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I don't have a copy of the rules on me, but is it all rosin that is disallowed or merely commercial rosin? You can find recipes for rosin online (but be careful), and though my knowledge of stringed instruments is limited, there may be other materials you could use as well.

Commercial rosin is disallowed.

Last year, my teammates made rosin from pine sap they collected themselves, and it worked out pretty well. It's definitely possible.

Thanks for the info guys! Wasn't sure if there was a suitable substitute, but pine sap sounds like a good choice.

I'm trying to choose a new song to play at states. Is there any advice toward/against music that I compose myself or heavily arrange?

More more question... we just had our regional this past Saturday.... I noticed
quite a few "tube-ulums". ( PVC tubes you play with flip-flops.)

One of the rules states you have to be able to hold a note for at least 3 seconds.
Pretty sure a tube-ulum can't do that.

Should these be allowed? We thought about building one, but thought the 3 second rule
would be a big problem.

Any thoughts?

Ricks I wrote:More more question... we just had our regional this past Saturday.... I noticed
quite a few "tube-ulums". ( PVC tubes you play with flip-flops.)

One of the rules states you have to be able to hold a note for at least 3 seconds.
Pretty sure a tube-ulum can't do that.

Should these be allowed? We thought about building one, but thought the 3 second rule
would be a big problem.

Any thoughts?

Technically if you are dexterous enough you could do a 3 second roll without too much difficulty.

Technically if you are dexterous enough you could do a 3 second roll without too much difficulty.

Rules says "sustained" for 3 seconds. I wouldn't consider playing the same note over and over really fast sustaining it.
But then again, I'm not the judge interpreting the rules.

Well, the reason that they say that is because they have to be able to tune the note. I'm pretty sure they don't time you, as long as they can get an accurate reading on the tuner. Our (somewhat, actually really fail) marimba couldn't sustain a note for longer than a second, but they still managed to get a reading on the tuner, which is all that matters.

That's what drives me crazy about SO. Some rules are rigid and some seem to bend.