flute-Fiona
piccolo-(no name, I don't like it or the sound it produces, plus it wrecks my mouth)
whistle-Herbert
drum-Nerp (so called because that was my 1st word, and I play the drum like a baby,you know THUMP BANG CRACK)
Keyboard-Sylvia
I know plenty of people who name thier instruments. I used to call my fiddle freja, and I also almost called my new (to me at any rate) flute fiona, but decided against it as it seemes a little clichéd as a name. Therefore it is still unamed.
Anders
Oh and my old viola used to be referred to as "the brat" because it was awfull and the danish word for viola is "bratsch", which sounds similar.
My first banjolin was called "Daves little twangy thing" - but when I got a new one from Andybanjo he made me swear on the magic toadstool in the fairy ring that I would never call it that, because it wouldn't be good for his marketing.
We'll my regular mt. dulcimer is Mehitabel (toujours gai, Archy), the baritone mt. dulcimer is Mahalia (as in Jackson), and my 000-15s Martin guitar is the Dark Lady. When they are sitting together on their stands they are the three graces. My flute is Cariad, Welsh for sweetheart, because it's a Ralph Sweet.
My blue electric fiddle's name is Skye.
Accoustic fiddle is Johnny after the late Johnny Cunningham who taught me to play.....the basics anyway.
My Manodlin's name is Guido
My bow even has a name....Beau (whatelse)
My Koto is Yoko (You know Yoko Koto)
the full name for my bodhran is "notan instrument".......
for all you pipers out there! and fiddle players, er, and banjo players, and well let's just say musicians to cap the lot!!!
Jimmy.........
not going to make the Ferryman.
Emer has Bodhrán and you hate my flute playin, cos I can't do the silly grin yet.....
and you have warned Hughes about my Banjo playin'.... so it'd off to the Andes for me to learn the pipes!!!!!!!!!
I'd like to give my Instruments female names but, I'm afraid the Mrs. would give me the third degree as to why I chose those names and who these women are.
my fiddle is Jade (made in China, but benchmade rather than a factory piece);
my 22-string nylon harp is Duir (long story, never mind);
my 17-string wire harp is Hiraeth (she was my first harp and I'd wanted one all my life --- Hiraeth is Welsh for longing);
my plucked psaltery is Rosie (she has a device like a compass rose carved on her);
my full-size mountain dulcimer is Violet (her sound holes are shaped like violet leaves);
and my backpacker's dulcimer is Minnie Pearl (small and cute but hooooowDY! can she be loud). (Sorry, only former watchers of a certain corny country music TV show will get that one.)
I always name my instruments once I've had them long enough to get to know them; they have personalities just like people. On the other hand, my husband has 4 mountain dulcimers and 2 hammer dulcimers, and he would no more name them than he would try to walk across a desert in full daylight with no water. He can't fathom why I've named mine. To each his/her own...
Sara
I name my instruments. The people at my session don't bat an eyelid and refer to my instruments by their names. That might be because they're not sure what my instruments are. I have it in my mind that I want to buy a new bouzouki. I've already decided that I want to name it Susan, then I'd have Basil, Tina and Susan, and the 2 girls can gang up on Basil, but I won't be able to tell if it's a boy or a girl until it actually arrives, and all my other instruments have been named by other people, so I might have to settle for a different name.
Zina - thats still the best vehicle name of all time. My dad used to have a Morris Mini called Haha.
It's a funny thing though - I just can't imagine giving a name to an instrument, although as we see above many people do. I know scores of tunes that I can't usually put a name to, and the idea of having to remember even more names is not appealing. I think also that I am rather literal-minded, and see the instrument as being only something that is operated by the player (muso/maestro/musician/tunester) rather than some sort of animate creature with a mind of its own. Even my computer is only a machine - when I shout "b*stard" at it, I am really referring to Messrs Gates and Jobs.
Heigh ho! another day of fear and toil dawns for the workers at Filmtech.
archy is a cockroach. mehitabel is a cat. Their adventures were celebrated in archy's light poetry, written by throwing himself at the keys of a typewriter, and mehitabel, who claims to have been Cleopatra in a former life, is his friend, with nary a cap in sight.
"my youth i shall never forget
but there s nothing i really regret
wotthehell wotthehell
there s a dance in the old dame yet
toujours gai toujours gai"
Matty! I read comic books as a girl as well, though I don't know that falls under the aegis of "literature". *grin* Two comic collectors in our family meant that I could actually read the whole series of a story line, so I got kind of addicted. Now I just read things like Usagi Yojimbo (Ryaaaahhh!) and PVP Online and, when I'm at my sister's, that one about the dog demon and the Japanese schoolgirl, what's that called?, and such, usually in the omibuses, because who has time to waste waiting for the next installment to come out?
I must admit I haven't read much manga - more of a Neil Gaiman/Sandman/Vertigo kinda guy, me.
Have you seen http://www.sinfest.net ? It's like a deviant version of Calvin and Hobbes - and there's three year's worth of daily updates for you to catch up on if you like it!
My instrument is the Matt-stick. Car is called the Matt-mobile. Home is the Matt-cave. Yes, I know it's silly :7)
I think I will call my banjo "ParrotMount" .. I don't play it cos it broke, so a Parrot may as well perch on it! (in for repair tho!!) The banjo, not the parrot!
Hi!
No chance you've got your session name via one of the GREAT flute player's compostions perchance...
Herbie Mann?
I'm sure many fluteplayers would acknowledge his status, and maybe visitors to this site might start a thread on players, who, though non ITM inclined, have influenced them?
Brianx
My violin was my grandfather's from Germany and it's history beyond that is a mystery to me. It was given to me after he passed away which was almost 20 years ago. To my knowledge, it has no individual maker as there is no tag and if, in the past, the violin had already been given a name, it is not documented. So rather than upsetting it by calling it something it hates, I keep playing hoping someday it will simply tell me in it's own voice.
Naming your instrument
Naming your instrument
Does anyone else do this, or am just wierd?
flute-Fiona
piccolo-(no name, I don't like it or the sound it produces, plus it wrecks my mouth)
whistle-Herbert
drum-Nerp (so called because that was my 1st word, and I play the drum like a baby,you know THUMP BANG CRACK)
Keyboard-Sylvia
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by Folkie Junkie
Re: Naming your instrument
I don't but I'm sure it's quite common. BB King always named his guitars "Lucille".
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by Johannes J
Re: Naming your instrument
I know plenty of people who name thier instruments. I used to call my fiddle freja, and I also almost called my new (to me at any rate) flute fiona, but decided against it as it seemes a little clichéd as a name. Therefore it is still unamed.
Anders
Oh and my old viola used to be referred to as "the brat" because it was awfull and the danish word for viola is "bratsch", which sounds similar.
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by weefreefidler
Re: Naming your instrument
I was once introduced to a Betty the banjo at a party in Dublin. Didn't get her number, which is unusual for me.
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by Conán McDonnell
Re: Naming your instrument
*snort*
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by Zina Lee
Re: Naming your instrument
No Zina it wan't that kind of party. ;¬)
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by Conán McDonnell
Re: Naming your instrument
I've a kazoo and I call her *Snort*
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by Johannes J
Re: Naming your instrument
Was that old Sweaty Betty the banjo, Conan?
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by Johannes J
Re: Naming your instrument
Hehe no it was Betty Swollocks.
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by Conán McDonnell
Re: Naming your instrument
Not 'Hairy Betty Swollocks'?
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by Ottery
Re: Naming your instrument
Only her close friends know about the hair, Ottery. ;¬0
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by Conán McDonnell
Re: Naming your instrument
My first banjolin was called "Daves little twangy thing" - but when I got a new one from Andybanjo he made me swear on the magic toadstool in the fairy ring that I would never call it that, because it wouldn't be good for his marketing.
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by showaddydadito
Re: Naming your instrument
I just call my violin "Mia Violina" XD and I have no current name for my whistle, but about that time now, eh chaps?
...
...
Right-o
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by fiddlinviolinin
Re: Naming your instrument
We'll my regular mt. dulcimer is Mehitabel (toujours gai, Archy), the baritone mt. dulcimer is Mahalia (as in Jackson), and my 000-15s Martin guitar is the Dark Lady. When they are sitting together on their stands they are the three graces. My flute is Cariad, Welsh for sweetheart, because it's a Ralph Sweet.
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by KateG
Re: Naming your instrument
i hate to be pedantic kateg - no dammit i don't, i just love it - but i think you'll find that's toujours gai, archy.
on account of not being able to use the shift key.
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by showaddydadito
Re: Naming your instrument
My blue electric fiddle's name is Skye.
Accoustic fiddle is Johnny after the late Johnny Cunningham who taught me to play.....the basics anyway.
My Manodlin's name is Guido
My bow even has a name....Beau (whatelse)
My Koto is Yoko (You know Yoko Koto)
Mary
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by Antikhntr
Re: Naming your instrument
My son has a mandola called Nelson.
We call it his girlfriend, Mandy.
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by geoffwright
Re: Naming your instrument
My Vega is called Vincent (as in Pulp Fiction....)
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by nick b
Re: Naming your instrument (s)
I tend to call my self names whilst playing upon my assorted, borrowed, stolen and unpayed for instruments. I should be more kind to myself.
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by day-glo pirate
Re: Naming your instrument (s)
I should learn to spell better
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by day-glo pirate
Re: Naming your instrument
Jim Troy.....
you could name your flute "the bald pony"!!!
heh heh heh...... Eoin
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by Eoino
Re: Naming your instrument
I am a non-proud owner of a bodhran and I call it "notan" for short.....
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by Eoino
Re: Naming your instrument
the full name for my bodhran is "notan instrument".......
for all you pipers out there! and fiddle players, er, and banjo players, and well let's just say musicians to cap the lot!!!
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by Eoino
Re: Naming your instrument
Is the Ferryman on tonight??
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by Eoino
Re: Naming your instrument
I have decided to name my fiddle "Floozy". It being cheap and all...
Mr. Troy, am trying to come up with a name for yours. I have a friend also known as Martin Doyle, will contact him for suggestions.
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by Agnes Nutter
Re: Naming your instrument
What is the definition of a banjo??
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by Eoino
Re: Naming your instrument
Jimmy.... gwan... you're dying to answer!!!
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by Eoino
Re: Naming your instrument
Jimmy.........
not going to make the Ferryman.
Emer has Bodhrán and you hate my flute playin, cos I can't do the silly grin yet.....
and you have warned Hughes about my Banjo playin'.... so it'd off to the Andes for me to learn the pipes!!!!!!!!!
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by Eoino
Re: Naming your instrument
would they be the 'and pipes as opposed to the elbow pipes so???? Just curious!
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by Eoino
Re: Naming your instrument
I have Amanda Lynne.
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by Bren
Re: Naming your instrument
I call my Banjo "Goat"
# Posted on August 5th 2004 by Urger
Re: Naming your instrument
I'd like to give my Instruments female names but, I'm afraid the Mrs. would give me the third degree as to why I chose those names and who these women are.
# Posted on August 6th 2004 by Ani Trec-Noc
Re: Naming your instrument
I call my uilleann practice set sh***y Pakistani POS. But I'll call my Rogge practice set Siobhan when I get it next year.
# Posted on August 6th 2004 by CaliforniaPiper
Re: Naming your instrument
Dow, where are you?
# Posted on August 6th 2004 by Max Becher
Re: Naming your instrument
my fiddle is Jade (made in China, but benchmade rather than a factory piece);
my 22-string nylon harp is Duir (long story, never mind);
my 17-string wire harp is Hiraeth (she was my first harp and I'd wanted one all my life --- Hiraeth is Welsh for longing);
my plucked psaltery is Rosie (she has a device like a compass rose carved on her);
my full-size mountain dulcimer is Violet (her sound holes are shaped like violet leaves);
and my backpacker's dulcimer is Minnie Pearl (small and cute but hooooowDY! can she be loud). (Sorry, only former watchers of a certain corny country music TV show will get that one.)
I always name my instruments once I've had them long enough to get to know them; they have personalities just like people. On the other hand, my husband has 4 mountain dulcimers and 2 hammer dulcimers, and he would no more name them than he would try to walk across a desert in full daylight with no water. He can't fathom why I've named mine. To each his/her own...
Sara
# Posted on August 6th 2004 by sara g
::ahhhhhh::
Woah... Amanda Lynne... Genious!!
I think I'll name my Generation... Hmmm... Oh here we go.. ::Makes long list list::
# Posted on August 6th 2004 by fiddlinviolinin
Re: Naming your instrument
I name my instruments. The people at my session don't bat an eyelid and refer to my instruments by their names. That might be because they're not sure what my instruments are. I have it in my mind that I want to buy a new bouzouki. I've already decided that I want to name it Susan, then I'd have Basil, Tina and Susan, and the 2 girls can gang up on Basil, but I won't be able to tell if it's a boy or a girl until it actually arrives, and all my other instruments have been named by other people, so I might have to settle for a different name.
# Posted on August 6th 2004 by Dow
Re: Naming your instrument
Yeah....ok....
Nah, my violin is called a violin. But i do name my car "tigger" because it likes to bounce when I drive it...
# Posted on August 6th 2004 by beano
Re: Naming your instrument
I had a tan Subaru wagon once that we called The Millenium Gopher.
# Posted on August 6th 2004 by Zina Lee
Re: Naming your instrument
Zina - thats still the best vehicle name of all time. My dad used to have a Morris Mini called Haha.
It's a funny thing though - I just can't imagine giving a name to an instrument, although as we see above many people do. I know scores of tunes that I can't usually put a name to, and the idea of having to remember even more names is not appealing. I think also that I am rather literal-minded, and see the instrument as being only something that is operated by the player (muso/maestro/musician/tunester) rather than some sort of animate creature with a mind of its own. Even my computer is only a machine - when I shout "b*stard" at it, I am really referring to Messrs Gates and Jobs.
Heigh ho! another day of fear and toil dawns for the workers at Filmtech.
Dave
# Posted on August 6th 2004 by showaddydadito
Re: Naming your instrument
How heartless!
# Posted on August 6th 2004 by Dow
Re: Naming your instrument
Are you calling me heartless, Boy?
# Posted on August 6th 2004 by showaddydadito
Re: Naming your instrument
showaddydadito
you're right. i shift corrected. in fact, as of this morning the girl has a new name....mehitabel.
kateg
# Posted on August 6th 2004 by KateG
Re: Naming your instrument
that's nice kate. i'll think of you when i'm finding a nice warm bench to sleep on in the park. plus ca change . . .
# Posted on August 6th 2004 by showaddydadito
Re: Naming your instrument
LOL -- I remember as a kid of about 7 picking up a copy of archy and mehitabel and being totally mystified as to what it was all about...
# Posted on August 6th 2004 by Zina Lee
Re: Naming your instrument
I named my guitar "bastard" coz its so damn heavy! :P
# Posted on August 6th 2004 by UglyBoyJoe
Re: Naming your instrument
archy is a cockroach. mehitabel is a cat. Their adventures were celebrated in archy's light poetry, written by throwing himself at the keys of a typewriter, and mehitabel, who claims to have been Cleopatra in a former life, is his friend, with nary a cap in sight.
Don Marquis's typewriter was archy's vehicle to the world of publishing. http://www.donmarquis.com/archy/
# Posted on August 6th 2004 by Zina Lee
Re: Naming your instrument
"my youth i shall never forget
but there s nothing i really regret
wotthehell wotthehell
there s a dance in the old dame yet
toujours gai toujours gai"
# Posted on August 6th 2004 by Zina Lee
Re: Naming your instrument
My, what excellent taste in literature you have, Zina!
(All the better to...
# Posted on August 6th 2004 by Q
Re: Naming your instrument
Matty! I read comic books as a girl as well, though I don't know that falls under the aegis of "literature". *grin* Two comic collectors in our family meant that I could actually read the whole series of a story line, so I got kind of addicted. Now I just read things like Usagi Yojimbo (Ryaaaahhh!) and PVP Online and, when I'm at my sister's, that one about the dog demon and the Japanese schoolgirl, what's that called?, and such, usually in the omibuses, because who has time to waste waiting for the next installment to come out?
# Posted on August 6th 2004 by Zina Lee
Re: Naming your instrument
Inu-yasha, that's it!
# Posted on August 6th 2004 by Zina Lee
Re: Naming your instrument
I must admit I haven't read much manga - more of a Neil Gaiman/Sandman/Vertigo kinda guy, me.
Have you seen http://www.sinfest.net ? It's like a deviant version of Calvin and Hobbes - and there's three year's worth of daily updates for you to catch up on if you like it!
My instrument is the Matt-stick. Car is called the Matt-mobile. Home is the Matt-cave. Yes, I know it's silly :7)
# Posted on August 6th 2004 by Q
Re: Naming your instrument
The cat and the dog are my favorites. Monique is pretty dang funny, too. *smirk*
# Posted on August 6th 2004 by Zina Lee
Re: Naming your instrument
*splorf* http://sinfest.net/d/20000429.html
# Posted on August 6th 2004 by Zina Lee
Re: Naming your instrument
I think I will call my banjo "ParrotMount" .. I don't play it cos it broke, so a Parrot may as well perch on it! (in for repair tho!!) The banjo, not the parrot!
# Posted on August 6th 2004 by Eoino
Re: Naming your instrument
Re-skinned?
was there supposed to be a skin on it in the first place??
No wonder no real musician ever complained 'bout my playing!! (-:
# Posted on August 7th 2004 by Eoino
Re: Naming your instrument
Hi!
No chance you've got your session name via one of the GREAT flute player's compostions perchance...
Herbie Mann?
I'm sure many fluteplayers would acknowledge his status, and maybe visitors to this site might start a thread on players, who, though non ITM inclined, have influenced them?
Brianx
# Posted on August 9th 2004 by briantheflute
Re: Naming your instrument
My violin was my grandfather's from Germany and it's history beyond that is a mystery to me. It was given to me after he passed away which was almost 20 years ago. To my knowledge, it has no individual maker as there is no tag and if, in the past, the violin had already been given a name, it is not documented. So rather than upsetting it by calling it something it hates, I keep playing hoping someday it will simply tell me in it's own voice.
# Posted on August 9th 2004 by c_ya
Re: Naming your instrument
I've just got bog standard stuff, mostly from Yamaha.
Now that I think about it, how did they get from making flutes and clarinets to bikes???? May
# Posted on August 9th 2004 by Folkie Junkie
Re: Naming your instrument
Maybe there's something similar in the way they work-or sound
# Posted on August 9th 2004 by Folkie Junkie
Re: Naming your instrument
Andy the accordion
# Posted on August 10th 2004 by jimbob
Re: Naming your instrument
My mountain dulcimer's name is Rose. She has a beautiful rose inlay on the fretboard. How original - ha.
# Posted on August 12th 2004 by Dulcibarb
Re: Naming your instrument
I name my cars, but the only name I ever gave my instrument was, "Mr. Happy."
# Posted on August 12th 2004 by Phantom Button