The violin Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The violin - Essay Example This "The violin" work outlines the origin and usage of this instrument. The name violin is an English word derived from a Latin word vitula, which translates to stringed instrument in English. This implies that the instrument was not an English creation and only gained a lot of prominence in the United Kingdom in the sixteenth century following its extensive use in the modern day Italy. The violin was played a lot in Italy and became part of the Italian cultural heritage. Some of the most celebrated violinists and violin manufacturers such as Gasparo da Salà ² and Giovanni Paolo Maggini among many others were all Italians. The instrument played a role in the development of the modern day salsa dance, which coincidentally was part of the Italian heritage too. The spread of the instrument to other parts of the world resulted from colonization and the subsequent industrialization in the late eighteenth century. Italians spread throughout the world to the Americas and other parts of Europe taking their culture with them. In doing so, other people began appreciating the instrument in music production. Celine Dion one of the modern day musicians who have used violins in most of her songs is a Canadian but of Italian decent. The use of the instrument has today acquired a global acceptance and appreciation by different people from all over the world. The development of the instrument has centered on the modifications of its features and addition of aesthetics to make it look more beautiful and produce better quality sounds. (Bartruff, 1989). Among the common features of a violin are the strings. This is a fundamental part of the instrument mandated with the production of the sound. The strings nailed to the tail stretch the entire length of the instrument and pass all the way to the upper most part of the instrument called the scroll. In the ancient Greek and Roman days, the strings were made of sheep gut, these were pieced, stretched and dried to the desired quality to produce high quality sound and last longer. With the modern day technological advancements, the strings are today made of steel or aluminum. Additionally, while in the ancient day the people relied only on the instrument to entertain, the modern technological developments allow the sound to pass through other machines that boosts its gain and quality. These make recordings and music productions easier. Furthermore, the instrument earns the ability to entertain a large number of people despite is small size and the relatively low sound it produces. Tunings are other essential parts of the instrument. These regulate the quality and pitch of sound that every stroke of the strings produces. The tunings resemble those found in a guitar and are placed at the scro ll end of the instrument. These are protruding stick at the end of the instrument on which the strings wind. The violinists therefore use these to adjust the tightness of the strings depending on the note of the music required. Without the tunings, the strings may easily break; the tunings gives the strings an allowance to slacken thereby preventing any synapses from accidental pulls. Despite the numerous advantages and purposes of the tunings, their primary function is to regulate the pitches of the sounds produced. Bows on the other hand are not

Cold War pattern of conflicts and its influence on international Dissertation

Cold War pattern of conflicts and its influence on international relations in the context of Vietnam War - Dissertation Example ‘Domino Effect’ was stated in viewing Russia’s increasing influence over the South East Asian regions, which was taken by America as a major threat against it (Kane, 2006, pp. 101-102). The Cold War was the most significant diplomatic concern in the post war era. The beginning of the cold war made the European countries from a dispute between them in supporting the capitalist and communist regimes. This dispute between the European nations culminated into the division of the European continent into two ideological factions. Marshall Plan, which was developed by John Marshall during 1947, signified America’s economic cooperation to develop the European continent and form a reunion. The plan signified America’s continuous interests in political, strategic and economic interests over Western Europe (Northrup, 2003, p.177). President Truman during 1947 passed his doctrine which proclaimed Cold War with the Communist regions of the world along with Soviet Russia. This anti-communist program of President Truman observed as a global policy for maintaining security targeted the communist nations as plausible threat towards obstructing America’s dominion over the East Asian countries (Murrin, Johnson, McPherson, & Gerstle, 2007, pp.1012-1013). The tension and competition between the two countries United States and Russia gained ground along their nuclear and space programs. America and Russia focused on enhancing their space technology programs to further strengthen their security dynamism and gaining political and strategic advantage. Both the countries started specializing on the development of rockets and spaceships to gain supremacy in outer space (Sagdeev & Eisenhower, 2008). In the field of nuclear technology the two countries also contested heavily with the discovery of atomic materials. America was found opposing the Soviet stands in gaining supremacy over entering into new atomic areas and discoveries (Crockatt, 1996, p. 57). The Cold War conflicts between the superpower nations belonging to the Communist and Western powers accumulated to the spreading of war in the Korean and Vietnamese territory. Russian attacks on South Korea were heavily counteracted by the American troops through the sending of required resources to the newly independent colonies, which were under French rule. United States government in their move to restrict the ascension of Russian troops to gain control over South Korea strongly conducted the opposition, which resulted in heavy combat. United States also took a firm stand of restricting Communist factions from gaining their stand in the Vietnamese regions. The government of America took control of the Southern region of Vietnam and defended further Communist aggression (Wouri, 2000). Further the region of South East Asia reflected conflicts between countries like Russia, United States and China. The end of the Cold War period led to the downfall of Russia and the rise of Un ited States to gain supremacy over the East Asian region. The period of Cold War also led to the emergence of China as a regional power through the increased collaboration of United States. Both countries United States and China however helped each other in removing Russia and gaining dominance over South East Asia (Ross, 2009, p.47). The paper attempts to find out how