DOLFINOS.
Violins sing, cheer and play...
Violins have a certain je ne sais quoi: this stringed instrument charms with its elegant appearance but when played also shows a natural grace, captures people’s souls and enchants them. But what music enthusiasts often don’t know is that playing the violin also has its dark side in the form of chronic pain in musicians. This is because the player and violin do not harmonise as easily as all that. The instrument is held between shoulder and chin which inevitably leads to an asymmetrical posture.
DOLFINOS‘ ingenious support system counteracts this problem. Michael Y. Wiener, former Professor at the University of Applied Sciences in St. Gallen and his colleagues at DOLFINOS were even awarded the Swiss Start-up Award 2013 for their innovative concept of a children’s violin rest. The vonrickenbach.swiss ag team is proud that part of this ground-breaking development was created in our workshops.
The DOLFINOS support system
Explanation video
Testimonial
Ten million violinists worldwide
There are about ten million violinists and an additional two million viola players worldwide. Around 70% of professional musicians are proven to suffer from neuro-musculoskeletal impairments. One such example is a 16-year-old master student who met M. Wiener, co-founder of DOLFINOS, during a violin master class. Wiener said: “The young musician planned to end her musical career due to chronic pain and after several unsuccessful operations. Convinced of her talent, I was determined to help her continue playing and began to work intensively on this subject“. Over 6 years of research and development with leading scientific institutions, musicians and violin makers were invested by the young start-up company until the first product, a revolutionary violin rest, was launched onto the market. This replaced all previous technologies (chin or shoulder rests) with a single comprehensive solution.
The Swiss Made Chin & Shoulder Rest System
The violin/viola rest from DOLFINOS has already been used by world-class violinists after extensive testing. More than 400 systems have been successfully sold in over 35 countries in a very short time.
Made out of solid wood
Even during the development phase, we were able to produce prototypes for the chin rests made of solid wood. In accordance with DOLFINOS’ specifications, we decided to use a European FSC-certified wood which is highly resistant, well tolerated by the skin and also weighs less than half of conventional chin rests. The pieces are milled using specially manufactured counter moulds, then sanded and fitted with titanium pins.
In the latter process, precision is of the essence as two titanium pins are glued into each piece which, in turn, must fit into a counterpart with an accuracy of a tenth of a millimetre. When milling the chin rests themselves, the challenge is to fasten the small parts in such a way that they can withstand the CNC cutting pressure, so as to achieve the best possible surface finish. This enables the subsequent polishing and special skin-friendly finish which we carry out carefully by hand (“according to DOLFINOS’ secret formula”).
NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE
Once again, vonrickenbach.swiss ag was part of a ground-breaking innovation using the latest 5-axis CNC technology, our comprehensive machine park and the extensive knowledge of our employees.
Patented technology of the highest Swiss quality and precision which helps musicians to adopt a healthier posture, enables effortless motor skills and allows the violin to swing more freely.
May violins continue to sing, cheer and play for a long time to come!
Kind regards,
Thomas von Rickenbach
Visuals:
Chin rest from Studioshooting vrs / violinist (picture rights and photo crediting DOLFINOS)
Video footage:
Selection from DOLFINOS’ web presence or YouTube
