Nail violin
 Nail violin, Bohemia. Czech Museum of Music, Prague | |
| Other names | Nail harmonica; (Fr.) violon de fer; (Ger.) Nagelgeige, Nagelharmonika, Eisenvioline; (It.} violino di ferro |
|---|---|
| Classification | idiophone |
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 131.2 (Sets of friction sticks) |
| Inventor(s) | Johann Wilde |
| Developed | 1740 |
| Related instruments | |
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The nail violin is a
History
Wilde was inspired to create the instrument when he accidentally drew his bow across a metal peg, which produced a musical sound.
History records the name of a single virtuoso on this instrument; he was a Bohemian musician called Senal, who travelled all over Germany with his instrument about 1780–1790.[3] Senal had modified the instrument by adding sympathetic strings, and dubbed this enhanced version the "violino harmonico".[citation needed]
There have been several other modifications or variations on Wilde's original design. Modifications include the use of glass or wooden rods instead of metal nails. Träger of Bernberg (Saxony) created a treadle-operated keyboard version in 1791. The Adiaphonon, created by Franz Schuster in 1818-1819, was similar to the nail violin. It used bowed steel rods and had a six octave range. Its range was F1-F7. A Nineteenth Century modification, called the Stockspiel or Melkharmonica, incorporated wooden rods, which were played using rosined gloves. Bill Wesley has invented the Array Nail Violin, in which the notes are arranged according to the Array system. It is played with the fingers, thumbs, and palms dusted with dancer's rosin. The waterphone works on similar principles, but is atonal rather than chromatic, and has water in its resonator.[citation needed]
Musical instrument classification
The instrument is categorized as a friction idiophone, as it is played by bowing. The instrument can also be played by striking the nails or rods. Michael Meadows has made contemporary copies of the early design of the instrument.[citation needed]
See also
- Daxophone
- Sensitive style
Notes
- ^ a b c Sachs, Kurt (1940). The History of Musical Instruments. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 402–403.
- ^ RCM staff 2004, nail violin.
- ^ a b c Schlesinger 1911, p. 154.
References
- RCM staff (2004), Nail violin & bow, Anonymous, ?German, c. 1800, RCM 136, Centre for Performance History, Royal College of Music, archived from the original on 2012-10-09, retrieved 14 April 2013
- Attribution
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Schlesinger, Kathleen (1911). "Nail violin". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 19 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 154.
External links
- Edward Heron-Allen/Hugh Davies: 'Nail violin', Grove Music Online Archived 2008-05-16 at the Wayback Machine ed. L. Macy (Accessed 3 April 2008)
- A nail violin' at YouTube.