Invented in 1740 by German violinist Johann Wilde, this strangely beautiful sounding idiophone instrument consists of a semicircular wooden soundboard with vertical iron or brass nails that are then bowed to create a chromatic or diatonic scale. Bright, eerie and resonant, it also has a variety of other names, Nagelharmonika or Eisenvioline or even, depending on design, the Nagelclavier in German, violino di ferro in Italian or violon de fer in French. It produces a sweet, bell-like tone, with the bow carrying coarse horse hair, and while the more conventional violin prevailed, the nail violin had a notable virtuoso Bohemian musician called Senal, who travelled all over Germany with his instrument about 1780–1790.
Different models and modifications have been created, such as glass or wooden rods instead of metal nails. Träger of Bernberg (Saxony) created a treadle-operated keyboard version in 1791, and 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.
Here we can see the instrument in action in two videos made by instrument enthusiast Nicolas Bras, the second of which demonstrates on how to make a nagelgeige. Michael Meadows is another contemporary maker of modern versions based on the original models.
In this video Bill Wesely demonstrates some more extraordinay sounds by rhythmically rubbing the nails with fingers.
And here are some other visual examples of various older and newer models:
So then, any music that might feature the nail violin or similar instruments? Feel free to suggest examples from any form of music, or even film, art, or other contexts in comments below.
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