Who names their instrument(s)?
Who else names their instrument(s)?
My fiddle is Emmy Lou, and my cello is Angus. My mom`s fiddle is Anna Maria Magdalena Tatiana Olga Anastasia Barkov and her viola is Stan. I know someone with a fiddle named Spud, and a mandolin called Mandy Lynn (haha). I also know of a Henry, a Casper and a Fred.
I`m interested to hear other people`s fiddle`s name!
Hanna x)
Replies (95)
See recent thread http://www.violinist.com/discussion/response.cfm?ID=6515.
Personally I don't think Bruce Bodden's contribution can be bettered.
My mom didn't name it totally herslelf. We both came up with all the female Eastern European names we could think of (it's Bulgarian made). I came up with the Barkov.
Hanna
x)
I see : )
Anna Maria : )
I've had:
Tristan
Thea
Dante
Zenzi
Apollo
and now...
Camille.
=D
Screetch
and now:
Yuki
Jenny
Red
Fidel Diablo, AKA Black friday
Lord Casper and Gallant.
My violin is called Pipin, haha. [When I was obsessed, I even called it Vanessa Mae... but I got bored of her (The person)]
My friend named my hands... Left is Zazu, right is Bruce. Zazu is a party gay and Bruce is a stereotypical blokey kind of guy. It makes sense, I butcher alot with my bow :( I have to practice being a gentleman. Haha
My violin is Fiddel and the bow is Bow-Jangles.
My violin is Viktor. He told me his name the first time I picked him up. And so its been ever since.
Cool. So I guess I don't belong in an Insane Asylum, then....
Oh hush, the violin was once a living tree =[
+ its good to have a sense of humour
Yes Dimitri and the bow was once a living horse (a few because they mix hairs from all tails)... (this is the darkest forgotten disgusting side of this so noble instrument we pose our hands on everyday) I feel as if I was using the product of a... well I won't start about this... because this thread was rather "light" and funny! But may we all honour horses and give them a nice pat or apple whenever we see one! We really owe them...
Anne-Marie
Mines synthetic!! I don't want to harm a living creature :( ... well if it gave me a good tone then maybe ... hehe
(Wait is synthetic still horse hair? I'm confused now!!)
My violin is called Mya and the bow Rosalyn:) I only call them there names in private though as to avoid weird stares ;)
I call my violin Nick. And now I feel like I need to go tell my horses that I'm sorry about the bow thing.
My poor violin always goes by the name of "Don't Touch".
;D
Yes! I know I do! They are "The old man" who's about 100 yrs old, "Downtown Brown" which is pecan brown, "Pinkie" which is the newest member so far to my collection, which is metallic pink, and my future family member, a candy apple red yamaha, I will dub "Big Red".
I love my violins, they give me hours of listening pleasure, and they all have their own sweet personalities.
Yes! I know I do! They are "The old man" who's about 100 yrs old, "Downtown Brown" which is pecan brown, "Pinkie" which is the newest member so far to my collection, which is metallic pink, and my future family member, a candy apple red yamaha, I will dub "Big Red".
I love my violins, they give me hours of listening pleasure, and they all have their own sweet personalities.
Since someone else named their violin Fidell before I named mine I'm renaming my violin from a name from the Primus song, "My Name is Mud".
My violin is now; Alowishus Devadander Abercrombie (that's a little long for Mud, so I've been told!) }:^D
I've named a number of my instruments - and not only violins. I have an antique reed organ named "Harvey", and a beautiful antique Knabe grand piano named "Michaela".
Oddly enough, I haven't given people names to many of my violins, or sometimes any names ( - I have over a dozen!). Many Strads and del Gesus have been named the 'Prince this' or the 'Duke that', or "the Sunrise", or "the Nightengale", etc. Well, one of my violins is a beautiful old French violin made by Desire (i.e. de-zi-ray). It's rather grand, with fleur-de-lies carvings, etc. So with toungue-in-cheek mock pretention I call that one "The Versailles". But I named a cat after its original maker, and called her "Desi".
Ed Maday (of Long Island, NY) recently made a lovely violin for me - the second one I've commisioned from him - based on Paganini's favorite del Gesu, which P. called "Il Cannone". So I call mine "Il Cannone Secundo".
I just got an excellent violin from the Cremona maker, Vittorio Villa, based on the "Soil" Strad. He actually encourages his clients to name their instruments that he makes for them, and this becomes a part of their official record. So in a fit of ego, I named my violin after myself - "Raphael"! However, it wasn't entirely megelomania. I also had in mind the great Renaissance artist, Raphael Sanzio. I've only had this violin since Thursday evening, but I've been so impressed with it that I've already asked Vittorio if he would make me another one - this time on a del Gesu model. To continue the Renaissance theme, I would call the next one "Michelangelo"!
If Raphael names his future violins after renissance artist he'll have the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle violin collection. ;^p
My violin's name is Georgianna and my bow is Mr. Darcy. My viola's name is Edward but I haven't named my viola bow because I'll be getting a new (and decent) one soon.
I encourage my students to name their instruments when they first start lessons with me because violins are people too. :D They have good/bad days depending on the weather, they need lots of love and care, and we sure spend enough time with them!
I've never named my violins or bows ever, though some of my students have named theirs (and even mine). Then one day when I got a violin, it was named Jade. Don't have any idea why, it's almost like it got up, walked across the room, and told me that that's what it prefers to be called. And Jade it has been ever since.
Uh-oh - as it is, my violins sometimes get frisky. What if they get it it into their heads that they're super-heros?!
Rebekah- If you're familiar with Twilight, you should name you viola bow Bella. :D
Oh, speaking of bows, I once named a bow that was my favorite at the time, "Excalibur". I could never top that name, for a bow, and stopped trying.
Sinsey Klayman (sp?)...... Has a nice ring to it! ;)
Hmmm...is it too early in the morning for me? I don't get the referemce...
If I spelled it correctly a sensei is a master teacher in Japan, offten refered to of teachers of martial arts.
Aso..arigato kosai imas! (Thanks very much!)
My instrument is actually my teacher's violin. So, I don't think it's appropriate, BUT, if it were, deff. something like Emily. She's quite soft-spoken.
Funny you should say that. My violin's name is Emily. I borrowed one once which I named Erica. I liked her better. Guess you could say I cheated on Emily for a couple years.
Knew a girl once who named her rental Clyde.
lol Rob I did worst... I exchanged my ex for the one I have now!!! (violin I mean!)
Anne-Marie
I have my clarinet, Claire Annette. Her name is quite creative, if I do say so myself.
My violin is Lynn, though he's a boy. (Think of "A Boy Named Sue".) My bow is named Hamilton. Then there's Ross II, the rosin. Ross the First shattered...
I think naming your instruments gives you a better connection with them, an ability to play better. But that's just my opinion. :)
Good day to all
Sam
yeap - mine's called Arnost - he's Czech.
the meaning is "determined, stubborn" - and if it makes any sense, he definitely sings the way he wants to and it's always better than anything i can come up with. i just let him do his thing.
My friend named her cello:
Marcello
My violin wont get a name until I can use the bow properly, (That'll be be awhile yet). Then I'll properly name it so it can rest proudly with Harmony (Casio Keyboard) and Brick (1st Gen Fender Starcaster that weighs like a ton of...) :)
You know you're crazy when you've named your bows, too.
Frank, Fred, and Baldy.
Just got a guitar...wondering what to name her now.
My first violin, a student violin, I named Jenny after my best friend. She named hers Karen after me.
My mom asked recently when my daughter would be ready for Jenny - so the name stuck for her too all these years. But, I have not named my wonderful violin of 35 years- and it has always eluded me to what it was - I always thought it had one, but it hasn't told me. Maybe I haven't heard her? See post from Interesting Stories for my violin's story - maybe it won't tell me because ...
I have slews of different instruments and the only other one I wanted to name is my hammer dulcimer. Oh, as a side note, I practice my violin next to my dulcimer, (a result of the space in my room) and the dulcimer's strings all ring when I play - it's like a duet and quite pretty!
Now because of these posts, I want to find her name even more.
I proud to have Tzar Nikolas violin. It is real name, because it is copy of Vuillaume made by Walter Mahr. It has painting at back and sounded mellow. I like combination history and purity in one instrument!
@ Elena- Welcome to violinist.com! I read your personal page. I'm Impressed!!!!! I look forwards to your posts!
Cheers,
Royce Faina
Hey
I'm not really really sure what I'm going to call my violin yet (I just bought it a few weeks ago). I'm in the process in searching for a bow, and I'm pretty sure I know the one that has stood out to me (as in, I'm probably buying it tomorrow.. :P). It's a *really* nice bow, especially compared to my violin (75% ish the cost of my violin--but it's most definitely worth it), and I think I already know the name for my bow :). It's from the Morizot family, and is stamped "Jh. V AUBRY-PARIS". Aubry/paris is most likely the city it was sold to. The Jh. V... well, nobody I've spoken to knows. Because of this, I think I'll name it John V, or something of that sort :)
My violin's name is Ghenadius.. it's a romanian name and it means "noble".. Amelia is the bow's name, which means "hard working".. they're awesome
I don't think I've ever named an instrument. But I sometimes refer to my violin as my mistress... :-)
My violin, which I've had for over 3 years, just told me its name is Sam. Since that name can be either male or female, the violin's gender doesn't matter. However, I like to think it has both a male and female aspect.
Hi everyone,
I've just named my violin and bow today. The violin is called Wispa after the chocolate bar, as it's got a chocolate colour on the body and scroll, and Twirl for the bow.
Loz xx
My Violin is called the Phoenix, I wanted the firebird but a strad is already named that..
My older fiddle is Meg; she's a fine old gal, with a bit of a crisp voice. gretchen, the 5 string has a deeper voice.
Dusty, my CF bow does pretty well, but he's a bit stiff at times. Skip, my other main bow, is pretty nimble, but sometimes tends to dance when I don't expect it.
The strings are attached to Peg, and the other sister Peg, and the other sister Peg, and... well, you get the idea.
this has been here before BUT still fun to here.
1. I named the first violin/fiddle De-na-roe (Spanish accent) because I have put more into getting it up and running that I paid for it ! LoL << E-jip Oops E-bay purchase.
2. I named the second fiddle/violin Long-Fellow because he's an oldie but a goody, was dated by luthier at about 275 years old.
3. I have given the third violin/fiddle the Temp. name BRAT ! it's on loan to me and it has not show me it's true name.
My viola is a Decepticon and therefore is named BOWSCREAM. The fact that it is a Decepticon and its name says it all. It transforms when I least want it to.
---Ann Marie
My violin was made by Jeff Muller in Los Angeles. He named it the "Red Prince"
Mine is 'The Count' (it's a Gliga).
My first violin is Delbert. He was gifted to me several years ago, and had been in the estate of a wonderful elderly gentleman I knew named Delbert. Delbert (the violin) seems to be at least 100 years old -- he had originally belonged to Delbert's (the elderly gentleman's) grandfather. I could never track down the name of the grandfather, so "Delbert" is the name.
I just purchased a new Florea violin. I think I'll have to get to know her better before her name comes to me.
Hadn't thought about naming my bows. Delbert's original bow is waiting for a re-hair (it may be a while before I can work that into the budget!). Guess I'll have to listen and see if they all (4) want names. Hmmmmmmm.................
Well, I have 3 violins.
The first violin I have played since my 6th grade until high school I named "the mastodont", because she's a big and not very good-looking girl.
My second violin is called DeadHead, because 1. it has a lion head and 2. it has been broken to pieces by a fall and was glued back on. Of course, it doesn't sound much like it used to at all.
And the 3rd violin (the one I actualy play) I call Bitch, because despite its very good looking appearance (It's a Gliga), it does not respond easily and I quite cordially hate its guts.
Say Cheese!
I'll name my violin -- well as soon as I get one that I'm not going to rent! :P (going to buy)
I won't think up a name out of the blue because I think it's unappropriate. My imagination is that once I get the violin I like, a name with come naturally ;)
.
My first violin I didn't name. My new one, my Gliga 2 Genova, I'll probably name when I can think of something good to name it. I need to figure out its personality first. :)
Update on my violin naming: I had to return my Florea violin because of some structural issues. I'd named her "Grace" -- feminine to suit her, but also because she often squawked like a pet goose I used to have (also named Grace).
I've replaced her with a lovely Bellafina violin that I've name Angelina. To me, she has the voice of an angel!
Wow...I can't believe how many replies this thread got!
Since I first posted this I got a new violin, and his name is Vinny. He's a Ming-Jiang Zhu and he's absoloutley beautiful. (: And my mom also got a new violin who's name is Stella.
My violin doesn't have a name of any conventional kind but I refer to it as "the axe". And when I go to the practice rooms I say that I'm going to go "chop some wood". Lately when I practice sevcik double-stop studies that's the way it feels too...anyway back to work. Cheers.
Congratulations on your new babies. I should give my violin a name, but I can't figure out if it's a boy or a girl. Sort of hoping it's a boy, because they're easier to direct (manipulate?), but then girls are so much more responsive.
(kidding)
Catherine maybe this would help: If your violin was a human beeing (with all his qualities transposed in human) would you mary him or would you have her as a good friend??? If the answer is marriage... then he's more likely to be a guy.
Kidding too!
Well maybe not actually ; ) since I see my violin as a partner, thus as a guy and I admit... kiss it good night every night. (don't laugh after all even Rostropovich told he took his cello on his laps and told him love words! He added his cello was a girl... )
Anyway, you'll find it out soon!
Anne-Marie
Hm..Her name is Aegis..(my violin)
I know it's a strange name..But i like it.. ^^
I've not named my bow though..
I have a newbie, inexpensive violin I bought and still haven't named but my newer violin, meant for my lifetime, is so handsome, and clearly masculine, so I named him Alphonse after his maker, Alphonse Kroeger, Bohemia, in 1923. I think my first newbie violin will eventually reveal his or her name when the time comes. Good to know I'm not alone. I also have a spinning wheel and found that fellow spinners name their wheels also. Mine is Margaret
Antonio Stradivari named all his instruments! So you're in good company!
Stradivari didn't name them.....the names all came much later....
Well, one of my bows finally has a name.
Last month I bought a Florea (very low-budget model!) violin outfit, which I ended up returning to the store (the violin had "issues"). They replaced it with a much better violin (a Bellafina Model 330) that they'd been unable to sell because of some inventory control problems. When I purchased the Florea, I'd ordered a relatively inexpensive bow as an upgrade to the one that came with the outfit. When it arrived, it was warped. The store ordered another one for me, but that one arrived warped, too.
I returned the warped bow (the first one -- I never even took posession of the second one), and the store refunded my money and told me they'd located a bow in inventory that was part of an outfit which had a defective violin. They said they'd just give me the bow. When I went to pick it up, it turned out to be the one from the Florea outfit that I'd returned! It's a perfectly functional bow that will get me by until the (much better!) bow I have on order comes in. I've named it "Boomer" -- short for "Boomerang", since it seems to keep coming back to me. :)
My 4 stringed buddy's name is Victor. Even though he hales from turn of the century (20th not 21st) Battle Creek Michigan, for some reason I can't say his name without a Russian accent. Funny that, eh?
I bought a gorgeous new violin last month....his name is Dominik....the bow is Cody.
I tried to find the discussion most recent, because I knew there had to be one (or several) around here somewhere.
In the three days after I had first heard my violin being played, before I actually bought her, I always thought of her as Carmen, or Carmella.
I decided today when I really thought about it, that Carmen suits her, and I do love the opera.
And my bow is Riccardo, because I think it's a silly name, and might help me from wanting to break my bow in half sometimes. ;)
Also I think Carmen and Riccardo sound very nice together.
My violin's name is Cecilia, and while I didn't know it at the time, being an atheist, it turns out in Catholicism St. Cecilia is the patron saint of music and musicians, so it turned out to be quite the coincidence.
My violin & bow are named "Ernie" and "Scratch." Ernie is short for Ernst Heinrich Roth, and Scratch is so named for obvious reasons, although the nickname should really belong to me, not the bow!
Scratch is a nice Heiko Wunderlich octagonal stick, he really deserves a better nickname. :)
David, don't feel guilty or complexed... The russian word for violin is "skripka" and it comes from the russian word for scratch...
So, Oistrakh, Mislstein and Kogan all scratched sinced they played skripka!!!
Thus, you're in good company in the scratching club ; )
Anne-Marie
see, I just learned something new...thanks Anne
I make my own violins. On the label, I put the name of relatives or friends that have or had a good influence in my life. That's a simple way to recognize each life and their qualities. On my first violin there is the name of my wife, on my second one my mother, etc. We never know where these violins will be in 10 or 200 years from now, it should help developing some topics in the future.
Thanks Anne-Marie! My teacher is from Ukraine, I'll have to bring this up at my next lesson. :)
I named mine Jean-Luke Picard. It's a french violin, a french name, and my violin is certainly as handsome as the captain of the Starship Enterprise!
One of my favorites is a violin student I have in my 6th grade orchestra. His case is falling apart and a screw came loose. I received an email that said,
"Help Ms. Wilke! My case is broken and the screw is coming close to my violin. He might get scratched. Please help, poor Vio is in pain (that's his name!) What can I do to ease his suffering?"
I like Vio... and the email was priceless!
I kept mine to a fairly southern name, common around where I live (if you go to the right place):
Darlene
David cool! My teacher too is from there and I love so much her pedagogical skills that I find efficient and straigh to the point!
Anne-Marie
Mine's name is 'Mephisto' after Franz Liszt's Mephisto Waltzes.
His full name is "Mephisto Faustino Ferrero"
Obviously, I like Goethe, and indeed my Violin is sort of a little devil. ;)
Previously, I had Jeoffrey (5th grade- the first nice violin I ever rented) and Mauvian Reverie Rossi.
My almost-brand-spanking-new viola is apparently named Stevie. :-) No name for the bow, though. I'm trying to think of the bow as part of me instead of an object, like a magic wand that I pick up to suddenly give myself a two-foot-long index finger that I use to play. (Or to try.)
my violin is named maple due to the butifull colour :) my well my bow is named bow FOR now you have all goy me thinking
My main violin is Lady Night. I also have an old lion-headed instrument named Leijona and a rather delapidated student one that I re-painted as an art project who is known as cadence.
Named after the young lady who was my inspiration to take up the violin.
My sis loves hugging my violin, and that's why I called it "Dakishi", and the Bow, "Doki". Dakishi is from the word "dakishimete", which means "embrace me" and Doki means "(racing)Heartbeat". I called my bow "Doki" because when I start playing my violin with my bow, it makes my heartbeat race! ^^
Queenielou Quita: those are really beautiful names, they even sound musical.
My violin's name is Vlad and the bow is called Percival. I also know of a guitar named Charlie and a viola named Vincent.
i guess i will call my violin (Laurie Niles)....and my bow (the bow that plays on the editor)...haha
I now hereby name my 5-string violin "snazz". Better than William, I guess :)
My bow' already has a name. It's called Arcus.
Jim
Hi,
My Violin is Ai Enma- Jigoku Shoujo and my Bow is Taiga Aisaka, i have a love for japanese manga and used to read lots of them when i was younger and these have always stuck in my head and since my violin now takes all my time, i honour one love with the other, and thus my violin and bow where named...
Regards from the DR,
Ana Ottenwalder
Dudie. Its just a reduction of Dieudonne, the workshop from whence he came.... (by a tortuous route).
reading these silly blurbs is more fun that practicing! but i call mine 'fretless little bastard'- not to his face, though. actually he was named by a guitar player. what can you expect?
Actually, you DID name him that. Unfortunately, you were overheard.
There was a knock on the door this morning and 'FLB' just moved in to stay with Dudie.
BTW 'FLB' is a girl... and just got renamed Loml* You have to agree to the new name if you want her to move back... that is if we don't have a bunch of 1/8th sized violins running round the basement soon...
*Love Of My Life
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September 15, 2009 at 03:15 PM ·
wow your mom has fertile imagination!!! I often refer to mine as "the tiger" because of his sound and stripes but I am not sure if I would say it's a real name. However I categorically refuse to call it "it" in my heart because it is not just a "thing" for me. Since I'm so much in love with it, it is just logical to call it "him" lol
Anne-Marie