Welcome to Gaia! ::

Hmmm... I'm not really sure right now because i'm at my friends house, so i can't really tell you.

My violin, Evadne (her name), is a hand-made by my friend Steve Morris who works in the best local music shop. She costs about $1,500 and is worth every penny. He made her so well.

Geez! Don't burn it!!!! Send it to me, instead of burning it!!! I may be able to fix it up!! Even if I have to dramatically alter it, it's better than burning it...It pains me to see an instrument burned...lol It's probably a luthier thing.

Anyways, my violin is a French made instrument, by a name "Malino". It sounds Italian to me, but oh well. I have named him Amadeus. It was made on 1/12/1993. It had its 13th birthday last month! ^_^

Violins are often made as copies of violins of *historical* makers, such as Stradivarius, for instance. :] It doesn't necessarily mean that the maker of the copy knew the maker of the original. It just means that they're copying their methods/design for the instrument.

I had one of those in the beginning!
I play viola, used to play on a 16.5 inch roudolph deutch(i think thats how you spell it) worth about 1.5k
Now, I play on a viola with no tag in it, but was made in the 1950's, not sure where though, but its worth $5,000. The viola is huge, 17.5 inches, but it fits me perfect. 3nodding

I own an electric 17" viola... I named it Sleepy because I can play it and animals fall asleep... (note, that is without the amp) It was made by some knock-off company called Sojing... XP It sounds very nice though! (only because the strings on it are more expensive than the viola itself... grr...) I also got my instrument off of E-bay and I will say it was one of the best investments I've made... As far as gender goes... I would say male... but then again... its difficult to say really... Imagine an elongated, distorted figure eight... and thats what it looks like... It is made of solid wood... Nothing is plastic about it... (except for the case that holds all the electrical stuffs and the batteries...) Its a very pretty instrument... but I hope to own a Yamaha electric viola one day... those sound MUCH better...

I its a fairly decent instrument... the strings were a b***h... the viola was $210... I'd rather not mention the strings... they were custom made for my harsh playing style... sweatdrop (i.e. my bow-bouncing is more like bow-smashing....) but, i've never had to buy strings since then... ^_^ so yeah... it is a nice instrument for what I paid though... I wouldnt mind having a five-string violin either... but I dont like that E-string very much.... I make beautiful squeaky sounds with it...

{squeals at the mention of Cape Breton style fiddling!}
I've been waiting for someone else to mention an interest in that most wondrous of playing styles! biggrin

I live in Texas, and yet managed to fall in love with that style when I was 8 or 9, and my parents came home from a vacation to Nova Scotia with 2 cassette tapes: Fire in the Kitchen, and one of the Rankin Family's albums.

I hadn't begun playing violin/fiddle at that point, but began soon thereafter. I had to start with classical violin, as celtic fiddle teachers are a wee bit hard to come by here, but maybe that was best, for a strong foundation with the intrument. It did, however, greatly slow me down with playing by ear, and improvising.

I was 14 the first time I actually went to Cape Breton. Instant love. Honestly. The island, the people, the music. This summer will be my 4th time to attend the Gaelic College of Celtic Arts & Crafts in St. Ann's, Cape Breton. Check it out: http://www.gaeliccollege.edu/

It's truly amazing. You're just surrounded by music 24-7. Your alarm clock is a piper outside the door at 7 AM. Jam sessions run late every night in the cafeteria, outside around a picnic table, in dorm rooms, and basements.

Personally, I've taken classes in Cape Breton Style Fiddle, Weaving, and Cape Breton Stepdance. I'll also be adding a bit of Gaelic and Bodhran to my repetoire this summer. I'm as excited as I always am, as this time of summer approaches. Northward bound am I!