Rosins Explained

Whether you’re a professional string player, an advanced performer, or a budding student, there are almost too many rosins to choose from. Which rosin works best for my instrument? What are the different brands of rosin, and what sort of rosins do these brands offer? How can a rosin impact my style of playing? What sort of weather is best for each rosin?

Here at WA Music, we believe in helping each musician find the equipment and accessories that best suit their musicality. Read on to learn about the different types of rosins and the strengths each individual rosin offers. Rosin? Explained!

Cecilia rosins are made by ‘Cremona in America‘, a company founded by violinist Peter Bahng in 2009. The ‘Cecilia’ range of rosins (formerly known as the ‘Andrea’ range) includes the following rosins:

The Signature Formula has been designed to give string players a rich full tone whilst also allowing for a shimmery softness. The Signature Formula also provides a clearly defined reaction without bite.

The Solo provides a pure, clean sound with a wide range of volume and tone. It is a hard rosin, brown-red in colour, and creates a powerful, bright sound with good projection. An ideal for rosin for soloists.

The A Piacere gives string players a warmer, blended sound than the Solo rosin. This rosin is dark green in colour, medium hardness, and creates a warm, sweet, sophisticated sound. The unique characteristics of this rosin are due to the classic Tartini recipe.

The Sanctus contains a ground-breaking combination of a hard outer ring for smooth bowing and a soft inner ring for a powerful sound. The outer ring formula has been designed to produce a focused sound on the strings, while the center formula provides a gutsiness to the performance of the instrument. The sound of these formulas when combined is noticeably more focused with enhanced tonal strength.

Larica Rosins have been produced by Seitz Rosin Manufacturers since 2008. These rosins are manufactured with different combinations of metal and at different strengths to produce four distinct rosins.

The addition of gold to a rosin gives the rosin a balanced, warmly radiant sound and a variety of tonal colours. Meteoric iron produces a powerful, shining tone, whereas tin gives the rosin a full, smooth, clear sound. The addition of silver to a rosin brings a bright, ‘slender’ tone, and the addition of copper gives a velvety, graceful warmth.

Larica I is best for violin and is the hardest of all the Larica rosins. It is an amber-red colour and is designed for a radiant tone and very clear articulation. This rosin contains gold, meteoric iron, tin, and silver.

Larica II works best with violin and viola and is a hard rosin with an expressive, rich sound and rounded attack. Larica II contains gold, meteoric iron, tin, silver, and copper and is a molasses colour.

Larica III works best with viola and cello and is a medium-hard rosin with an expressive, rich sound and rounded articulation. This rosin contains gold, meteoric iron, tin, and copper.

Larica IV is designed for cello and double bass and is a medium-soft rosin with an expressive, rich sound. It is a molasses colour and contains gold, meteoric iron, and tin.

Pirastro is a renowned manufacturer of strings and accessories for violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. Pirastro produces a range of rosin products tailored to different playing styles and preferences, and are often designed to complement a specific set of Pirastro strings.

Evah Pirazzi Gold : 

This rosin facilitates powerful projection, and excellent bow response of these strings. Evah Pirazzi Gold rosin increases the ease of bow response in the softer dynamic range and during fast and virtuoso playing. This rosin produces only a minor formation of dust with no residue forming on the bow hair or the strings, and can be applied sparingly.

Eudoxa:

Eudoxa Rosin is designed to be used with Pirastro’s Eudoxa gut core strings. It is a popular choice among musicians who prefer the warm and nuanced tone of gut strings.

Cello:

A cherry red, slightly harder rosin for cello.

Cellisto:

A softer, cherry-red quality rosin for cello.

Goldflex:

This rosin is known for its versatility and is suitable for violin, viola, and cello players. It is a light amber-colored rosin with gold flecks, which some players believe enhances the grip on the strings, producing a warm and clear tone.

Obligato: 

This rosin is a honey coloured, low dust rosin, providing a mellow rounded sound. This rosin was specifically formulated for low-medium tension synthetic strings

Oliv:
Designed to complement Pirastro’s Oliv and Evah Pirazzi string sets, this rosin is often favored by professional violinists and cellists. It is relatively soft, and low dust forming, and produces a rich, complex tone with excellent responsiveness.

Tonica:

This metallic orange, medium-hard rosin was developed for Pirastro Tonica strings and boasts excellent grip and tone.

Piranito: 

An economically-priced, hard student rosin packaged in plastic case with cloth. Ideal for steel strings and easy to hold for beginning students.

Millant-Deroux are a famous brand of French rosins developed and perfected by generations of the Millant-Deroux family.

The Gold and Silver Rosin by Millant–Deroux is a new rosin designed for hybrid or synthetic core strings. It offers a clear, focused sound with plenty of power and smooth playing experience.

The Millant-Deroux Light is an excellent rosin for violinists, violists, and cellists. The light rosin is ideal for warmer temperatures, higher humidity, and smaller instruments.

The Millant-Deroux Dark provides the player with the perfect combination of grip, evenness and volume throughout. Suitable for intermediate and advanced violinists, violists, and cellists.

The Millant-Deroux Green Cap double bass rosin is our classic rosin for double bass. The consistancy is hard, more in the line of the Millant “Cat Brand”, for players who are looking for the subtle sound.