Sound Setup with Kayleigh Miller, Part 2: Finding the Balance with Proper Chinrest and Shoulder Rest Combinations

Dr. Laurel Yu, viola— [email protected] Valdosta State University

Assessing the Set-up Check angles between instrument and body 1. Instrument plane to floor (how parallel or not) 2. Tilt of the instrument against the button 3. Where the instrument lies over the shoulder to chest 4. Position of instrument against the jaw line (right, center, left) 5. Vertical position of instrument to neck (distance of instrument top or bottom to jaw line or collarbone) Finding neutral using body awareness and symmetry Measure the size of neck Distance between the collarbone and chin Distance between collarbone and jawline

Based on measurements, start experiment with different chinrest and shoulder rest combinations

(Some Popular) Shoulder Rests – most to least adjustability Name Pros Cons Kun (Bravo, -Subtle curve -Feet slide off easily, not Collapsible, -Extended feet good for broader Classic) available shoulders. May need -Classic and rubber bands to support Collapsible: more feet. flexible plastic

Wolf Forte Very adjustable, good Not good for broad Secondo for height with long shoulders. Some feel like necks. Pad is bendable, the shoulder rest digs into flexible, can move shoulder or chest. along shoulder easily. Everest Lots of padding, Can dig into collarbone or extended feet chest because curves available. Ergonomic down, can’t tilt or bend. curve to shoulder. Not great for players who want shoulder rest to sit on top of shoulder.

Kun Solo -Very light, padding -Have discovered not great grabs onto fabric for narrow shoulders, can nicely. hit collarbone. -Flexible when on -Moves too much when instrument. playing. -Extended feet -Plastic parts break very available. easily.

Bon Musica -Can contour to exact -A lot of hardware, heavy. shape of shoulder. Can be restrictive with -Flexible metal. motion. -Viola weighs ~77 grams -Violin weights ~ 65 grams

Augustin -Very good “S” curve. -Feet bend out (too) easily Diamond -Extended feet -Comes off instrument available. easily. -Doesn’t dig into chest -Not adjustable (single

area because of curve. piece of wood or material). -Padding wears down very easily. Mach One -Curve is very good for -Wooden Mach One not (Plastic and narrow shoulders. adjustable to contour of Wood) -Good height for those shoulder. who need it. -Wooden: Single leather -Plastic: rubber fabric slips against shirts. padding grips cotton (Have found tennis wrap shirts nicely or cabinet liner helps a little)

-Can’t get shorter if too high. Pirastro -Curve is very good, -Very expensive (~$330 KorfkerRest curve can be adjusted USD) with heat. -Adjustments require tool -Very light weight: -Degrees of adjustability Viola ~38grams are good, but takes some Violin ~30 grams time

-PolyPad -Very light. Sponge can -Can slip on the -Zaret Shoulder grab onto fabric nicely. instrument (cabinet liner Rest Pad -Comes in different helps). sizes (medium and -Slope not ideal for all large, Zaret: small, players, cannot be medium, large). adjusted. Zaret Shoulder Rest Pad

Poly Pad (Large on violin)

(Some) Outlier Shoulder Rests Name Pros Cons Dolphino -Adjustable to -Very expensive Shoulder Rest shoulder width (~$580 USD) -Hugs the -Must use shoulder and Dolphino chin chest plate angle rests -Padding and -Assembly and metal plating disassembly for adjustable each usage -Heavy: ~265 grams without chinrest, ~315 grams with chinrest -Hard to put in a case Wittner -Mimics no -Can only be used Phantom shoulder rest or with Wittner sponge center-mounted -Easy assembly, chinrests disassembly -Can damage instrument if not “locked” in -Hard to put in a case Shar Pro -Very light weight -Feet are shorter Performa -Works with Kun than a standard extended feet Kun’s feet -Nice support for -Sloping shoulder lower part of players may find chest plate it difficult to keep instrument up and at comfortable angles

The Slipper -Very steep curve -Not adjustable for Shoulder Rest -Similar to Mach angles or chest One in materials placement -Adjustable in -Single wooden height with Kun piece feet -Not adjustable for shorter sides

(Some) Popular Chinrests Note: Height is measured from the base of the chinrest to the highest point of lip. Pictures are not proportionate to each other

Left Mounted Chinrests Name Plate Height Picture Description Size Teka S 2.3-2.5 cm Nice support on right side, closer to M (can get tailpiece. L customized larger)

Strobel S 2.4-2.7cm Very good lip support on top of M chinrest. L

Dresden M 2.6-2.8cm Good for those who put more jaw L onto chinrest. Plate has nice bucket support for jaw to rest in.

Stuber One size 2.5-2.8cm Shallow dip in the plate, better for height. Not a large lip for jaw support.

Morowitz One size 2.4-2.8cm Largest differences between Smallest: different orders. Mimics Guarneri, 1.8 cm but with added height and lip. Largest: 3.1 cm Seen the greatest size differences Wolf One size 2.2cm Very low, but nice fabric support and cover. Barrel is similar to SAS.

Empty center, covered leather fabric SAS One size 2.4cm, Can tilt angle of chinrest plate left plate 2.8cm, 3.2 and right. Higher chinrests have with cm, 3.5cm larger plates. each size.

Wittner One size 2.4cm Nice lip and large dip for chinrest plate. Slippery with sweat.

Hypoallergenic

Center Mounted with Left Sided Plate (hooks around tailpiece) Name Plate Size Height Picture Description Guarneri/Strad Varying 1.8-2.4cm Standard “go-to” chinrest. sizes Many Barrels come in variants: Hill around Feet, clamp feet 2.0cm Largest: 2.5cm Vermeer One size 2.5-2.6cm Nice hook over tailpiece to imitate Guarneri, but smaller plate on left side. Geared towards players with more centered positioning of instrument. Kreddle Small Adjustable Very small plate, adjustable (violin) fittings for 360º. Varying heights (small, Medium height medium, large, extra-large). (viola) Lowest: Different allow barrels 2.6cm available for allergies. Highest: 4.6cm (More heights now available) Ohrenform/Berber Medium 2.3-2.7cm Majority of plate is centered, (violin), but small lip goes to left of Large (viola) tailpiece. Small lip with large plate.

Zitsman Medium 2.7cm Very little lip, more flat plate. Smaller version of Berber. Hybrid between Berber and Guarneri.

Wittner Zuerich One size Adjustable Tilted height in chinrests, height. higher and lower tilts (left and Starts at right side). Can be adjusted 2.0cm in .2 up to 0.6cm additional height. cm increments

Center Mounted (completely over tailpiece) Name Plate Size Height Picture Description Flesch Large 3.0cm Plate falls directly over tailpiece

Flesch with arc Large 3.0cm Plate has arc in center, (Found to directly over tailpiece be most consistent at 3.0cm)

Wittner Medium 2.4cm Center plate mimics left- sided Wittner chinrest, but with complete center fixings

(Some) Outlier Chinrests Name Plate Size Height Picture Chinrest Lip N/A Small, medium, (Accessory to large chinrest) Violin Saw Very -Must be ordered “Historical Chin narrow, for specific height Rest” small -About the height of a “typical” Guarneri at around 2.3cm

The Impressionist N/A -Molds with heat to Chinrest your jawline and Comforter attaches to the (Accessory) chinrest -Very heavy and bulky once settled -Possibly take some off?