I watched a really neat Time/Life DVD last night about bluegrass music. It is called Bluegrass Country Soul, A Film by Albert Ihde. This is the first feature film ever made about bluegrass music, shot on Labor Day weekend in 1971 at Camp Springs, NC. There were numerous now-famous faces, along with some others that I've never heard of. It was truly enjoyable from the beginning to the end! Thanks to Nick for loaning it to me.
One of the things that really piqued my interest was the amount of rosin the fiddle players had on their fiddles. Now I'm not one to wipe off the excess rosin every time I play, but nonetheless, I do take care of it at least weekly or so. As the camera panned around the stage during a group of fiddlers playing together, I was amazed at how much rosin was left on the fiddles. (Now I actually know why so many of the old fiddles that come in for evaluation or repair have so much old, dirty, dried up rosin ALL over the tops.) The rosin was not just centered around the bridge, it covered almost the entire tops of the fiddles, all the way to the bouts and within inches of the top and bottom. I was just wondering if anyone knew WHY? Please TELL ME!!!
My thoughts were that it could be like banjo players who don't clean off their banjo heads. It is considered a banjo player's "pride" for the banjo head to show some wear and dirt. (I'm a member of this "club"!) Or perhaps it is the type of strings they used then. Did they need more rosin than what we currently need?
Anyway, I'm waiting for YOUR responses!
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