Chin rest
The chin rest is mostly made of ebony or plastic , but also rosewood , boxwood or maple and has different concave attachments for violins and violas , which allows the player to hold the instrument safely and comfortably by means of chin and shoulder pressure, without the sound developing touching the ceiling of the instrument.
The chinrest is attached to the top of the instrument, usually offset to the left above or next to the tailpiece , by means of a tension spring or sleeve screw device and is now usually used in combination with a shoulder rest. For left-handed players, the attachment can be reversed.
Due to the individual shape of the human chin and jawbone , differently shaped, very flat to deeply recessed forms (“plates”) are produced from 1/8 to 4/4, depending on the size of the respective instrument.
Louis Spohr invented the chin rest around 1820, mainly to improve the sound of the instruments. Traces of sweat prove that the musicians at the time rested their chins freely or helped themselves with towels or pillows that they placed over the frame and just above the ceiling and bottom of the instruments. However, this made the sound dull. Chin rests are attached to the side of the frame and do not touch the top or bottom of the instrument, so that the sound can unfold freely.
