violin - always useful
Rosin
Spare strings
Pencil/rubber
Tuning fork
Chalk
Shoulder Rest
Bow (sometimes a spare bow for orchestra trips)
There isn't much room in my new case but in my old one I had a little beany bird which looked at me everytime I opened the case. :)
Spare strings(used and new sets)
Violin polish
Chalk
Heavy practice mute
Spare rubber mutes
Tailpiece
Soundpost
Bridge
Cleaning cloth
Rosin
Spare bows
Metronome/tuner
Violin
Violin silk bag
Violin blanket
Shoulder rest(sometimes I carry an extra spare)
Ear plugs
Dampit
Digital audio recorder for lessons and practice
Hygrometer/humidifier
Pencil
And tons music in the outside pockets if that even counts
I haven't seen anyone carry a tuning fork in their case at school or even use one. What's good about them compared to having an electric tuner playing a 440 A?
Yeah sounds like I have a lot in my case but they're really small items!
A Thompson machine gun, of course.But only when I have to do a job for Mr.Lansky.
...my violin, and you?
I totally forgot ear plugs....
A spare shoulder rest is a great idea. Last night I left mine on the piano and forgot to take it with me today for a rehearsal with the pianist on the Beethoven Sonata. At least I had a good excuse for messing up!
Most of the above, plus:
Chinrest key
Clothes pegs, to secure music during outdoor gigs
Stickers, to reward good work
A couple of goodluck charms, not that they work
what actually is usually in my violin case:
violin
two bows, sometimes three
shoulder rest (except for
today, groan)
extra strings
2 extra e-strings
chin rest key
cloth to clean strings
cloth to clean violin
cloth for no good reason
tuning fork
dampit
hygrometer
velvet violin "blankie"
pencil
paper
paperclip
music (in outer pocket)
metronome/tuner
rechargable battery
extra chin rest
after today: extra shoulder rest
mutes
musicians' joke book
rosin
sock (for vibrato practice)
peg dope
pencil and eraser
pictures
shoulder rest
violin
cleaning cloth
two bows
tuner
spare set of strings
nail clippers
spare change and
a few dollars
pack of cigarettes
rosin
big 'n little mutes
notebook to record practice minutes/passages
tiny address book
music
pair of underwear and clean black shirt
lighter
dampit/humidity reader
dental floss
Wow, either some of you guys have extremely large cases, or mine is just small. ll i have is:
Violin
Bow
Rosin
Music
Cloth
Shoulder Rest
I am really interested to know about the sock for vibrato. I haven't heard of it. I also find that I prefer chip bag clips to clothes pins or paper clips when it comes to holding my music on the stand or in the wind. I also keep a small container of baby powder. Sometimes when it is hot and sweaty it is a quick fix to dust some on my left hand.
Hey Emil, you have to list yours again.
Here's mine:
A violin and two bows
Extra strings
Pictures of my kids, husband, parents, sister and brother-in-law, former students, old friends and former teachers
A homemade "award" given me years ago by a former student. It's made of yellow construction paper and in brown pen it says, "Best Music Teacher." The little metallic star she'd glued to it came off years ago and is in one of the case pockets.
Ear plugs
Business cards
A cleaning cloth
A gorgeously embroidered cleaning cloth given me by Ann, who lovingly cleaned my filthy fiddle and then said, "I give you this to remind you, wipe it down EVERY TIME!" I will, I am, I promise!
Wolf shoulder rest
Note card with record of string changes
A card with a "history" of my 1999 violin, including strange details like that the varnish has "amber, fused amber and quartz crystals" in it.
Thank-you notes from old and current students
Wow, my business card from the Omaha World-Herald ("Laurie Noonan Niles, reporter")
A picture of Henryk Kowalski's mother and son, Leo, as a baby.
The program from my Grandma Izzie's funeral in 2000
Other people's business cards
A tiny black purse given to me by the above-mentioned Grandma Izzie, containing a chin rest key, guitar pick, small plastic dice, tiny sea shell, gold button and unidentifiable black plastic object.
A spare plastic thingie for the foot of my Wolfe shoulder rest
A white piece of paper with the number "2" on it from the audition when candidate number "2" won a seat in the Colorado Springs Symphony.
The owner's manual for the Wolf Shoulder Rest, oh hey, that black object is to make the rest higher!
Five different mutes
Rosin
In the outside pocket: music from the last gig, note from Suzuki teacher trainer from Institute in June.
Have I left anything out? Probably!
Violin
Three bows
Wolf shoulder rest
Kun shoulder rest
"Shoulder Horns"
Oliv Rosin
Jade Rosin
Small cosmetic sponge (to use as a stop-slip if the other three shoulder rests fail)
Chinrest wrench
Spare E strings
Misc music
Tons of pencils
Metromone
Tuner
Tuning fork
7 different mutes
Those small plastic thingies for the E-string fine tuner prongs
Peg dope
Ear plugs
Cross
Loose change
I usually try to keep the inside of my case as clean as I can - it's a blue Musafia Master Series Exclusive and looks best uncluttered..
Hm the baby powder seems like a good idea. But I wonder if it'll hurt the strings or wood of the instrument?
Violin
Bow
Satin cloth for violin, rag for bow
Tartini Rosin
Wolf Shoulder Rest
Spare Evah, Pirastro, and Dominant strings
Metronome
Heavy rubber practice mute for hotels
Smaller performance mute
2 clever keychains with funny quotes on them that you buy in FYE... :)
Pictures with 4 of my best friends, with Midori, with Perlman, with each of my teachers, in a performance, pr shot, an amazing letter from a friend...
Passport
A couple traveler's checks
A $50
Outside pocket...3 rolls of pictures for when I miss home and my friends, my music, little notes to myself, my planner, a checkbook, and a pencil.
SEveral bags of fine white powder, and a big wad of 20s
Aside from a violin and 2 bows:
1.) Rosin
2.) Shoulder Rest
3.) Digital Metronome/chronometer combo
4.) Digital Humidifier Gauge
5.) soft cloth for wiping my violin
6.) mini digital recorder
7.)pencil
8.)peg dope
9.) extra set of strings
10.) nail cutter
11.) a small allench wrench for when my chinrest is loose.
All these stuff cramped into my tiny musafia aeternum case. makes it weight a ton!
4 bows
Pencil
Pen
Eraser
Tuning Fork (A)
Pirastro Rosin
Clarity Rosin
Set of Pirastro strings
cloth
3 different mutes. (metal, Heavy rubber and light rubber)
Condom (extra ribbed Trojan)
Krazy Glue
Picture of me on my debut scene play a viextemps concerto (14)
Picture of my teacher, my accompanist and me after my first solo recital (13)
Most valueble picture: Fritz Kriesler in Carnegie Hall playing "Caprice Vennios", Supposedly by some other composer. My teacher took the picture when he was young and gave it to me.
Stapler (mini)
Nail clipper
I have double coppies of the following pieces and keep 1 copy each in the pocket of my case..Scottish Fantasy Bruch, Concerto no. 4,5 paganini,
Concert Fantasy Sarasate (the Faust one) Flight of the bumblebee and waxman carmen fantasy. Of course I only have room for the violin parts.
Sarah Changs Paganini concerto recording with the 2 saintsaen showpieces (int & ron. and Havanaise)I find her paganini to be very well played for 12.
humidifier
Wolf Shoulder rest.
My most valuble program:
Waxman Carmen Fantasy
G string variations paganini
Paganini caprices 4,5,7,15,17,11. (solo recital)
Pack of Zig Zag Cigarettes
Some cash
Cufflings (in the shape of a violin!)
Metronome (Dr. Beat, the card sized one)
13 rubberbands
BB Gun..HA HA
Post-its
Lighter, for burning peoples hair..thats whoever gets in my way for wahtever reason!
Violin-Im sure all of you would have never guessed..lol
A little pad
Paganinis 24 capriccios (Galamian)
A little paganini booble head looking mini statue that is glued inside the case. Before I practice, I always look at it to gete motivated..lol
By the way, thats all in one pocket, the other one is smaller and has some other things similar to the ones I've already listed.
Beverly, the sock goes over the scroll, then you can gently press the scroll up against the wall while you practice. This frees your left hand a bit.
(btw: everything goes in the inner compartment of my case, except the string cleaning cloth which I am compulsive about and fold in a triangle beneath the neck of the violin).
Violin wrapped in a silk cloth (i inheirited the cloth from my nanna, reminds me of her every time i play my violin)
One bow (looking to get a second when i havethe money)
Shoulder rest (wolf)
Rosin
Practice mute and concert mute
Peg Chaulk and Hiderpaste
Cloth for cleaning
spare string (awaiting the money to purchase a spare set)
pencil and pen (sometimes i need a pen to sign autographs... doesn't happen all that much)
Stickers (i have numerous stickers on my case - ECU Stud(ent), "The Big Bang theory - God spoke and BANG! it happened" WWF and a couple of radio station stickers.
And finally, my id tag - a keyring from Melbourne Australia that my mum got for me
Many of the above items, plus hand cream!
3 cakes of rosin
a femo-clay violin pin made by a student
pick-up
old strings
pitch pipe
thank you card
business card
bridge
fine tuner
japanese fabric
polish
In Side Pocket:
envelope
Jesu (for the thousandth time)
trios
comp ticket
Oh look strings
program
pencil
I'm happy about the strings.
Willie, I have to ask whether it is a violin habit you're maintaining or something other?
About the baby powder, a teenage student of mine recently confessed that she once ran out of rosin... so used baby powder on her bow instead. You can picture my response...
Oh, these are so funny...I have a photo of my first violin teacher and one of Marvin Hamlisch. :)
- violin
- bow
- rosin
- a stringless string envelope (don't ask haha)
- cleaning cloth
- kitchen sponge (thin kind)
- key to violin case
- shoulder rest
- mini voice recorder
- metronome (sometimes, if space allows)
- music
A violin, bow, rosin, and cleaning cloth.
-sara
-Violin
-Bow
-Rosin
-Strings
-Sheet Music
-Medicine
-Playing cards
-Shoulder Rest
-A book to read
-Fountain Pen
-Bottle of water
-The Music Stand catalogue
-Chicken Sandwich, if I am going to have to eat on the run, don't get the idea that I leave a sandwich in there constantly (although that would be nice if it could stay fresh).
One thing I cannot carry in my case -- is my new shoulder rest!
I have a $900 Musafia case and my Comford shoulder rest doesn't fit in it!! Fortunately (or unfortunately) the Comford is the only shoulder rest that works for my long (did I say L-0-n-g) neck!
You all must have very heavy violin cases..... Haha!
I only carry:
- My instrument
- My two bows
- Spare strings
- Rosin
- Cleaning cloth
- Spare strings
- Music for lessons and orchestra practices....
- And maybe a metronome/tuner.. Usually that stays home on my stand...
Thats it for me!
violin
bow
2 sets of new strings and all salvagabe old strings (think I have an A and 3 G's right now)
Nice fat cake of Hill's Dark Rosin
Funky wood-cased rosin I have had since the 60's
New cake of SuperSensitive light rosin (that cost as much from the local music shop as the Hill's did online)
A really bad pitchpipe I have had since the 60's (good thing I can tune a violin without help)
Piece of flannel
Key to the lock on the case
2 plastic feet from old portable music stand
- my violin
- bow
- rosin
- 2 sets of older, yet still usable if i absolutely need them strings
- the same purple bandana i have had in my violin case since i was 3 years old :)
- the velcro dots for my humidifier (don't need the humidity right now hehe)
- stickers for my student's practice chart
- tweezers
- nail clippers
- tuning fork
- the water syringe thing for the humidifier
- a tuning fork
- music
I HOPE THAT IS ALL! the case will be too heavy soon ;)
Can't refuse any requests from Laurie :-)
Essentials:
Violin, 4 bows, spare strings (new), spare strings (used), shoulder rest, rosin
Concert needs:
Whatever music I'm working on at present, in the top section of the case. Any important papers (e.g. contracts) which need immediate attention. And, most of all, a set of studs and cufflinks. NEVER put them in luggage - that's how I lost the collection of cufflinks that was my only everyday memento of my father. Some bastard who should fry in hell stole them from my suitcase on the flight from Bangkok to Tel Aviv.
Memento items:
Photo of my mother in the swirling Russian snows of Moscow
Photo of my girlfriend
Ticket #0001 to the world premiere of The Three Violinists
A leaf from my father's grave
A birthday card from my mom
A laminated card with a Russian icon on it - from my stepfather's father's funeral
A violin-shaped pin given me by my highschool senior year girlfriend (she passed away when she was 21)
A little stuffed animal given me by a recent and very much living girlfriend - placed at the lower extremity of the case it is useful for ensuring the violin doesn't rattle or have any "shake room"
A laminated card of St. Cecilia (patron saint of music) given me by my RC girlfriend
A laminated card of the Virgin Mary (ditto)
Here's what's in my case:
Violin
Two bows (my good one and the backup)
Rosin
Cloth
Two sets of extra strings
Two mutes (the second one is mostly for people who forget one in orchestra)
Shoulder Rest
My button from Interlochen Arts Camp signed by Joshua Bell
A quote ("The man who wants to lead an orchestra must turn his back on the crowd" ~James Crook)
A 2004 WMEA All-State sticker
My nametag from All-State
A birthday card with a dog on the front
Extra pencils
Meteronome
Music (Zigunerweisen, Galamian Scales, Dont Etudes, Bach Sonatas and Partitas, a random Beethoven quartet score, Paganini Molto Perpetuo, Conus concerto, etc.)
Pictures
strings, nail clippers, rosin, alcohol swabs, microfiber cloth, peg compound, chin rest tool, pencil
STRICTLY NOTHING
ALWAYS CARRY EXTRA BOWS!!!!
I do keep momentos of my family as well, it has gotten to the point where I will just about refuse to use another bow, because the one my father bought me as a gift I want to stay with me forever.
Hmmm.
Violin
Bows
Hidersine Rosin
AB Rosin
Spare set of reliable strings (Dominants)
Tuning fork
Wolf shouder rest
Handkerchief
Dampit
Duster
Practice mutes
Mute
Peppermints
Automatic pencil
Eraser
Bach Sonatas and Partitas
Picture of Kermit the Frog.
Hey some of you guys muct be like Mr Potatohead from Toy Story 2... CD of Yehudi Menuhin, live-sized cardboard cut outs of the entire Bach family, the entire collection of works by Telemann in large print, a microfilm reader, the Pergamon Altar, cookies, scissors, nail file, more cookies, Teatro alla Scala, a potato... My violin case is really roomy, but I still don't understand how some of you can fit all that stuff inside. Are some of you cheating by including a tour bus as a violin case? Semantics! Tut-tut!
Best wishes,
Susannah
Actually, I carry my violin in a large Mr. Potato Head.
And the lips come in handy for getting attention.
In my violin case I have,
rosin
chromatic tuner *its better to be as accurate as possible for auditions*
music
extra bow
professional German shoulder rest. Made of wood instead of plastic and brass instead of cheap metal
cleaning cloth
I need extra strings *peg tuning requires spare strings* lol
violin obviously
musician's business cards
music store business cards
pencil
wonder if I am forgeting something. Oh well. LOL.
Violin Rocca 1854
4 Bows
Strings - new and used
Silk bag for violin
Rosin
Nail clippers
1/2 Pint of Jack Daniels whiskey for medicinal purposes
Nail file
Pencils
Tons of sheet music from Bach to Paganini
Cleaning cloth
Humidity snake for dry weather
1/2 pint of Jack Daniels whiskey for drinking purposes
Pictures of Heifetz, Milstein and Maxim Vengerov
Pictures of my family members
Tuning fork
Metronome
Hill and Sons violin polish
3 mutes assorted
1/2 pint of Jack Daniels whiskey in case the other 1/2 pints become empty
That's about all
damn how could i leave out jack daniels?
I travel light:
Violin
Bow
Cloth
Roisin
Tunging fork
Finally, a pen and notepad for writing notes and thoughts in.
Whiskey, now that's my kind of woman. ;)
Rowell, the main advantage of a fork is simplicity. Nothing to go wrong. Also, just seems more... 'honest' to me.
Don't you love the pure, ringing tone of the tuning fork? Plus, it tickles when I set it on my teeth.
Urgh! Emily! You kilometre- from-usual-person!
Pitchfork on teeth? ... That's like fingernails scratching a blackboard, being woken up by a balloon popping in the night, a bumble-bee being caught in one's hair, a cheap E-string, eating an orange after you've brushed your teeth.
I sincerely hope that you not enjoy these things, too.
Worriedly,
Susannah ;)
I'm with Emily: when my dad taught me to use a tuning fork, he recommended I hold it to my front teeth. It's the best way to hear the sound, really - it reverberates around your entire head! Better than the tinny half-sound you get holding it to the violin or a music stand.
buri had his own ideas about where to place it but hes not here to tell us about it thank god.
...... Hehe
Here I go,
Hidersine Rosin
M-D Rosin (who knows how old it is)
Tuning Fork
My Rufino violin and Chagas bow
JonPaul Bravo bow for orchestra
A440 tuning fork
Sabine MetroTuner
A mini rubiks cube =)
Hair band and bobby pins (i have long hair that is obnoxious when I play)
"Kadenza" Shoulder rest which gets no use any more
That seems about it. Seems rather impersponal, but I have a BAM shaped case so I put stickers (i.e. School decals) all over it.
Ian
besides the blantantly obvious, pencil school music, pictures of me when I was a little boy with my family, rosin, one of those stretchy type book covers for cleaning the insturment and cutouts of an old towel for putting over the chin rest
Hello everyone, reading through these posts is not going to allow me any sleep tonight!! The drawing board shall await me tomorrow morning...
Lol Dimitri!
I will own one of your cases. Eventually. Yes, my precious.
Haha .
Besides the obvious things(violin , bows, extra strings, cloth , rosin , tuner/metronome, shoulder rest etc) :
sheet music
lipstick
eyeliner
earings
water
music note-books
pencils
colored markers
pocket money(sometimes)
a book(sometimes)
hair clip
erasers....
and the list goes on :)
(but, hey , these things aer in the big outer pockets, not in the violin case itself)
Case 1 - Violin , Bow x 2 , Rosin
Case 2 - Thompson machine gun ( Just in case ) .....
with all the stuff we keep in our cases, it's a wonder we have room for the fiddles ;)
mini lint roller (i have kitties :) )
lots of pencils
eraser
highlighter w/ flag thingys
post its
chalk
a bottle cap to work on keeping my bow hand level
rubber bands, to stretch from my toes to my arm so i wont pop up my right shoulder
strings
2 cakes of rosin
tuner
metronome
pictures
electic thermometer/hygrometer
vaporette
dampit
music, lots of it....
hand warmers
icy hot
3 bows
and my beloved violin in a bag.
:)
Violin- Samuel Eastman 2007 (oooooo, aaaaaaah) :^D
Bow- 160 year old German made with real silver and nickle
AB Cello rosin
Miniature Bottle of Jonny Walker Scotch (String cleaner)
Violin blanket
Cleaning cloth
Tuner/metranome
KUN shoulder rest (I've been playing recently without a rest.).
Bumper sticker that says hill billy (hillbillybrand.com)
Mouse-stro mute
Dead mute for late night practice.
Ettudes
Fiddle
Bow
Shoulder rest
Rosin
Electronic tuner
Two business cards
Four mutes
Cloth
Copy of obscene medieval pewter brooch showing woman playing a fiddle while riding a winged phallus-beast
Homemade humidifier
The obvious: violin, violin blanket, 2 bows, shoulder rest, rosin, mechanical pencil & pink pearl eraser, regular mute & practice mute, cloth for cleaning instrument, spare strings, 1 pair glasses with correction appropriate for sharing a stand.
violin, bows, blanket and silk cloth, rosin, cosmetic sponges, rubber bands, spare strings, spair tailgut (one broke on me dramatically recently), nail clipper, sewing kit, orchestra mute, pratice mute, wolf eliminator (damn C#), tuning fork, digital meternome, cleaning cloth, white towel, chinrest tightner, eyeglass repair kit, peg dope, peg lube, ear plugs, numerous pencils, cloths pins, clear tape, claritin...I think that's everything? I used to have a comb but I've lost it...
In my locker I keep doderant in case I have need of it before rehearsals. I suppose the adult equivalent would be having an extra stick in the car.
Btw. for those who carry polish in their cases. I did this when I was in junior high and had the bottle leak and destroy the hair on my bow. Luckily I didn't perform at all back then so it wasn't a problem, but it's probably best to keep it at home.
Violin, shoulder rest, bow(s).
Rosin, clothespins, cloth for wiping rosin off of strings, tuning fork.
What I always have in my case: too doggone much stuff!
My other favorite things to keep:
- a bottle of New Skin; it's excellent for paper cuts in inconvenient places
- five billion mutes
-spare pencils for stand partner and/or conductor :) :)
-a soft, clean toothbrush, but not for my teeth, for cleaning excess rosin from the bow
-library music that I forgot to give back before semester break (oops...)
A stringed box that makes wolf sounds
A bow my grandson tried to use to play Cowboys & indians
Jack Daniels
More seriously...
Main Violin
Two bows
Rosin
Shoulder rest
Spare strings
Mute
Electronic tuner
Microfober cloth (cleans strings in a jam, wiped the instrument, chin rest protector, etc.)
Electric violin
Violin
1 Bow
Too many cords of all kinds
Small speakers
Rosin
headphones
Adaptors from and to different kinds of cord connectors (I can plug into a computer, RCA jacks on a radio, etc.)
-Violin
-4 Bows
-Practice music and regular mute
-2 sets of strings
-nail clippers
-pencils
-rosin
-polish
-3 handkerchiefs
-Aleve
-Allegry medicine (you never know)
-cough drops
-breathe mints
-chinrest key
-cleaning clothes
-2 shoulder rests
-3 sets of strings (old backups)
-giant eraser
-metronume/tuner combo
-mini music dictionary
-calendar
-lots of music
I think thats all. :)
well right now i have my cheaper violin in school.. but when i have them both in the same place and only use my better one:
violin
bows- 1 carbon fiber, 1 wood
rosin
extra set of strings
shoulder rest
cleaning cloth
shoulder rest
mute
some change, just in case
my program from when I first played at Carnegie Hall =]
and this duet book with table music in it, i should probably take it out but my friend and I play it whenever we're at a gig so it's better to have it =p
Nothing much unusal in mine; rosin, spare set of used strings, chinrest tool, electronic tuning device (yup - that's what I said...;))...
Among the 'normal' things I carry a Susan B. Anthony coin and a Silver Dollar both given to me as tips at shows. I see them as 'good luck' and 'good wishes' charms.
Right now I am using a shaped case, so I have way less stuff in there than I do in my Musafia. It's actually nice to not have so much stuff in there - I may try going a bit minimalist when I get back to using the Musafia again.
Anyway, here goes:
Violin
1 bow
Rosin
strings (2 extra sets, Dominant with Goldbrokat E)
Shoulder rest
Tuning fork
2 Cleaning cloths
A couple of pencils
Every summer, when I make my annual road trip to Colorado (and the wonderful music festivals) I stop at Walmart out in Gunnison.
There, I buy every last pack of 0.7 lead Bic pencils in packs of ten for around $1.50. Out here at most office supply stores they retail for around $4+. I came away last summer with about 200+ pencils, and always carry around 10-20 with me to every rehearsal in the music pocket of my violin case.
I give them away to students, both private and in orchestra, and am never caught without one. ;)
I have a tight space in my violin case compartment so my stuff is limited to:
-pitch pipe
-2 bows
-Ollie the violin
-Swiss knife
-3 spare bridges
-sandpaper
-shoulder rest
-spare strings
-rosin
-cleaning cloth
-homemade humidifier
-silica gels
- large paper clips, oddly useful
I've been wondering, why baby powder? Sweaty hands?
I have everything but the baby powder. Not to mention...
$20 for emergencies; safety pins (I once was unprepared when I had a wardrobe malfunction); A hair scrunchy (cause I'm a girl), small sticky notes for part cuts; and tylenol (playing with a headache can kind of ruin the moment).
A three pound catfish, the first fish I ever caught.
a three pound catfish? that's GROSS-MAN
I have for quite some time now ceased carrying very much. In fact I even take a different case with only the essentials...
fiddle and bow of course...spare strings, a very nice but easily replaceable bow for back-up, ditto with the case itself, mute, cloth & pencil...that's it. Too many readings of thefts and I am just too paranoid I guess
I always carry my violin in my case (duh, right?) - but not always my bow! I once forgot it, and arrived at a wedding gig only to discover to my horror what I had (not) done! Fortunately the other violinist had a spare!
leaving your bow is like going to a party with no shirt .
It's funny you should mention no shirt. I once did a concert at Carnegie Hall as a member of an orchestra composed of talented young people and seasoned professionals. At intermission of the dress rehearsal, one young man asked me if I had an extra white shirt, as he'd forgotten his (-the dress was tux for men). I said "no - why would I carry an extra whire shirt with me to an orchestral concert?" I must admit that I thought little of that fellow - only to discover that I'd forgotten to bring my tux jacket! I went to a nearby store and bought a black sweater, which blended OK enough in the middle of the orchestra.
So how did I forget my bow? Having a few violins and bows at the time (-I have more now-), I sometimes switched things around, having more than I needed in one case, and obviously less that day in another. I'm more careful these days to double check for the basics and other things I want in my travel case du jour!
After confessing my story to some people, I came to see that I was not alone. A former teacher admitted to having come to a gig w.o. his violin! A brass player told me how he arrived to a gig sans his mouthpiece, etc.
Then there's the story I recounted elsehere on v.com about me and Isaac Stern...
Violin, bows, rosin and a few termites in a jar for the one time I will get so frustrated I'll just say the heck with it all and let the buggers loose.. then I'll have a good excuse for a new violin. ;-)
Hi everyone, may I offer a little bit of advice?
Please keep those little things like paper clips, chinrest keys, tux buttons, fine tuner parts etc. etc. safely stowed in a ziplock bag inside your accessory compartments. Why?
Because if one of those friendly things gets loose and starts roaming around, and gets caught between the padding of your case and the violin, and if the case drops to the ground or gets sharply banged, you could easily find your violin with a hole in the rib!
I have many violins, and even more cases. There are many good cases on the market today, each one with different strengths, and, here and there, design flaws.
I have one criticism of every case I've ever had or examined - one area of neglect - the optiimum safety of the bows. In the lower lid of most good cases - where the violin goes - the sides, where the edges of the violin touch, have a bit of cushioning or padding. This is as it should be. But why not do the same with the upper lid, where the bows go?? The tips of bows -and even the screw-caps to the frogs - are at least as vulnerable as the edges of a violin. When we travel, we hold the violin this way and that - sometimes even vertically. The case shifts in the overhead compartment of a plane, etc. The bows are going to move. I hope that this will be addressed eventually. Meanwhile, when I travel by air, I sometimes put small pieces of foam to fill in the gaps beyween the points and caps of the bows, and the edges of the case.Also, the inside of the loop, where the head passes through, is not usually smooth enough all the way through. Put your little finger through and you'll see. After some time with putting the bow in and taking it out countless times, the finish on the head can be affected.
I agree that the issue of bow safety is neglected by most manufacturers. I do know of one case maker however that offers the option of bow cushions. These are small Alcantara-covered pads that make the the bow tip cradled between the pad itself and the bow tip guide, which is velvet-lined. In this fashion, movement of the tip, and of the bow itself at this point, is greatly restricted.
I've recently added a pencil sharpener and alchol wipes (vs. baby power), in addition to a cosmetic sponge and a hair scruncy - for either hair or sponge on the shoulder rest. Oh, and I forgot - and two shower curtain hook - good for keeping music on the stands during out-door concerts.
That manufacturer wouldn't be you, Dimitri? ;-) Actually folks, in case you didn't know, Musafia cases are among the best in the world - if not the best! They are particularly beautiful, luxurious and protective high-end cases. The only issues for me with them are weight and -understandably - expense. One dealer said to me "with a case in this category you just shouldn't even think about weight. You wouldn't think about the weight of a Rolls-Royce, would you?" But as I've gotten older and - thankfully - busier, I do indeed think about weight. What a Rolls-Royce has in commom with even the cheapest shopping cart is a set of wheels! Plus, what it has in common with the cheapest car is that it is an automobile - no pulling or pushing it! Also, if could afford a Rolls, I could probably also afford a driver. Hmmm...a case caddy - wouldn't that be nice sometimes!
But getting back to these bow protectors...are they also sold separately? It would be nice if they were, and could attach with some sort of velcroe and adhesive, like the Stretto humidifiers. Also, btw, speaking of the inside of the loops not being smooth enough, many satin violin bags are smoother on the outside than on the inside - just the opposite of what they should be.
Thanks for the kind words, Raphael! The way these bow cushions work is that they provide a soft spot where the tips can rest against, and then the loops (or tip guides, or however we want to call them) gently press the tips into those pads.
The key issue as you can imagine is that since the guides and the pads work together, they must be calibrated between each other. In other words, providing add-on pads that press the tips against guides which aren't sufficiently lined, or worse, that have insufficient clearance, would be dangerous for the bows!
Ah!
It seems that the main differences between a violin case and a purse are that guys have an excuse to carry violin cases but not purses, and that people generally wouldn't dare ask what's in your purse.
When will we make life easier for ourselves by carrying 4 different tuning forks ? My electronic tuner gets confused about the octave in which a note is located.
After doing a pre spring cleaning of my case. I decided to list everything I have. Weighing at 10 pounds total weight.
- Violin
- Kun Voce
- Cloth [for chin/neck]
- Cloth [wiping rosin off string/violin body]
- Tourte Mute
- finisimma Mute
- Bech Mute
- Rubber practice mute
- 12 E loop protectors
- A 2 prong fine tuner
- Alcohol wipes [the small ones used to clean skin before injecting. Used to clean strings]
- Salchow Rosin
- Andrea Bang Paganini Rosin
- Two Pencils
- 8x Oliv E [loop]
- 3x Combo's of Oliv G [16 1/4] Passione D,A [14]
- Wondertone Solo set [without E. For emergency string breakage]
- Coda Colors
- JonPaul Arpege
- **Alfred Knoll** Silver mounted bow
- Korg tuner/metronome
Here is my list 1. Bow tie 2. pencil 3. extra strings 4. the picture of Helen Macauley whom I named my Violin after 5. my violin pick-up and extra batteries 6. violin pitch pipe (tunner) 7. A cartoonized picture of a smiling face which I place beside the sheet music on my stand to remind me of always smiling while playing 8. any other very very important thing!
Chakko, there's a trick to tuning by ear -- at least once you've nailed down one string. I'm not a good enough teacher to explain how, but once your ear gets accustomed to hearing the beating that happens when two strings aren't in tune to each other (a fifth apart), it becomes a lot easier. It's like learning to ride a bike.
As for my case...
A set of spare dominants
Another spare A and G
A Rubber mute
A 2B Pencil
Marker tape for beginners that I'm helping
Peg-loosener-upper-stuff
Peg-stickier-upper-stuff
A cloth for my violin
KUN shoulder rest
Email address of one of my high school/community orchestra teachers/conductors
A West Edmonton Mall pamphlet from a high school band trip that I chaperoned for a couple years ago
My violin
One bow which I've sort of outgrown
A pair of earphones belonging to my friend, which I didn't have a chance to return before she got angry at me :(
A bow also belonging to her before she sold it to one of our mutual friends along with her violin
Guess there's more in my case than I thought there was.
Love the question! I was just fiddling around on this site and decided to go see what exactly was in my case and I was surprised at how much stuff is in there!
Violin (named Gorgiana)
Good bow (named Mr. Darcy)
'bad' bow (for when the other is being rehaired and might have to stay over night) (no name)
Various extra strings in all sizes for my students
Expensive rosin for me
Cheaper rosin for my students
Shoulder pad
Extra tail piece
Extra fine tuners ( I think they've been in there since I got the violin)
Rubber bands
Finger tapes
A few stickers
A tuner/metronome
A pencil
Two hair ties
Nail clippers
Nail file
Little felt alien I made at my 14th alien birthday party
Pictures of family and friends
Cleaning cloth
Humidifier
Mute
Pencils (black and colored for highlighting important things for my students)
And the book of Kriesler pieces I've been playing around with lately
Whew! That's more than I thought!
silk instrument bag - My BAM hightech seems to like to scratch my instrument....
strings - at least 2 G's, D's, and A's, and at least 3 or 4 E's
violin - Gliga Maestro, I forgot what year it was...
bow - Silver-mounted Jean Tabary
various cloths - for cleaning my instrument, for wiping sweat, for cleaning my bow, etc...
A440 tuning fork - I never use it.
Peg lubricant - made by Hill.
Instrument cleaner - made by Royal Oak.
Rosin - Pirastro Oliv/Evah and Salchow
Mute - Finissima Artist Mute, chrome heavy practice mute
Shoulder rest - Wolf Forte Secondo, Kun Original (for emergencies)
My violin teacher keeps pretty much the same stuff in his case. Along with various business cards, menus, photographs (including one of David Oistrakh which he appears to pray to occasionally) medications, recording devices, pickups, birthday cards, programs, extra strings to the point of being redundant...
The old essentials: Violin, two bows, Wolf Forte Primo, spare strings, two mutes (big and small), a cloth for cleaning, violin polish (it's a pasty kind and in a plastic little bottle with a screw on cap so I don't think it's dangerous), large paper clip in lieu of a chin rest wrench, hill rosin, pencil, and I think that's it.
As far as music, the things that always stay in my case are Kreutzer, Bach Sonatas+Partitas, Paganini Caprices, Alard scales, copies of Ernst's arrangements of The Last Rose of Summer and Der Erlkonig (for whenever I feel like I know something- they give me a reality check), plus whatever pieces I'm working on at the moment.
Used to carry a whole bunch of things.
Just got a new violin, it came with a smaller "plane case" -- I walk around with my violin and take public transportation A LOT (CHICAGO)... So I've been using it and it is nice to carry only a few things in my case, and it is tremendously ligher, between 3 and 5 pounds lighter I think.
What I do have now: 2 or 3 new strings, mute (usually on violin) practice mute, eraser, pencils (3 or 4) a magnet (black and quite strong, good for out door concerts when using a "real" black stand, but watch on placement if recording) or two, actually the more the merrier, because on a a full stand you can place them anywhere on the music which can extraordinarily counteract wind, or air circulation indoors.
ANYWAYS, of course the violin, one bow right now, hopefully more at some point. Bernardel Rosin (blue case with gold letters, but sans case right now for space). And finally, a pillow case for the violin and a really worn out old "Bon Musica" shoulder rest, which just fits into the scroll space under my pegs. No peg dope because I have pegheads, which are wonderful.
The only unfortuneate thing is that the pocket for music angles in towards the scroll, so 8 by 11 paper size or bigger music barely fits in the pocket, and there's no slack so nothing else will go in there. If I bend the music a little, it will go in pretty good. Either way it's cool to carry less because it helps to prioritize what I'm doing. If I don't have extra stuff to practice and get me side-tracked, I am forced to come back to the things that HAVE TO BE PREPARED AND ARE COMING UP. ;--).
my Violin!
3 bows
Tartini rosin
pirastro Oliv rosin
silk cloth for violin
cloth for wiping strings
tuner
metronome
pencils
a few hairties
2 mutes
a practise mute
chinrest key
a notebook that has when I last changed strings and got a bow rehair in it
strings
rescue remedy
nail clippers
string tube
music I am currently working on/playing
lots of photos of my chamber group and the national youth orchestra (too many photos :P)
a humidifier
shoulder rest
tuning fork
:)
Pictures of friends and family now. These days when I look at their pictures songs come to mind and interpretations that you could only apreciate only if you know/knew the person.
Well besides the obvious violin, bow, spare strings, rosin and shoulder rest (yes, I'm back on that side of the fence), I always seem to have my passport in there. Which I then constantly forget about. Seriously, I'm surprised that hasn't landed me in some sort of trouble yet.
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August 12, 2004 at 06:51 PM · Tuning fork - an essential part of a violinists case, I think.
Nail clipper - ugh hang nails...
Rosin - it's always there for when I need it!
Strings - you never know what might happen during a concert.
Cloth for cleaning strings
Pictures (it makes my case homey and when I'm doing a tour and aren't home much it's nice to be able to see friends and the dogs for some inspiration!)
Mutes - both practice and regular ones!
A metronome - a metronome is one of my best friends.
Pencils - I always have an endless supply of pencils in my case!
Gigantic rubber bands -you never know if you will be playing somewhere outside or in where your music is being blown around.
My Instrument - you need that to make all of the above be of any use.